Trivia / Europe

• Black Sheep Hit: Guitarist John Norum felt that way about "The Final Countdown", and the associated style, so he left the band. He eventually returned when they reunited.
• Creator Backlash: Their very first music video, "In the Future to Come". A video so bad it was reportedly broadcast only once - in Japan.
• Critical Dissonance: Fan-favorite "The Final Countdown" was included on a Blender list of the worst songs ever... for being a hair metal song.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Their fifth album was originally titled Break Free and was finished in November 1990, but their record label was reportedly not satisfied with the material and asked the band to write more hit songs. The album was eventually renamed Prisoners in Paradise and released in September 1991.
  • A more positive example revolves around "The Final Countdown". When they wrote it, the band were just looking for a cool concert opener, and had no plans to release it as a single. One suggestion from Epic Records later, they had their biggest worldwide hit.
• One-Hit Wonder: "The Final Countdown," to many people. However, they did have another top 10 hit with "Carrie," which peaked higher in the US but is less memorable than "Countdown."
• The Pete Best: Tony Reno, who was fired from the group for missing rehearsals.
• Sequel Gap: Europe was on hiatus from March 15, 1992-October 1, 2003, save for a one-off concert on December 31, 1999, where it was the first, and to date only, concert that saw BOTH John Norum AND Kee Marcello appear on their respective guitars with the rest of the group.
• Signature Song: "The Final Countdown"
• Two-Hit Wonder: Europe had two top-10 hits, but the lesser hit gets all the airplay these days. Nonetheless, "Carrie" and "Rock the Night" each have 10 million Spotify plays.

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