Simon Rushworth
Europe are planning to pay tribute to their British heroes on next month’s UK headline tour – and could revisit the record which divided fans 20 years ago.
Keyboard king Mic Michaeli co-wrote the band’s biggest US hit, Carrie, and the ballad will no doubt feature on the band’s February trek. But he revealed: “We’re talking about playing a couple of covers each night in homage to our favourite British bands.
“As kids growing up in Sweden we all listened to bands from the UK and their music played a big part in our lives.
“That’s why every chance we get to come back to the country we seize with open arms. This time we’re talking about playing some of the music which meant so much to us way back when.
“We go into rehearsals in the next week or two and there will be a few tracks up for discussion. We want to make this tour a bit special for our British fans.”
It is 20 years since the often overlooked Prisoners In Paradise was released – marking the end of Europe Mk1. And while it polarised opinion at the time Michaeli believes it could be time to re-evaluate the final of their three Epic releases.
“We weren’t at our happiest making that record and we certainly weren’t having as much fun as we are now,” he added. “But there are some good songs on that record and Europe in 2011 could breathe some new life into them.
“I haven’t listened to that album for two decades but it should be something we revisit 20 years after its release. We might be pleasantly surprised.”
* Look out for a full interview with Mic Michaeli here very soon.