Prisoners in Paradise

Prisoners in Paradise

Cover art by Mark Wilkinson
Studio album by Europe
Released 23 September 1991
Recorded 1990-1991
Studio Enterprise Studios, Burbank, California, United States
Genre Glam metal
Length 54:57
Label Epic
Producer Beau Hill
Europe chronology
Out of This World
(1988)		 Prisoners in Paradise
(1991)		 1982–1992
(1993)
Singles from Prisoners in Paradise
  1. "Prisoners in Paradise"
    Released: September 1991
  2. "I'll Cry for You"
    Released: December 1991
  3. "Halfway to Heaven"
    Released: March 1992
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Classic Rock[1]
The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal3/10[2]
Record Collector[3]

Prisoners in Paradise is the fifth studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 23 September 1991, by Epic Records and spawned hits such as the title track, "Prisoners in Paradise" and "I'll Cry for You". The album did not chart in the USA, which is unusual for a major label follow-up to two recent (multi)platinum albums.

The band's guitarist Kee Marcello states in his 2011 biography that Bob Rock was the first choice for producer for this album, and agreed initially but pulled out to work on Metallica´s eponymous album instead. The large number of finished bonus tracks is also explained in this book: the first version of this album, called "Seventh Sign" was rejected by the label in 1990 and the band had to write and record new songs.[4] Five more tracks were demoed in addition to the 25 listed below; two of them were rewritten and became "New Love in Town" on Last Look at Eden and "Bring it All Home" on Bag of Bones. Most of the unreleased songs down below can be found on YouTube as demo recordings. Two of the previously unreleased tracks will be re-recorded for Kee Marcello´s 2016 solo album on Frontiers Records.[5]

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."All or Nothing"  Eric Martin, Andre Pessis, Joey TempestTempest3:54
2."Halfway to Heaven"  Tempest, Jim VallanceTempest, Vallance4:06
3."I'll Cry for You"  Tempest, Nick GrahamTempest, Graham5:21
4."Little Bit of Lovin'"  TempestTempest, Kee Marcello4:48
5."Talk to Me"  Tempest, Mic MichaeliTempest, Michaeli4:06
6."Seventh Sign"  TempestTempest, Marcello, Michaeli4:42
7."Prisoners in Paradise"  TempestTempest5:36
8."Bad Blood"  Tempest, MichaeliTempest, Marcello4:19
9."Homeland"  Tempest, MichaeliTempest, Marcello, Michaeli4:51
10."Got Your Mind in the Gutter"  Tempest, Beau HillMarcello, Hill4:59
11."'Til My Heart Beats Down Your Door"  Brian McDonald, FionaTempest, Michaeli3:47
12."Girl from Lebanon"  TempestTempest4:20
Tracks from the Prisoners in Paradise recording sessions available on various compilations
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sweet Love Child" (released on the 1982–1992 and 1982–2000 compilations)Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli4:57
2."Rainbow Warrior" (released on CD with Encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal 1970-1996)Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli, Levén, Haugland6:35
3."Blame It on Me" (released on CD with Encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal vol II (2002)[6])Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli, Levén, Haugland4:45
4."Here Comes the Night" (released on the compilation album Rock the Night: The Very Best of Europe)Tempest4:27
Demo tracks that remain unreleased
No.TitleLength
1."Wild Child"  4:05
2."Don't Know How to Love No More"  5:50
3."Wanted Man"  4:44
4."Little Sinner"  3:56
5."Never Gonna Say Goodbye"  3:45

(Note: These unreleased demos for some reason; can be heard on YouTube thus an accurate time length for the songs was acquired.)

Personnel

Europe

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Certifications

Country Organization Year Sales
Sweden GLF 1992 Platinum (+ 100,000)[16]

References

  1. ↑ Elliott, Paul (February 2010). "Europe - Out of This World/Prisoners in Paradise". Classic Rock. No. 141. p. 92.
  2. ↑ Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  3. ↑ Jones, Tim (June 2013). "Europe - Out of This World / Prisoners in Paradise". Record Collector (415). Retrieved 2016-10-19.
  4. ↑ Marcello, Kee; Johansson, Stefan (8 June 2012). Rockstjärnan Gud glömde (in Swedish). Sweden: Månpocket. ISBN 978-917-2-32258-5.
  5. ↑ "Kee Marcello släpper nytt album - Rocknytt". 21 February 2016.
  6. ↑ "Encyclopedia Of Swedish Hard Rock And Heavy Metal av Janne Stark (Bok)".
  7. ↑ "Europe – Prisoners in Paradise (Album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  8. ↑ AA.VV. (25 April 2006). Album Chart-Book Complete Edition 1970~2005. Tokyo, Japan: Oricon. ISBN 978-487-1-31077-2.
  9. ↑ "Europe – Prisoners of Paradise". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Europe – Prisoners in Paradise (Album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Europe – Prisoners of Paradise". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  12. ↑ "Album – Europe, Prisoners in Paradise". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  13. ↑ "Europe – Prisoners of Paradise". Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 "Europe Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Europe – Prisoners in Paradise (Song)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  16. ↑ "Swedish album chart". sverigetopplistan.se. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
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