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RARE PHOTOS: Joey tempest - The Real Truth

“It’s the only guitar I’ve kept from then. I paid $900 for it. Today it might be worth $45,000”: How Europe’s John Norum learned to love The Final Countdown – and the guitar he used to track its iconic solo

The Final Countdown is one of rock's evergreen anthems, but Norum admits he thought it was “dreadful” at first

Guitar World

“The two Johns very began to hate doing TV shows that wanted us to mime. For a band that worshipped Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy and UFO, it became a really big problem”: The huge 80s hard rock hit that drove a wedge between the band that made it

The Final Countdown pushed Europe into the pop charts – and not everyone was happy about it

Louder

The demo was “dreadful” and the main riff drove the guitarist crazy – but with some inspiration from Yngwie Malmsteen, it became one of the biggest rock songs of the ’80s

A staple of sporting events around the world, this keyboard-driven anthem was given a healthy dose of muscle by its skeptical guitarist, transforming it into a perfect-for-the-era, stadium-pleasing classic

Guitar World

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“I took inspiration from Iron Maiden’sRun To The Hills. And for the lyric, the story of the last days on Earth, I went back to David Bowie’sSpace Oddity”: A rock band’s global No.1 hit – before grunge turned their world upside down

“We were thrown into this weird pop world – it was madness”

MusicRadar

"Most of my favourite bands, their fourteenth album was shit": Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt on ABBA, nearly buying a record shop, and their awesome 14th album

When ABBA-mad Opeth leader Mikael Åkerfeldt met one of their singers, he “lost it”. She didn’t sing on their new concept album, but some other, perhaps unlikely, big names did

Metal Hammer

“I only asked for the spoken-word part, then an email comes in – ‘Do you need some flute?’ I wasn’t going to say no!” How Opeth’s The Last Will And Testament wound up featuring Ian Anderson, Joey Tempest and growled vocals

Mikael Åkerfeldt insists his band’s new concept album, featuring Jethro Tull and Europe men, is no return to their death metal past – and won’t keep prog fans away

Louder

"A tremendous album, up there with their turn-of-the-millennium high-water marks": Opeth return to extremity on the inventive The Last Will And Testament

Succession meets Edgar Allan Poe on prog metal kingpins Opeth's fascinating fourteenth album

Louder

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"Phil Mogg sings so unusually so it's difficult to copy, but Axl did a fantastic job": Michael Schenker's track-by-track guide to his new album My Years With UFO

Michael Schenker's My Years With UFO features contributions from Axl Rose, Slash, Roger Glover, Joey Tempest and many more

Metal Hammer

“When I heard the synth intro to The Final Countdown, my reaction was: ‘This is nuts, we can’t use this.’ Thank God they didn’t listen to me”: The epic story of Europe, the band who were more than just a one hit wonder

From partying with Guns N’ Roses to pushing back against those poodle perms, this is the story of Swedish hard rock heroes Europe

Louder

Michael Schenker launches version of UFO classic Only You Can Rock Me aided by Joey Tempest and Roger Glover

Only You Can Rock Me comes from Michael Schenker's upcoming album My Years With UFO

Louder

Michael Schenker reveals that Axl Rose sang three songs during sessions for his upcoming album My Years In UFO

According to Michael Schenker, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose is "a perfectionist"

Metal Hammer

"It feels like a dream." Opeth reveal new concept album The Last Will And Testament will be released in October

Opeth's The Last Will And Testament features guest appearances from Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson and Europe's Joey Tempest

Metal Hammer

“I’d always said to the Scorpions, ‘If any band from England asks me to join, no matter who it is, I’m doing it’”: Michael Schenker celebrates his tenure with UFO with a new reimagined greatest hits record – and it features Slash

Michael Schenker's new album, My Years with UFO, marks the 50th anniversary of the guitarist's tenure with the British classic rock band

Guitar World

Swedish Metal Aid: The point where charity, hairspray and a singing horror show collide

Europe's Joey Tempest founded Swedish Metal Aid in 1985, to raise money to bring famine relief to Africa. All was going well until they performed their song on TV

Metal Hammer

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MusicRadar

“I didn’t want to have anything to do with the song. To me, it was like: ‘Are we turning into Depeche Mode?’”: Europe’s John Norum says he thought The Final Countdown was “dreadful” at first

It would go on to become the Swedish rockers’ biggest track but Norum took some persuading that all those synths would work with guitar

The Guardian - UK

‘Spandex and big hair weren’t my thing’: how Europe made The Final Countdown

‘I recorded my guitar solo in about 15 minutes. I’ve now played it thousands of times – I can do it in my sleep!’

Louder

Joey Tempest sometimes wonders what life would be like without The Final Countdown

As Europe's 40th anniversary shows approach, frontman Joey Tempest looks back and ponders the legacy of *that* song

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