Stephen
After releasing "Secret Society" in 2006 followed by an intensive tour, Europe finally back at home in Stockholm. They held an intimate unique semi-acoustic concert at Nalen, accompanied by a string quartet, and recorded it live to be released later in CD and DVD. This record was dedicated to the late wife of John Norum, Michelle Meldrum, who has passed away recently.
What's so special about this album is that you can find a good mixture setlist between classic hits, cover version, and new songs. "Forever Travelling", "Devil Sings The Blues", and "Hero" amazingly sounded better here, the reworked version of "The Final Countdown" felt kinda strange with slower tempo but interesting, "Superstitious","Since I've Been Loving You", and "Dreamer" were all winners.
My biggest complain is that they should have put in a big string medley of "I'll Cry For You-Carrie-Open Your Heart" but all of them are missing. Or maybe you're also as curious as I am, how will they transform the heavy-rockers "Scream of Anger" and "Seven Doors Hotel" into an acoustical-jam. I'm just hoping this type of gig doesn't stop here and more to come in the future.
For a live album, "Almost Unplugged" was extremely close to perfection, the sound production was crystal clear and the crowd noise was audible but didn't irritate. Europe showed an extra-ordinary performance and you can't deny if they were entitled Scandinavia's biggest rock band, they got the quality.