I used to work for the space program here in the states. When they used to launch the space shuttles sometimes they have that song playing in the background. Always love that track.

I am so glad that someone else has noticed how underrated John Norum is! I have said almost everything you pointed out about his technique. He’s definitely one of the best!

Not many people realize that the solo is a lot harder than it sounds - it's actually alternate picked 16th triads with pull-offs in between. Trying to sweep/economy pick it will get you up to speed faster, but makes it sound sloppy and not locked in to the rhythm of the song.

Congratulations on 7k !!! And John is masterful. Blues and technical and feel. Is is one of the greats. Rip to his late wife. John is amazing and this solo was amazing.

I was 5 years old and I was blown away by TFC videoclip. My father brought me to the vinyl shop and bought me the album that I was not tall enough to reach the vinyl shelf! Three years ago I moved from Palermo to Milan to see Europe live (i didn't sleep for 30 hours).. What a band, John is a great player, and he has one of the most fabulous sounds I've ever heard. In the digital era, he still uses cranked Marshalls on stage!

This solo is just epic. Norum is been my fav guitarist since I was a kid and always be no doubt about that.

I always loved John as well as Ronnie Le Tekro from TNT, I thought both these guy were really unique. Must be something in the cold climate of Norway and Sweden that makes these guys so great:)

I always loved his style and feel; he is the Swedish Gary Moore. He didn’t overplay like that other guy from Sweden

Great tone , great vibrato and great feel......John is one of my fave's.

Okay, seriously, my all time FAVORITE guitarist. None better, imo. Had a chance to meet him when he was last with Dokken. Such a cool guy! It was a New Years Eve show and we drank champagne together, lol.

John was and is one of my favorite guitarists....🎸🎸🎸🎸

That was good man! Thanks Fil! I always liked that song, and the band~! Oh yeah, congrats on hitting 7,000 Subs Fil!

John norum is amazing.. for me the best. I hear the solo on live omg is so amazing!!!!!

Hell yeah The Final Countdown is pretty much the reason I picked up a guitar, more specifically solos like "Rock the night" and "Love is meant to last forever" just blew my mind and still do.

I remember trying to learn this solo as a kid when it came out. Long before we had KZfaq lol, it was record the video on VHS from MTV or slow down the record haha! I must be getting old... John's legato in between the picked notes is so masterful on this track that i thought it was harmonized! His memorable phrasing and his melodic lines for me define what a great solo is made of! Check out his version of The Loner as a tribute to Gary Moore! 😎🤙

Great video thanks for uploading ⭐️⭐️⭐️🎧

Seen him a few times awesome musician

Another great video! I saw them in Atlanta on the Final Countdown tour, just as the song was climbing the charts. It was a smaller opera theater called the Fox. The acoustics were amazing and that band, they are still one of the best live bands I have seen. This is a great solo, but my favorite of his is the Time has Come off the same album.

Love this song! Love this band! Love this guitar solo!

Europe is sick! seen them in Hollywood Ca, the whole band is tight and John Norum is a super amazing guitarist!.....Period!

One of rocks classic solo's. I've had a go at playing this one live.....tricky. Interesting what you say about clean sound. Queen were playing in Glasgow recently and Brian's guitar tone was suprisingly 'non-ambient'. But fitted perfectly and so prominent in the mix. This a great channel. Thanks.

Great video. I'd love to see you react to one of Jon's solo songs. Maybe even an instrumental one. Greetings from Germany

Thanks Fil!

I remember painstakingly learning this for a local cover band I was in back in the late 80's early 90's. It's a great solo and he makes it look SO easy lol.

Hey Fil.. BillyJ... great song.. still sounds good through the years... have a nice night...👍

🎸🤘 great video 🤘 great guitar performer & great bands performance team wotk high high high 🤘🎸🎼🎵🎼🎵

And rock he did, pulls you right in and keeps you wanting more.

It's quite funny that both Norum and Malmsteen is from the same suburb in Stockholm. My favorite will always be Malmsteen.

