EUROPE — The Final Countdown (review)

EUROPE — The Final Countdown album cover Album · 1986 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
thellama73
I can never decide whether the Final Countdown is the pinnacle of pop-metal or the worst example of radio schlock. Oh wait, that's right... it's both!

This is one of those rare albums that has both feet planted in the land of "so bad it's good." The synthesizer riff of the title track is nothing short of legendary, as this touching story about leaving Earth for frontiers unknown unfolds. I mean, really, how can you not love this song? It's reason enough to own the album.

The surprising thing is that the rest of the record almost measures up to the first track. Nothing else is quite as recognizable, to be sure, but there are some glorious examples indeed of cheese-metal to be found. "Ninja" is my personal favorite (a hair metal song about ninjas! What's not to love?) but of all the ridiculous songs here, the most absurd is surely "Cherokee." There's just something surreal about shrieking Europeans in leather pants wailing on about the American Indians. It's so... incongruous.

In short, The Final Countdown is worth a listen for laughs and lightweight fun, and the title track is really something no serious music collector should omit from his collection.
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