CD - Europe - Prisoners In Paradise

Includes 16- page full color booklet - 4,000-word essay, enhanced artwork, and new interviews.

There are few rock bands that have exploded into mass consciousness as quickly as Europe, a Swedish group that made their global mark in the mid '80s. Nobody it seemed was immune to the quirky charm of the worldwide smash 'The Final Countdown' which has become something of a hard rock standard.

For Europe the success was life changing but it didn't dampen their continuing desire to create and impress. 'Prisoners In Paradise' was their fifth album and it was recorded in Los Angeles with 'man of the moment' Beau Hill (RATT, Winger, Warrant). Hill and the band presented their sound in slightly tougher form, suggesting that they were still looking to shake off their poppier direction and move closer to an early seventies hard rock style.

That the band could write great songs was never in any doubt, but this time around they were encouraged to co-write with a few tried and tested songsmiths, such as Eric Martin (Mr. Big), Nick Graham (Cheap Trick) and Jim Valance (Bryan Adams). Despite a somewhat lackluster commercial response, in large part attributable to the bad timing of the release during the rise of grunge, the album contains superb tracks, including the title track, 'Bad Blood', 'Seventh Sign' and 'Little Bit Of Lovin', indicating that the band had a point to prove and the vision to achieve it with.

Looking back with hindsight it was clear where Europe's real, hard rock, musical aspirations lay, something that would come to the fore in their career resurrection during the early 21st Century.