I was never a europe fan but norums a beast. Hes a great singer too...listen to his version of wild one by thin lizzy...stellar.

Norum has been overlooked for sure. Any guitarist who appreciates players can see this guy is a monster. Bought this album in 1987. Never thought this song would become so iconic. Been to metal festivals with thrash bands and the fans sing this while it's playing between sets. Mettalica plays around with it at their own gigs

Great Choice, Fil. This sounds awesome!! I really dug Europe but not as much as the co worker i went to see Gary Moore with in the late '80s. He bought other albums like Wings Of Tomorrow which in comparison to The Final Countdown was pretty heavy. Became a fan of John's buying Total Control. Lots of Gary and 'Lizzy influences like closing with Wild One which he sang and sounded great to me. Also some YJM but these guys were friends, apparently Yngwie producing an album for John's sister for the European market. Lost track of him over the years but seeing The Final Countdown for an insurance company a few years back made me smile. They were still relevant!! Nice work, Fil!!

You should react to the live solo he did in 2005 in sn.petersburg.

Heroes get remembered, *but legends never die.*

STORMWIND is so fun to play

I love John Norum, but speaking of Europe, I totally adore Kee Marcello, what a beast, and "Out of this World" is in my top 10 albums of all time. I still buy all new Europe albums, but Tempest's voice is really shot since about 10 years or so...

Watch Norum play Since I’ve been loving you. It’s on KZfaq. He is just great.

❤❤❤❤❤

Great video and great description of the way John Norum plays. Norum solos are always about the feeling, not just showing off. He does just what the people who inspired him did like Gary Moore, Scott Gorham and Michael Schenker - always play from the heart, don't just go for style. It's what gives a guitar solo substance.

Yeah he's got the neck pickup on with a straight Marshall tone. Norum was in Whitesnake for awhile too. That's what I did basically too when I played in orginal bands come up with something that fits the song and knock that shit out of the park. 😀😀😀

I loved this video, I wanted to see it before ☺☺☺ John Norum is a great guitarrist, someday you could make a video about Kee Marcello too, both are big guitarrists ☺

Extremely underrated player

Difficulty not flying under my radar, no sir

You are so correct. I once played with young guitar player who was very talented. And I told him ....if you would play half the notes and play something that makes me feel it !!! That would be the key. You can play fast, all well and good. But so may times in fast playing there is melody and feel lost. A song is an idea or a feeling you are trying to get across to your audience. Let's give that to them!! Not a million notes that mean nothing. Another great video my friend.

Reminds of my first wife in the 80 s hated her loved the band😁good video

The TFC GUITAR SOLO IS AMAZING VERY UNDERRATED

You have a very nice voice Fil! Haha!!

Hi! Always easy for some people to criticize and talkin’ bout 80’s era but You are right on... John is a formidable guitarplayer and capable to have new sololicks coming up instead of always repeating and playing the same stuff that a lot of ”guitarheroes” still do. Would have been nice if You checked Tony Borg from Alien. A awesome player with an unique tone....👊🤟

Hello Fil. I really enjoy watching your analysis videos on many great guitarist here and gone. How about Quiet Riot's Carlos Cavazos and Wolf Hoffman of Accept. How about it Fil. I know there are many more out there, but these two are two I really think are worth analyzing. 🎸👍(Liked and Subbed)

this solo is great, lot of blackmore spirit in it. Europe is a great band, latest material is full of cool deep purple vibes.

Shimmering Highs by John Norum!!!...🤙😎🤘🤘🤘

Watched Europe live, few months ago; they are brilliant, better than ever. John played flawlessly; changed 6 guitars during the concert (I pay attention to those things). His sound is drier, which suits band's total move into the hard rock and change of keys from majors to minors, (they reworked songs from their previous albums). John's skills are especially noticeable in their 'Almost Unplugged' album, which is brilliant. → kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mNOAlcJ0rJ_UpYk.html

🤘

Phil: I always liked this solo, it's tasty and . . well I love Strats. .so imm took liking to it! I also like his newer neck tone! I believe he is Swedish? I recall reading an interview where he stated he admired "Yngwie.I thought that was cool.

