Europe
Secret Society

January 2007
Released: 2006, Sanctuary Records
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Celtic Bob

After too many years away Europe has fully returned and with the most mature release of their career. Even though they released an album back in 2004 this is a more consistent record that finds the group in top musical form. From every possible standpoint the band really shines on this disc. The songwriting, musicianship and overall quality surpasses their previous catalog.



Once the album begins with the title track you would never say it was the keyboard laden band from the 80’s with the big hair. Granted I too was a fan of tracks like “The Final Countdown”, “Rock The Night” and even “Carrie”. Everybody in the mid to late 80’s knew who Europe was thanks to the infamous “The Final Countdown”. With this 7th release we find the classic ‘Mark II’ line-up out to prove to the world that there was and is more to the band than those few pop rock songs that bombarded the airwaves several years ago.



Heavy rockers like “Brave and Beautiful Soul” show a more mature band with better writing and performance. There is more substance and quality to the tracks that makes for a better product. While the memorable and super catchy chorus’ of yesteryear may have faded slightly this release is one that Europe fans should embrace. The title track is laden with heavy drums and some blistering guitars. Joey’s vocal’s are not as polished and over produced as they were years ago but they are now stronger and he comes across as more of a real singer now. Other great tracks on this disc are “The Getaway Plan”, “Love Is Not The Enemy” and “Wish I Could Believe”. One of the greatest releases of the year.

Europe
Secret Society

February 2007
Released: 2006, Sanctuary Records/Sound Pollution
Rating: 2.0/5
Reviewer: Anders Sandvall

Here we have the long-awaited album from one of Sweden’s biggest exports. Europe is about to follow up their first reunited album START FROM THE DARK which came out in 2004. Europe’s musical style today is guitar-based melodic hard rock with the focus on Joey Tempest’s lead vocals and John Norum’s varied and talented guitar playing.The band produced the album and Stefan Glaumann mixed it. There’s nothing to argue about when it comes to the production - it’s a slick, standard production that focuses on the best parts of the music.



Even if the album only contains 11 tracks and the actual playing time is only 45 minutes, it feels like it’s double that. It may be because of the varied quality of the material; many of the songs blend into each other and are hard to separate, for example the ballads “Wish I Could Believe”, “A Mothers Son”, and the up-tempo ballad “Forever Travelling”. The same goes for the U2-influenced “Brave and Beautiful Soul” and “Devil Sings the Blues”. Another thing that I think is totally forbidden in any kind of harder music is incorporating a children’s choir into a song, and Europe did just that. It’s called “Let the Children Play”, and you’ do best to avoid it.



But in between all those boring songs there are a few highlights, such as “Secret Society”, “Always The Pretenders”, “The Getaway Plan”, “Human After All”, and “Love Is Not The Enemy”. Those tracks save the album from a total meltdown and in several songs Tempest shows us that his voice is in pretty good shape. Norum still knows how to handle a guitar, which he is eager to show off and he is still a true guitar hero.



As mentioned in the EP review I can’t really pinpoint to whom Europe appeals. I don’t think that the older fans are going to recognize the “new” Europe, and they’re not going to gain any new fans with SECRET SOCIETY either. Unfortunately, I can’t give the album a higher rating because it’s too standard and flat. However, there are a few highlights in the album even though I had to work pretty hard to find them.



http://www.soundpollution.se