Album Review – Europe – War Of Kings

Europe – War Of Kings
Release Date: March 10, 2015
Label: Hell & Back Recordings / UDR Music Release

There are seven words I never thought I would be saying in 2015: I fucking LOVE the new Europe album! Yeah, that’s 7. Hell, I never thought I would every say those words as I don’t think I ever fucking loved a Europe album. Sure, I feel into that hole as a teenager in the 80’s and bought The Final Countdown because, well hell, who didn’t buy that album? The Final Countdown was a cool song. So was “Cherokee” and “Carrie.” Hell, now that I think of it, maybe there was more to that album that I remember. Oh hell, that’s beside the point but yes, Europe has a new album out and guess what? It’s fucking amazing.

So my first thoughts when this album was brought to my attention was, “Just how good can a new album by Europe be in 2015?” The minute the opening track “War of Kings” kicked things off, I was left literally with my jaw on the floor. Is this really the same Europe? “Hole in My Pocket” had me totally nodding my head in disbelief as to just how fucking epically awesome this song was an by the time the stellar “The Second Day” track kicked in, I found myself scrambling over to Wikipedia to confirm that this was even the same band. That very band who is now legendary for that horribly cheesy 80’s based keyboard neutered hard rock has put out an album that sounds like it could be a long lost Deep Purple album.

Before we go on any further, I just have to take a moment to address just what a fucking monstrous lead vocalist Joey Tempest turned out to be. So many singers from these guys era have withered and faded from glory while this guy’s voice has grown and matured to be a powerful, soulful, epic classic rock voice. “The Second Day” has to be one of the single most bad ass songs I’ve heard in ages while songs like “California 405”, “Children of Mind”, and “Angels With Broken Wings” just follow suit. Ok, I just need to stop here. Why? Because I honestly cannot even begin to put into words any more just how much I love this album.

I could honestly go on forever about how fantastic War of Kings is. War of Kings is a solid, flawless album from start to finish and it’s the album that I never thought I would hear Europe make in 2015. Hell, this is an album that I never thought Europe would make and honestly, I’m even more astounded that they even did something that I would give a rat’s ass about. War of Kings is a hard rock masterpiece that has Europe paying tribute to the greats that inspired them such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and yes, even some Black Sabbath in there for good measure. With War of Kings, Europe went from being a band that I had long forgotten about to being a band that has put out one of my favorite fucking albums of 2015.

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