NEWS: Europe unveil the Title Track of Walk The Earth today

Europe have released the title track of there forthcoming album -  and we know that there are a few readers out there who have that guilty pleaseure of loving Europe and may even be ordering the album already, which has a release date of October 20th.

You can listen to the song below, but first the obligatory PR blurb...

If Europe’s 2015 album War Of Kings was the album that made the rock world realise what a formidable act Europe had become then Walk The Earth is the album that is set to establish the band as one of the most exciting contemporary rock acts of current times.

The new album Walk The Earth will feature original artwork by famed Los Angeles artist Mike Sportes of Filth Mart.

“We were in the studio a few days into recording and Dave (Cobb, Producer) comes in wearing this very cool T-Shirt with one of Mike's designs on it. Immediately we knew we had to check Mike's other work and have him come up with an exclusive design for us based on the vibe of the album. We are very proud to have his amazing artwork as the Walk The Earth album cover!' - Joey Tempest on the appointment of Mike Sportes to do the cover.

Walk The Earth tracklisting:

1. Walk The Earth
2. The Siege
3. Kingdom United
4. Pictures
5. Election Day
6. Wolves
7. GTO
8. Haze
9. Whenever You’re Ready
10. Turn To Dust

From the anthemic sound of the opening track “Walk The Earth” – to the heavy vibe that is “Haze”, from the instant melody of “Election Day” to the lyrical content of “Kingdom United”, “Walk The Earth” is the album that should see Europe rightly acclaimed as a band at the height of their powers. The wonderful melodies and depth of Joey Tempest’s vocals along with a powerhouse rhythm section and the guitar playing of John Norum, one of the great underrated guitarists. Norum’s guitar playing shines across the record. This is an album that is big in its scope and sound. Much like previous album “War Of Kings”, “Walk The Earth” is an album that has instant appeal but is also an album that needs to be lived with, in order to uncover it’s depth. The album was recorded at famed Abbey Road Studios in London with Grammy winning producer Dave Cobb (Rival Sons, Shooter Jennings, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton).

Late 2016 saw Europe perform a series of “The Final Countdown Anniversary Shows” across Europe – culminating in a show at The Roundhouse in London. The show has been immortalised in a July 2017 DVD release The Final Countdown 30th Anniversary Show - Live at the Roundhouse.
Preceding the landmark event, fans were also treated to a live performance of Europe’s last album, 2015’s War of Kings, a release which re-established Europe as one of the top rock bands in the world.

Since forming in 1979 Europe have sold over 25 million albums, toured across the world and become one of the greats of modern rock music. The bands all conquering The Final Countdown album has alone sold over 15 million copies worldwide and the single of the same name was No 1 in 25 countries.

Walk The Earth World Tour dates announced, more to follow:

Fri 17th Nov 2017                    Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham UK*
Sat 18th Nov                             Manchester Arena, Manchester UK*
Mon 20th Nov                          Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff UK*
Wed 22nd Nov                          The SSE Hydro, Glasgow UK*
Thurs 23rd Nov                        The o2 Arena, London UK*
Mon 27th Nov                          Stadhalle D, Vienna, Austria (with Alice Cooper)
Wed 29th Nov                          Alcatraz, Milan, Italy
Fri 1st Dec                               Ice Stadium, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia
Tue 5th Dec                             Idun Teatern, Umea, Sweden
Wed 6th Dec                            Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden
Thu 7th Dec                             Lisebergshallen, Gothenburg, Sweden
(*with Deep Purple)

For tickets see http://europetheband.com

Walk The Earth is released through Hell & Back Recordings (Silver Lining Music) on 20th October 2017.

ALBUM REVIEW: It’s not the Final Countdown as Europe excel on War of Kings

POP pickers and disco bunnies all recognise Europe’s ‘The Final Countdown’ but few would realise that on March 6^th the Swedish rockers will release their 10^th album, ‘War of Kings’ and if they fail to pick up a copy they are missing a slab of hard rock excellence.

As always the focus is on Joey Tempest and John Norum throughout, but to see this as some sort of star vehicle would be to miss the fact that Europe are very much a unit, tried, tested and true in their pursuit of excellence.

Jon Levén (bass) Mic Machaeli (keyboards) and Ian Haugland (drums) are all integral to the sound; and on ‘War of Kings’ there is a sense of purpose.

Building on their previous album ‘Bag of Bones’ Europe have not distilled their influences, instead they have gone back to what they love.

Tempest said:

“War Of Kings is the album we always wanted to make, ever since we were kids listening to bands like Zeppelin, Purple and Sabbath.”

Of course this begs the question about the previous nine releases, but we’ll skip over that...

Kicking off with the title track, a brooding mid-paced track, this is perhaps one of the most rounded album from the band. Stand-out tracks such as ‘The Second Day’, ‘California 405’ and ‘Angels (with Broken Hearts)’ swirl with delightful turns of musical phrase.

Yes, you can hear the Purple influence (California 405 could have been written with Ian Gillan in mind), but that does not detract from the fact that this is a triumphant hard rocking album.

Key to that could be that this is a line-up that has been largely together since the early 80s – bar the break from 1992 to 2003.

‘7 Days of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ sounds from the title as if it is another clichéd romp through how rock is great, but Michaeli and Norum produce a layered sound and backdrop to the song, and lyrically it just says that they’re still rocking...

Tempest declared that they have “done it our way” since the re-union, and that is something no-one could deny, and he’s not going to be shy about his pride in Europe.

“Looking forward to tons of touring in 2015,” he said. “It’s getting harder and harder to be modest and humble about this band. It doesn’t get much better than this.

War of Kings is released on UDR on March 6^th.

Europe play Belfast's Ulster Hall on March 3^rd, with co-headliners Black Star Riders and The Amorettes as support. It is their first visit to Belfast in 25 years.

Review by Jonny