Secret Society

It does seem that Europe are forever travelling musically. Unfortunately Europe often get pigeon holed in their Final Countdown era and ridiculed for their 80's hair rock. But Europe always were and are more than just this. People often forget that they started out as a hard rock band and were musically very competent. In fact they still are and really do put to shame some of the so called musicians that manage to linger on the air waves.

This latest album is dark and introspective. Probably more so than their previous album, Start From the Dark. There is just a completely different vibe to this album. It definitely sounds like no other Europe album. If anything this album for me reminds of the eponymous titled album from Joey Tempest. They just seem to have similar production qualities and you can easily dismiss them upon a first listen. This album needs several complete listens to fully appreciate it. It really does grow then and often the best albums are like this.

The album opens with the title track, `Secret Society' and clearly sates its intent for the whole album. It simply rocks and takes no prisoners. This continues with the excellent track, `Always The Pretender'. A hard hitting chunky riff in the verse leading to a melodic chorus. I can't help but think though that the chorus has similarities to Bon Jovi's, `It's my Life', or even `Have a Nice Day'.

`Wish I could Believe' momentarily halts the ferocity of this album with the introspective and thoughtful musing. It is also probably the closest the album gets to a ballad. `Let The Children Play' then follows reminding you the band mean business with possibly the heaviest and nastiest guitar riff in a Europe album. This is a very good song with excellent guitar work that in my opinions is only let down by the inclusion of the children's choir in the middle of the song. I know they were trying to achieve a Pink Floyd kind of theme, but it just sounds a bit wrong and almost takes away from the aggressive guitar vibe.

One of the stand out tracks on this album for me is, `A Mother's Son'. It open with the melancholy minor arpeggiated piano theme. It does not take a great leap to realise that this is definitely inspired by System of a Down. Even the harmonies in the chorus hark back to a songs like, `Aerials'.

This song is then followed by the best track on the album, `Forever Travelling'. It almost has an ethereal feel in the verse with the uplifting chorus just taking you higher. Coupled with a guitar solo John Frusciante would be proud of. This song is just sheer class.

You can tell that the band has been inspired by other contemporary artist such as Cold Play (the guitar motif in `Brave and Beautiful Soul') and Audioslave (general big riffed guitar and bass parts). However, Europe are more than just a wanna be imitation band. They are clearly influenced, but make everything their own.

It really is hard to categories this album, because it is obviously a modern sounding album. I sometimes wonder whether the rest of the band have to hold John Norum's virtuoso guitar work back to stop things sounding too much like old school rock. That's not to say there isn't some magnificent guitar playing here though. I think the band are walking on a fine line between being modern and including classic Europe touches. Being an obvious Europe fan I find it hard to say whether this album can cut it with likes of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Audioslave. I feel this album is so close to Europe being at their best. If you are a fan of Europe you are going to be interested in this album. Although there no real out and out happy upbeats songs on this album. Like I mentioned earlier this album is definitely introspective. If you didn't like Europe in their Final Countdown Days, then you may be surprise by how much they have changed. They have an edge and are definitely mean business.

If there is one critisism of their last outing "Start From The Dark", it's that the album was very samey. This latest release, in my opinion, is their best to date. Each song has something to offer, and it grows with every listen. Unfortunately, because most of the public associate Europe with cheesy 80's pop rock, most people will never get to here this great CD which really is a shame, because if you listened to The final countdown and then Secret Society you'd find it hard to believe this is the same band. If you've never thought about buying a Europe album in your life, then now is the time to think again.

Their previous album start from the dark amazed me, it had really heavy tunes and their trademark melodies that seem to be rare these days. Suprisingly this album is better! It doesn't happen very often to buy an album that you can listen to from the begining by the time it ends. All the songs here have strong melodies, John Norum's guitar is super and the band is better than ever. Some people might ignore them, thinking they're pase (although it's a modern record), but you know usually ''trendy'' people are very narrow minded.. The rest of us can enjoy a great record written by one of the best hard rock bands ever. Buy it!