Hard Vision |
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Europe Legendary Swedish rock band Europe recently reunited after over a decade apart and made a brand new album, and now have this two-disc DVD to go with it. The first disc is a concert filmed in London at the Hammersmith Theater. The band, on the last night of their '04 tour, appear to be in tip-top form, almost as if they'd never been gone. They play on stage like a bunch of young bucks, giving it their all. They still seem to have it in them, as their musical skills have not gotten rusty, and they seem very lively and happy to be on stage. Vocalist Joey Tempest sings like a siren, and guitarist John Norum can shred to beat hell! The other three guys (bassist John Leven, drummer Ian Haughland, and keysman Mic Micallo) are also still playing with the best of them, the whole band working together as a well oiled rock and roll machine. The big hair they sported in the 80s may be gone (Ian in fact now has a completely shaved head!) but the talent is still there. In the 80s Europe were known for making super-slick melodic rock and were most famous for their song "The Final Countdown". That keyboard riff is now all too familiar and the song is now even a sports anthem. Europe are grouped with the "hair brigade" of the 80s (often mentioned in the same sentence as Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Poison) and are considered a joke by some (VH1 voting them the most awesomely bad metal band of all time) but that's not really fair because they were indeed quite talented and made some rockin' tunes. I can see why a death metal fan wouldn't like them but one must give credit where credit is due. Anyway, during the performance, Europe play many of their classics mixed up with songs from the new album. The classic tunes include "Superstitious", "Rock The Night", "Let The Good Times Rock", "Seven Doors Hotel", "Cherokee", "Carrie" (an unplugged version, just Joey, an acoustic guitar, and the audience signing along), "Wings Of Tomorrow", and of course. "The Final Coundown". Newer tunes include "Got To Have Faith", "Yesterday's News", "Hero" (a ballad with some Queen influence), "Start From The Dark" (the title track from their new one), "Flames", and "Wake Up Call". The band plays to a packed house and the fans go wild, so obviously the audience is still there. This performance shows that, in spite of being on break for a while, Europe have stood the test of time and still know how to rock! Europe The second disc of this set contains a bunch of bonus material. First is Behind The Tour, a filming of the band departing the concert prior to the London one on the first disc and making their way from one venue to the other, across the English channel. As they do this little factoids about the band appear on the screen, a la Pop Up Video. After this is Taxi Diaries, interviews with the band members as they ride in London taxis and discuss all things Europe, past, present, and future; band history, the new album, the tour, the reunion and how that came about, what the guys did during Europe's "down time", their relationship as a band, and what the future may hold for them. Taxi Diaries goes on for over an hour! Then comes some onstage interviews where the guys give us a "show and tell" about their instruments and equipment. And finally we have some videos. Two of those are actually rehearsal performances of "Spirit Of The Underdog" and "Heart Of Stone", while two are actual videos of two songs from the new album, "Got To Have Faith" and "Hero". Europe's new music sounds much rougher, harder, and more stripped down than their glossy, polished 80s material, but it's still very much classic hard rock. Europe have certainly grown over the years but have not forsaken their roots, and that's good to see. A biography, discography, and videography are also included but the print is very small and hard to read. Also the discography is just a list of the band's albums. They should also have included the albums' artwork, being that Europe has such a long history and have made many popular albums. That, however, is really the only negative point about this DVD. Europe are back and rocking harder than ever, and the concert, videos, and all the material on "...Dark" is very enjoyable. There is also a good amount of viewing on here so fans will certainly get their money's worth! |