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Slaid Cleaves lives in Wimberley now, tucked into the folds of the Texas Hill Country, playing closer to home, keeping the circle small. The road that once stretched from Maine to Cork to Austin has narrowed. The songs, though, are still wide open. There was a time when he measured success in dollars and survival. […]

Europe are a Swedish rock band formed in the Stockholm suburb of Upplands Väsby in 1979. They are best known for the 1986 single “The Final Countdown,” which topped charts around the world and became one of the most recognisable rock songs ever recorded.

The band’s classic lineup — vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist John Levén, keyboardist Mic Michaeli and drummer Ian Haugland — remains intact and active today. Europe have released twelve studio albums. Their newest, Come This Madness, arrives September 25, 2026, produced by Tom Dalgety and mixed by Mike Fraser. It is their first new album in nine years, and it lands alongside a documentary and a 40th anniversary tour marking four decades since The Final Countdown.

Everyone knows the song. Almost nobody knows the band.

That’s the strange position Europe have occupied for forty years — one of the most instantly recognisable pieces of music ever written, attached to a group most casual listeners couldn’t name a second song by.

The reality is a Swedish hard rock band who have been going, on and off, since 1979, who have made twelve albums, and whose best work arguably came two decades after the hit that made them famous.

Here’s the full picture.

Europe’s New Album: Come This Madness

Start with the news, because it’s the biggest thing this band has done in a decade.

Come This Madness, Europe’s twelfth studio album, is released September 25, 2026. It’s their first new record in nine years — the longest gap of their career — following 2017’s Walk The Earth.

The album was recorded in October 2025 at RMV Studios in Stockholm with producer Tom Dalgety, whose credits include Ghost, Opeth, Pixies and Royal Blood. It was mixed by Mike Fraser, the engineer behind records by AC/DC, Van Halen, Metallica and The Cult.

That’s a serious pair of hires, and the choice of Dalgety in particular signals intent. He’s a producer known for making heavy bands sound enormous without sanding off their character.

The first single, “One On One,” arrived in late April 2026.

Joey Tempest called it one of his favourite tracks on the record — describing the power and feel as fresh while the melodies take him back to where it all began. He also noted the lyrics are less escapist than early Europe, ending up as more of a reflection of the times we live in now.

Musically, this is a deliberate turn. For two decades the reunion-era band moved steadily toward heavier, bluesier, more classic-rock territory. Tempest has described the new material as going back toward the melodic Europe sound, with stronger melodies and more melodic ideas than anything they’ve done recently.

If you’ve spent twenty years wanting Europe to sound like Europe again, this is that record.

Tempest has also said Dalgety became effectively a sixth member of the band during writing and recording, and that they invited him to co-write on some of the songs.

Who’s In Europe?

The lineup is one of the more remarkable things about this band. The five men who recorded The Final Countdown in 1986 are the same five men making records in 2026.

Joey Tempest — lead vocals. Founding member and the band’s principal songwriter. He wrote “The Final Countdown,” originally on a keyboard borrowed from Mic Michaeli, and reportedly considered the riff a throwaway.

John Norum — guitar. Founding member. Norum left in 1986, shortly after The Final Countdown was released and just as the band exploded globally, unhappy with the commercial direction. He was replaced by Kee Marcello for Out Of This World and Prisoners In Paradise, and returned permanently for the 2003 reunion.

John Levén — bass. Joined in 1981 and has been there ever since.

Mic Michaeli — keyboards. Joined in 1984, in time for The Final Countdown. The synth sound everybody can hum is largely his.

Ian Haugland — drums. Also joined in 1984 and has played on every album since.

Europe formed in 1979 under the name Force, founded by Tempest and Norum with bassist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony Reno. They changed the name to Europe and won Rock-SM, the Swedish national rock championship, in 1982 — which got them a record deal and started everything.

Every Europe Album

There is no list of Europe albums anywhere else on the internet that separates the two eras properly, and the split is the whole story of this band.

The Original Era (1983–1991)

Five albums in eight years, one of them a global phenomenon. The band went on hiatus in 1992 and stayed apart for over a decade.

The Reunion Era (2004–present)

Seven albums since the reunion — more than they made the first time around.

And here’s the part worth saying plainly: the second list is better than the first.

Why The Modern Albums Are The Good Ones

This is the argument nobody makes about Europe, and it’s the reason this band deserves a second look.

When they reunited in 2003, they could have done what almost every reformed 1980s act does — tour the hits, make a nostalgic record, cash in. They didn’t. Start From The Dark in 2004 arrived heavier, darker and considerably more serious than anything they’d made before, and every album since has pushed further in that direction.

