John Norum (often considered Swedish but originally
from Norway) was the guitarist who famously left Europe (the Swedish band, not
the continent) when the band was at the height of its popularity. This is
John's first solo album, “Total Control”. Somewhat confusingly, Göran Edman
from Madison (the Swedish band, not the town in Wisconsin) is the lead singer
on three of the tracks.
Both I and a friend of mine (who happens to be a musician) reacted to the album in pretty much the same way as the other reviewers on this product page. John Norum left Europe when the band became too pop-oriented. One example was their international hit “The Final Countdown”. Indeed, people called Europe's music “pop metal” rather than “heavy metal”. Everyone therefore expected “Total Control” to be much harder and heavier. My musician friend's comments when he heard the track “Love is meant to last forever”? “It sounds exactly like The Final Countdown”…
But sure, I suppose the guitars and rocky riffs are more pronounced on John Norum's album than on Europe's dittoes. The biggest hit from this album, as I recall, was “Let me love you” (where John sings himself). As an aside, John's younger sister Tone Norum is a pop singer with a few stints on the rockier side of things. In Sweden, she was probably more successful than big brother! A pop orientation usually means a wider audience…
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