Europe | Live Look at Eden
by Nikiforos Skoumas
Staff Writer
Live Look at Eden is an audio-visual documentation of Europe’s 2010-2011 world tour in support of their latest studio album Last Look at Eden. It seems that since their reformation in 2004, the Swedish melodic hard rock pioneers have steadily regained their reputation and subsequent popularity amongst rock/metal audiences a fact that comes perfectly through on Live Look at Eden.
Should this release be regarded as a live CD, a DVD concert, or a book anthology? Well, Live Look at Eden has elements of all three; Live Look at Eden is essentially a hardcover photography book capturing the greatest live moments of Europe’s latest world tour through 140 pages of high-quality photo-bliss.
The book is supported by a ten-track live CD and a seven-track DVD. The live album is recorded on various locations during the Last Look at Eden tour including such prestigious appearances as Sonisphere UK and iTunes Festival. The live DVD focuses on Europe’s iTunes Festival show featuring five songs of their set-list plus two video clips from the latest studio album.
As always, Europe looks and sounds super-energetic with all the performance intensity and stage charisma that defined their ‘80s flamboyant style. Just about every song on the CD and DVD is performed faithfully to the original version (with minor alterations during some solos/improvisations). During their performance of the song “Rock the Night” the band broke into Black Sabbath’s “Heaven & Hell,” evidently a stage-tribute to the late legendary singer, Mr. Ronnie James Dio. Clearly the set-list is bound to focus on their latest releases with the heavier/groovier tunes considered preferable to their AOR/melodic rock songs. Regardless of the above, front man Joey Tempest is vocally and physically stellar, proving once again the heart and soul of Europe.
Overall, Live Look at Eden is a rich and satisfactory documentation of Europe’s life as a group over the past two years, effectively bringing the audience closer to their favorite rock band. No question, we are looking at a high quality collector’s item which effectively stands out from most autumn releases.
Genre: Hard Rock
CD Track List:
1. Last Look At Eden (live in Warsaw, Poland)
2. Love Is Not The Enemy (live in London, UK)
3. Superstitious (live in London, UK)
4. Scream of Anger (live in Knebworth, UK)
5. No Stoner Unturned (live in Knebworth, UK)
6. New Love In Town (live in London, UK)
7. Seventh Sign (live in Stockholm, Sweden)
8. Rock The Night (live in Knebworth, UK)
9. The Beast (live in Knebworth, UK)
10. The Final Countdown (live in Knebworth, UK)
DVD Track List:
1. Last Look At Eden
2. No Stone Unturned
3. New Love In Town
4. Rock The Night
5. The Beast
6. Last Look At Eden (official video clip)
7. New Love In Town (official video clip)
Band:
Joey Tempest: vocals
John Norum: guitar
John Levén: bass
Mic Michaeli: keyboards
Ian Haugland: drums
Website: http://www.europetheband.com/
Hardrock Haven rating: 8/10