Bag Of Bones was recorded with Kevin Shirley, who has worked with Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin and Joe Bonamassa. War Of Kings leaned into Deep Purple and UFO territory with real conviction. Walk The Earth was produced by Dave Cobb — the man behind Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell — at Abbey Road, and it’s a genuinely fine hard rock album.

None of them sold like The Final Countdown. All of them are better records.

The band’s modern sound sits much closer to Deep Purple, UFO and early Whitesnake than to the synth-driven arena rock that made them famous. Blues-rooted, guitar-led, and built around a singer who has aged into a considerably more interesting vocalist than he was at twenty-three.

If you know one Europe song and assume you know the band, you don’t. Start with War Of Kings.

About That Song

“The Final Countdown” was released in 1986 and became one of the most ubiquitous pieces of music of the twentieth century.

It topped the charts across Europe and in more than twenty countries worldwide, and the parent album became one of the best-selling rock records of the decade. Four decades on it remains a sports arena staple, a film and television shorthand, and an internet fixture.

Tempest has been open over the years about the strangeness of it — he wrote the keyboard riff years before the song existed, and it wasn’t originally intended as a single at all.

The song’s success also broke something. Norum left almost immediately, uncomfortable with where the band’s sound was heading, and the group spent the next five years chasing a follow-up before splitting entirely.

That’s the double edge of a song that big. It made them, and it very nearly finished them.

If ’80s rock is your thing, our 13 cringiest ’80s hair metal videos and underrated hair metal bands rundowns cover the era Europe both defined and outgrew.

The 40th Anniversary And The Documentary

2026 is the biggest year this band has had in a very long time, and the album is only part of it.

The Final Countdown turns 40, and Europe are marking it with an anniversary tour running through September and October, timed to land alongside the new record.

There’s also Europe – The Movie, a full career documentary directed by Craig Hooper (Deep Purple, Saxon) for Coolhead Productions. It’s been in production for several years and includes archive VHS footage shot during the original Final Countdown period, telling the story from formation through the mid-’80s explosion, the split, the reunion and the present day.

New album, documentary, anniversary tour. For a band nine years without a record, that’s a considerable amount of noise at once.

Find Europe tickets and tour dates here.

Where To Start With Europe

For anyone arriving here knowing exactly one song, three entry points:

If you want the hits — The Final Countdown (1986). “Carrie,” “Rock The Night” and “Cherokee” alongside the obvious one.

If you want the best album — War Of Kings (2015). Heavy, bluesy, confident, and the clearest statement of what this band became.

If you want the crossover — Walk The Earth (2017). Dave Cobb at Abbey Road, and the most accomplished production of their career.

Then Come This Madness on September 25, which by the band’s own account brings the melody back.

Last updated: August 2026

TL;DR

• Who: Europe, a Swedish rock band formed in Upplands Väsby, Stockholm, in 1979, originally under the name Force
• Known for: “The Final Countdown” (1986), one of the most recognisable rock songs ever recorded
• Current lineup: Joey Tempest (vocals), John Norum (guitar), John Levén (bass), Mic Michaeli (keyboards), Ian Haugland (drums) — the same five who made The Final Countdown
• Albums: twelve studio albums. Five between 1983 and 1991, seven since reuniting in 2003
• New album: Come This Madness, out September 25, 2026 — their first in nine years
• Produced by: Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Opeth), mixed by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Metallica), recorded October 2025 at RMV Studios, Stockholm
• First single: “One On One,” released April 2026
• The direction: a deliberate move back toward melody after two decades of heavier, blues-influenced records
• Also in 2026: the Europe – The Movie documentary, and a 40th anniversary tour for The Final Countdown
• Best starting point for newcomers: War Of Kings (2015)

Frequently Asked Questions

Twelve albums, forty-seven years, and one song that overshadowed all of it. Which Europe record deserves more attention than it got? Let us know in the comments.

Want more classic rock and metal? The Loaded Radio stream runs twenty-four hours a day — grab the free Loaded Radio app on Apple iOS and Google Play, or listen right here.

The post Europe: The Band Behind The Final Countdown — Every Album, The Full Lineup, And The New Record Come This Madness appeared first on Loaded Radio.

Apple Music won’t prevent you from streaming AI slop, but it’ll at least let you know that you’re streaming AI slop. According to the Music Business Worldwide newsletter, the biggest non-Spotify streaming service is launching a new feature that it calls Transparency Tags. It’s a set of metadata disclosure requirements that’ll flag music that used generative AI on a “material portion” of four elements: the track itself, the lyrics, the artwork, and the music video.

The post Apple Music Introduces AI Transparency Tags appeared first on Stereogum.

FireHouse .

The post FireHouse launch new single “Midnight Gasoline” first appeared on Sleaze Roxx.

Picture a chamber recital held in a bombed-out city. The theatre’s ceiling has collapsed inward, burying the balconies and mezzanines in rubble. The few working lights flicker tentatively in the gloom. Scorch marks adorn the walls, occasionally outlining ghostly silhouettes on the peeling plaster. The stage is coated in a fine layer of ash, soon to be stirred about by a rotating ensemble of over a dozen musicians, who will weave tales of resistance, desperation, loss and, ultimately, hope. 

This is the imagery Something to Lose conjures, a live collaboration between Throwing Bricks and Ontaard commissioned by the curators of Roadburn Festival. Last April, these nigh-unclassifiable Dutch bands united to perform this joint composition–a whirlwind of sludge, screamo, black metal, post rock, industrial, and spoken word–and on the anniversary of that performance, the bands and their collaborators will make a recording of that set available to the world. You can sample the “unholy alchemy” of that evening through lead single “Acid for Fascists,” available to stream below.

–Alex Chan

…

…

Here’s what Jordi from Throwing Bricks had to say about the track:

“Acid to Fascists” truly embodies the collaborative nature of the project. Throwing two bands in a room together, adding extra musicians with new instruments and sounds we don’t know. It has been quite a guess for all of us, but turned out great. This song specifically started out as an improvised jam, when Yoni (TTFO) joined in during rehearsal to see what we we’re doing.

He hooked up his synths and sample pad and off we went. It’s the best fun you can have, making noise with friends.

…

Something to Lose will release on digital platforms and vinyl April 10th.

REXORIA returns with their signature Royal Metal sound on the brand‑new album ‘Fallen Dimension‘, delivering towering choruses, vivid storytelling, emotional depth, and raw, commanding vocals. With their fourth studio album — the successor to the acclaimed ‘Imperial Dawn‘, both released through Black Lodge — REXORIA takes a bold and focused step forward. Fallen Dimension spans […]

The post REXORIA Return With New Album ‘Fallen Dimension’ appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM!.

German Guitar wizard Axel Rudi Pell released with "Guillotine Walk" a new digital single and video today. The song is taken from the upcoming studio album "Ghost Town," which is set to be released on March 20, 2026 through Steamhammer. Axel Rudi Pell: "The walk to the scaffold! The last thoughts of a condemned man… musically melancholic yet driv… Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

Melbourne gave Little River Band its launch in March 1975, but the group came together from musicians who had already built reputations in other successful Australian acts. Glenn Shorrock had sung with the Twilights and Axiom, Beeb Birtles came from Zoot, and Graeham Goble and Derek Pellicci had been part of Mississippi. Under the management of Glenn Wheatley, the band was put together with international success in mind, especially in the United States. The band’s name came from a road sign pointing toward Little River on the route from Melbourne to Geelong, and the first performance took place on March

The post Complete List Of Little River Band Songs From A to Z appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Shortly after announcing their fifteenth studio album, "Architects Of A New Weave," set for release on June 5, 2026 via Napalm Records, Evergrey unveil their new single and manifest of beautiful darkness, "Architects Of The New Weave," alongside a visually-striking animated video. Once again, Gothenburg’s finest export proves its unmatched ability … Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

Sharon Osbourne has confirmed that the plan is to bring Ozzfest back next year, and it will start in the birthplace of the man himself.

Ozzfest started in 1996 before expanding into a touring festival a year later, running through to 2018, championing the likes of Slipknot and System of a Down at the start of their careers.

Whilst speaking to her son Jack on the Osbournes’ podcast, Sharon Osbourne has now stated that the plan is to hold the festival over two days at Villa Park. The same venue where Black Sabbath’s Back To The Beginning concert took place, serving as Ozzy’s final live performance.

“We wanna do two days in Aston Villa and then come to America,” she explained. “Then we wanna hear from everyone where we should go in America. We’ve got to find a lot of young, new talent, because that’s what your dad would want”

The news follows a big week of celebrations honouring Ozzy’s life and legacy. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BRIT Awards this past weekend, where Sharon exclaimed, “There will never be another Ozzy fucking Osbourne” during the acceptance speech.

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A special performance of ‘No More Tears’ followed, delivered by Robbie Williams, Adam Wakeman, Robert Trujillo, Tommy Clufetos and Zakk Wylde.

The post Ozzfest Will Return To Birmingham In 2027 appeared first on Rock Sound.