Europe Albums Ranked

Europe is a Swedish rock band formed in Upplands Väsby, Sweden in 1979, by vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson, and drummer Tony Reno. They obtained a major breakthrough in Sweden in 1982 by winning the televised competition “Rock-SM” (Swedish Rock Championships): it was the first time this competition was held, and Europe became a larger success than the competition itself. Europe went on hiatus in 1992, reunited temporarily for a one-off performance in Stockholm on New Year’s Eve 1999, and announced an official reunion in 2003. Since then the band has released six albums, Start from the Dark (2004), Secret Society (2006), Last Look at Eden (2009), Bag of Bones (2012), War of Kings (2015) and Walk the Earth (2017). The band is mainly influenced by Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, UFO, and Michael Schenker Group. Here are all of the Europe albums ranked.

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10. Last Look At Eden (2009)

“This album is a killer and I can’t understand why more people don’t know about it. Grab a copy and play it loud. The title track is just haunting. “Catch that Plane” is a fun tune. “The Beast” “U Devil U” and “Run with the Angels” are tough tunes if you like the harder Europe. “New Love in Town” is an awesome power ballad, but stripped down without the 80s glam. Tempest’s voice is naturally not as high as it was in his younger days, but I happen to think that maturity is a good thing for their music. My favorite track is the bluesy ballad “In My Time” which captures Europe at their best and includes a two minute closing lead solo by John Norum.”

9. Start From The Dark (2004)

“Start From The Dark” is one of the best modern Hard Rock/Metal albums out there, combining the best elements of both the old and new schools. This is some pretty full-throttle, meat ‘n potatoes Hard Rock/Metal with lots of crunchy guitar riffs, intelligent arrangements, and tasteful melodic leadwork. John Norum seems to have mastered the concept of punctuating a song without just playing flamethrower, and thus his solos sound more efficient and thought through and demonstrate great maturity and flexibility.”

8. Europe (1983)

“This album, together with the follow up “Wings of tomorrow” are the bands best albums although none of them include their world wide hit “The final countdown”. The music is both melodic and energetic with very good vocals and guitar playing. Every single song is heavy metal of top quality in a genre that hadn’t experienced hair metal yet. Europe went on and recorded “The final countdown” from which the title track became a huge hit. The rest of the albums’ material wasn’t pop metal oriented, but the record company which had got a taste of Europe’s ability to earn large sums of money for them pushed the band into hair metal… John Norum (who was more heavy metal oriented) decided to quit the band and go for a solo career (later to join Dokken), while Joey Tempest struggled to write another hit in the same vein as “The final countdown”.

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7. War Of Kings (2015)

“The title track reveals a heavier sound than has been present since, perhaps, Secret Society. Joey Tempest’s voice remains as clear, strong, and immediately recognizable as it did in 1983. My favorite track is, arguably, “Praise You,” which starts with a crunchy metal sound before transitioning into a bluesy swagger and then yet again into a ballad. It’s just a fantastic tune all around, one of the band’s best certainly. Another favorite is the straightforward ballad “Angels (With Broken Hearts). If you’re a fan of classic Europe ballads like “Carrie,” “Dreamer,” or “Open Your Heart,” you will enjoy this one.”

6. Walk The Earth (2017)

“If you like modern hard rock, this is your album. Europe’s sound on this record has a variety of recognizable bits (‘Wolves’ reminds me of classic Alice In Chains; while ‘Pictures’ reminds me of a hybrid between Boston’s Third Stage mixed with those classic Pink Floyd harmonies). With more use of the organ, it’s Deep Purplish, but that’s not a bad thing; Europe makes it work for them.”

5. Secret Society (2006)

“This album is a terrific blend of modern influences and classic rock roots. It combines a more modern heavy guitar sound with great hooks and melody. I have heard a lot of bands try to update their sound over the years with varying degrees of success. Some have been dreadful, while others have been very solid, such as Tesla’s 2004 release “Into The Now”, but I can’t recall any that were as successful as “Secret Society”. 

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4. Out Of This World (1988)

“Europe is an amazing band and never missed a beat when they brought in new guitarist, Kee Marcello. I love his sound on this album!! A very melodic AOR and quite a radio, beautiful songs that put in a good mood.”

3. Prisoners In Paradise (1991)

“Once again Kee’s guitar play is outstanding. It’s a bit more of a raw guitar sound on this one than the ultra polished sound on out of this world, but still very clean and melodic. The singles on this album are all great and the production is also top notch. Songs like Halfway to Heaven, Prisoners in Paradise, All or Nothing and Talk to Me all stick in your head because they are so melodic and catchy. John Norum is a great guitar player, but I prefer Kee’s more polished and melodic style and he shines again on this album.”

2 Wings Of Tomorrow (1984)

“The album is solid from start to finish. There is great live energy, strong vocal performances by Joey Tempest and contains some of the most memorable shredding by John Norum. His guitar solos are nothing short of magnificent throughout this album, especially on “Wasted Time”, “Lyin’ Eyes”, “Aphasia” and the title track. “Scream of anger” is another highlight. A fast and furious song that the band still plays live to this day. The ballads “Dreamer” and “Open your heart” are well done. It’s a little known fact that “Open your heart” was the first Europe song to get airplay in the US, receiving limited exposure on some AOR stations.”

1. The Final Countdown (1986)

“The Final Countdown is Europes definitive album the one that really blew them up in America with the self-titled Masterpiece and the Smash Ballad “Carrie” along with “Rock the Night” and “Cherokee”.  I like all the tracks on this album but my favorite probably being Time Has Come because of joeys vocals. John Norum is also a crazy good guitarist. What blows me away is that he plays and shreds a strat and makes it sound so good!!!”