EUROPE - "Walk The Earth" (2017)

[KarpetRydOFunk]

7 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

Pffft.
Maybe you expect too much or don't put the time in to letting the songs work into your system.
I'm not saying the last 4 albums are amazing, but there are some good and great songs on them,
Sorry you didn't get to enjoy them.

Nah, Geoffrey's an interesting dude. One of the few -- maybe only -- who can listen to a song once and pass a solid judgement. Solid being relative, obviously. So if he says they're shit, then they're very much not his taste, and he doesn't need to "put the time in to [let] the songs work into [his] system."

[CureTheSane]

Each to their own.

I find that some songs that instantly sound great become tired very quickly.

Others take a few listens and then start to click.
Examples from these Europe albums of songs that took a while would be
Let The Children Play
U Devil U
Walk The Earth
Wish I Could Believe

Some that I instantly liked are
Bag Of Bones
New Love In Town
Pictures

For me I play the albums, looking forward to the songs I already like and eventually I find myself looking forward to other songs as well.
Then after enough listens I pick the ones for my best of folder and I likely will never hear the other songs again.
 

[Invisible_man]

kind of psychedelic, but I like it

[Geoff]

On 5/10/2018 at 11:54 PM, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Nah, Geoffrey's an interesting dude. One of the few -- maybe only -- who can listen to a song once and pass a solid judgement. Solid being relative, obviously. So if he says they're shit, then they're very much not his taste, and he doesn't need to "put the time in to [let] the songs work into [his] system."

Haha, I was out of action but Karpet answered well enough for me. Good boy. Karpey want a biscuit? Here, boy. There you go, pup. Good boy. 

But seriously, Karpet's more or less on the money. Have you seen how much music there is in the world? Why on earth I would waste my time on horseshit, trying to make it sound good, would defy all sense of logic. 

I know people might try and think different and next level about Europe, but to the straight shooters, it's obvious they're absolute fucking garbage. Scrounging around sacks to eat balls and reproducing them in their music. As bad as it gets in terms of rock music. No way is this hombre wasting time trying to "get" this shit. 

[CureTheSane]

I've been thinking about this.

It make all the Belly 2 Belly discussions we've had futile.
Had I known that you needed to like the music on first listen I wouldn't have bothered.

I get that there's an element of needing to hear as much as possible, and I wouldn't say it was lazy not to give some music a few listens before deciding, but I would say that in not doing so you're missing out as some of the songs that take a few listens turn out to be the best.

[Geoff]

9 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

I've been thinking about this.

It make all the Belly 2 Belly discussions we've had futile.
Had I known that you needed to like the music on first listen I wouldn't have bothered.

I get that there's an element of needing to hear as much as possible, and I wouldn't say it was lazy not to give some music a few listens before deciding, but I would say that in not doing so you're missing out as some of the songs that take a few listens turn out to be the best.

Sorry mate, been listening to music for too long for this to be valid. Definitely, if an album is a 50/50 type of album I can understand giving it time to either gel or fail. But if an album is an obvious sack of flaming horseshit, like 'Belly to Belly' or recent Europe albums, why on earth bother? 

Would you try having sex with a dozen men to be sure that you actually prefer females?

And for the record, when I first heard 'Belly to Belly' and similar albums from that era, I had time to listen to rubbish and spent many torturous hours trying to like shit like that. Twenty two years later, I still think that album is an absolute piece of shit... funnily enough, just like I did the first time I heard it.  

[CureTheSane]

But being so disinterested after a first listen just does yourself a disservice .

Here are 2 recent cases in point.

As I mentioned on the thread, I recently gave time to Adrenaline Mob. 
Off Omerta, the catchy songs came later, but I persisted with the earlier songs. After a few listens Undaunted got pretty catchy and I really like it now. Psychosane got a bit better but is still average for me.

then there's the new Europe album. I saw them live tonight, and they played 2 songs I initially didn't like - Walk The Earth and GTO.
Walk The Earth became a killer song after 4 or 5 listens, but I never really got GTO. Yet they played it as the 4th last song of the second set, so the band obviously thinks something of it. I had hoped that seeing it live would add to the song somehow but it was still crappy for me.

How about HEAT?
Did you like their new album instantly? From memory it took most here quite a few listens to get in to it.
If one of your favorite bands releases a new album, do you give it more of a go than a band you don't know, or have gone off?

