Review and Interview: Europe- Walk The Earth

\"\"The rock band Europe has released a new album about every two or so years since their comeback album Start from the Dark in 2004 and their newest effort Walk The Earth is right on that track. The new album was recorded in just a mere two weeks by Dave Cobb at the almighty Abbey Road Studios. It is also the band’s 11th studio release. Now a lot of frontmen somewhat lose the ability to sing over the years- it is just the natural course of things, but somehow Joey Tempest not only sounds as good as he did on The Final Countdown he may even sound better and the band has stayed virtually the same over the many years. Now nearly 30 years later they’re playing better than ever. That cohesiveness can be felt from the moment that the title track “Walk the Earth” kicks in. The guitar takes center stage and never lets up. “The Siege” settles in to an infectious little guitar hook while John Norum really steps up to strut his stuff in the solo to “Kingdom United”. The beginning of “Pictures” sounds like “Space Oddity” by David Bowie and has a real Pink Floyd crescendo and “Election Day” and “GTO” sounds a bit like vintage Deep Purple. While the psychedelic sounds of “Wolves” has a real Led Zeppelin flair to it. There is a definite Shinedown vibe to “Haze” and “Whenever You’re Ready” hits hard like a flurry of body blows late in the fight to deliver that knockout blow when you least expect it. “Turn to Dust” is a slow burner that never really catches fire and the ending to the song will leave you scratching your head. Here’s the bottom line- Despite a misstep or two this album is a pretty good. It sounds even better after a couple of listens. Rating: 7 out of 10 -Eric Hunker Front Row Report Editor Reggie Edwards sits down with Europe keyboardist Mic Michaeli: