Style: blues-rock
Label: earMUSIC
Year: 2012
Home: Sweden
Members: Joey Tempest ~ vocals/acoustic guitars
John Norum ~ guitars
John Leven ~ bass
Mic Michaeli ~ keyboards/b. vocals
Ian Haugland ~ drums/b. vocals
Guest: Joe Bonamassa ~ slide guitar
Additional: Anton Fig ~ percussion
Jeff Bova ~ orchestration
This is promoted as a blues album, but I worry some might see that & bail on it. I would call it more a rock album with some bluesy ingredients. This is more blues like how Bad Company & Cinderella handle the blues, that is letting the bluesy aspect of the rock template come to the surface, stripping back the pounding rock riffs & pulling out some acoustic guitars. I would promote it more as a back to square one album. It takes a little bit from all of their career, cuts away the junk & turns out what I would call the best album I've heard from them. This is the fourth studio album I've reviewed & compared to what I've heard: this is their masterpiece. All you need is this & if its your introduction you'll likely to be a fan. Maybe it gets better, but I can't imagine how. Let me know in the comments. "Not Supposed To Sing The Blues" might be one of their best songs, right there with "The Final Countdown", if not better. For those who haven't read my other reviews, I called Europe musical chameleons great at imitation, but lacking distinctiveness & personality, though their later day albums are more solid affairs than The Final Countdown. I change my tune here, as this is everything I was looking for before. This oozes personality & distinctiveness. Whatever they did to make this album they should keep doing. They finally hit on perfection. The energy is high, the creativity wild, the musical diversity wide, the music rocks hard, the groove is strong. Everything comes together so perfectly that when the acoustic guitars are introduced it sounds natural & not like they're doing an obligatory power ballad. I previously reviewed post-comeback albums Last Look At Eden & Start From The Dark. There's bits of those albums here, but they've streamlined their sound & in the process taken things up a notch. Those two albums had them aiming to sound like they are metal & grunge, respectively, but they came off as imitative. Here its like they're not being anyone but themselves. They know they're not a blues band & there's no blues scene they're trying to tap into, so they're just free to be. I feel like since day one Europe has always been trying to be someone other than them. They finally just played music & its a great experience. Bag Of Bones has the hard rock of Last Look At Eden, but isn't indistinct metal like that felt for me. While it has the emotional quality of Start From The Dark, but doesn't overdose on the depressing vibes like I felt that album did in its attempt to be a grunge thing. This album finds the right balance. This feels less like a blues album, & more a best of Europe album with a few unexpected sparkles (i.e. sitar break on "Firebox" & the acoustic guitars). Though, like their other albums, no filler. Every song is strong, which is an amazing feat.
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