[Glen]

Also the new Vega - on first listen i only liked about half the album, but wow those other songs were growers. I love them all now

[Geoff]

Doods, please take note of my last post;

On 5/19/2018 at 8:47 PM, Geoff said:

Definitely, if an album is a 50/50 type of album I can understand giving it time to either gel or fail. But if an album is an obvious sack of flaming horseshit, like 'Belly to Belly' or recent Europe albums, why on earth bother? 

I never immediately write off an album that could go either way... and certainly not an average album from a band I have loved before (unless they 'do a Europe' and evolve over time into an entirely new and horrible band). Like HEAT and Vega... they're 100% no-brainers for me. I wouldn't dismiss anything they ever record because there's no reason to do so. 

But Europe are a completely different story. I absolutely hate listening to them. They are dreadful these days, without redeeming feature. Like HEAT and Vega are "no-brainers" on the positive side, Europe are all but a "no-brainer" on the avoid side. They're terrible. 

But a lot of the stuff released these days is 50/50, and I give it it's time to shine or fade. 

Anyway, after bashing the shit out of Europe, I had no idea they were touring here. I see they're in Sydney on Tuesday night. The ticket prices all but excludes any interest I may have had, but how were they overall, Cure? Do they just batter you with their current horseshit, and the stuff pre-'Countdown?' I guess they wouldn't play anything from 'PIP' as it was a Kee Marcello album? Do they just play all their least melodic songs all night? Anything redeeming about the performance at all for someone who only really likes 'Prisoners In Paradise,' 'Out of this world' and on a lesser note, 'The Final Countdown?'

[CureTheSane]

It was their first ever tour of Australia which is weird in itself.

$100 is pretty steep but I guess normal as it ain't cheap to get over here.

Anyway, it was a fairly basic show.
Big backdrop curtain, and that was the only stage prop.
All dressed in black, no wardrobe changes etc.
Good long show overall.
2 x 1 hour sets and the venue enabled a good view from anywhere.
Joey took time to walk through the crowd during Superstitious which I guess is appropriate in that song (not worried about crazy fans)
A couple of crowd singalongs which weren't too long so that was ok

Other than that they were a fairly basic set up "stripped down" if you like
I kinda had warped expectations having seen the old Final Countdown etc film clips with fireworks etc

As for the setlist

Walk the Earth
The Siege
Rock the Night
(With snippet of ”Whole Lotta Rosie” by AC/DC)
Scream of Anger
Danger on the Track
Firebox
Sign of the Times
Vasastan
Girl From Lebanon
Open Your Heart
War of Kings
Heart of Stone
Days of Rock 'n' Roll
Superstitious

Second Set
Ready or Not
Last Look at Eden
Hole in My Pocket
Seven Doors Hotel
Carrie
Turn to Dust
Drum Solo
Stormwind
Prisoners in Paradise
GTO
Let the Good Times Rock

Encore:
Cherokee
The Final Countdown

Missing songs for me
I'll Cry For You
Just The Beginning - would have thought that this would have been the perfect song to end set 1...
Halfway To Heaven
Talk To Me
On Broken Wings
Always The Pretenders
New Love In Town
Bag Of Bones

I know everyone has a different opinion, but I'm not sure the crowd as a whole really appreciated most of the newer stuff.
They missed quite a few singles which was a bit weird given their first tour of Oz. (almost as weird a Cheap Trick not playing The Flame when I saw them)

But overall it was a good show. I would have regretted not seeing it. Not as much as I regret missing the Dr Feelgood tour, but still regretted it I guess. 

[Geoff]

Nice. Thanks heaps for the rundown and pics. Interesting setlist. Definitely less songs that I'd like to hear than ones I'd rather not hear. Good sportsmanship for them to do such a long set too. 

I would love to see the stuff from OOTW & PIP but it looks like they were few and far between.

[CureTheSane]

Yeah, PIP the song is probably my favorite of theirs, so I was happy to hear that.

I guess it's hard for them to go back and play a setlist they were playing 10 or 15 years ago (that time is probably smack bang in the timeframe when they were split up)

Personally I would have loved to have heard about Joey playing solo stuff in a small pub the following night. 
that would have been killer.

[Invisible_man]

I looked on amazon and reviews of this album are mostly positive, makes sense because it's a good record 

[CureTheSane]

FWIW, of the last 4 albums, I'd have to say that the most recent one is the weakest.
Not very varied and a little 'samey'