80’s “Hair Metal” (of which Europe is a member) WAS the mainstream. There was no crossing over. It was already mainstream, not like now.

Can ypu do Kee marcello thanks

Like john in Don Dokken super group 1000 miles away

Great review. John has never been on my radar, but he is a great player. Can I respect a man's talent , but not much like any of the bands he has been in, or songs he's performed?

PS please react to Savatage (with Criss Oliva) !!!

is that paul shaffer on the drums? As always ...loves yer analysis an critique.....Hey , if I sent ya a T shirt , wouldya wear it ?

Eruption had one purpose. To be a springboard for technically-minded players to believe they could shine on a big stage. It was innovative. But Players quickly began to blow it out of the water.

How are you getting on Fil? n/,

Sweden represent!!! Sorry for writing that...but we don't have too many guitar gods. It's Yngwie and John Norum...and Janne Schaffer (who played with ABBA), but that's about it. Although, I personally think that Kee Marcello was a more than adequate replacement for John in Europe. Listen to that sweet-ass solo in Superstitious!

Great video presentation about great musicians. [Never been keen on that type of music though] :●)

Hey Fil! How about some Iron Maiden? Have you done any yet? They’re kinda good.

I saw John in 87. I had seen Yngwie and Slash that same year. I immediately thought John sounded like Slash playing like Yngwie. The most strking thing besides Joeys vocals was his tone. It was like a cobra. Fluid, and swaying like a cobras head. Thing is though when he got on it, soloing, that snake would strike with a fierce effort. He had lots of effects maybe an Eventide(?) unit. John is one of the best glad to see you do a piece on him. Funny you mention Gilbert along with John. Both now are just stripped down bad asses.

Yes!!!! Amen to the fact that melodic players do not just play a million notes for any reason.. Maybe look over Yngwie Malmsteen's Masquerade?

Have you done Thin Lizzy?

I hope he's doing better than the singer that's on the hot pocket commercial. All kidding aside the guys got the chops kind of on the lines of Brandenburg. Tks FIL keep the good jams coming. God bless rock n roll

Very Schenker like tone", who also builds solos around songs, both admire each o ther , love his solo stuff, more tastefully than fellow swede,Yngwie. "who is also"not bad"

You're kind of young, so you might not know of this. But John was part of a super group for a little while in 1990. It was with Don Dokken, the bass player from accept and the drummer from King Diamond/Motorhead. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eKp9YJqputHOpaM.html

Can you do some Jerry Cantrell?

Historicly im not sure if Norum wrote anything in this song. The manager had the attide that Joey was the band and Joy basicly wrote the whole album himself. Norum felt left out and quit the band and went solo. I suspect it hit Joey kinda hard to have his best friend quit due to following the manager rule. The following albums was writren by the whole band

John has always been such a great technical player but also extremely tasty with his solos as well. Hey Fil, I’d love to see your reaction to one of my favorite guitarists from the 80’s and even now. Frank Hannon from Tesla. He can absolutely shred guitar yet does some VERY tasty playing too. Check out this video. RAWK! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qt2lgNWQ1M_Pk2w.html

He is Norwegians

Thanks for the Norum! A player with monster technique but not a technical player - melody, feel and tone are king. He is definitely a contender for having the most magnificent rock/metal vibrato of all active players (George Lynch and Michael Schenker are also up there). Particularly shines through on his slower or bluesier solos. How about analysing Walter Trout one of these days - he is up there in terms of injecting rock power into blues guitar and is still firing on all cylinders. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rLV9gcdmlZyZnI0.html

John Norum is a world class guitarist, the heir apparent of Gary Moore. He'll even blow you away on a practise amp while warming up: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ibGZeaWL09bUpYk.html

norum still has it ...

John Norum has lost a lot of speed since his shredding days in 1986 but she is still a great guitarist

Norum is still great. Altough Kee Marcello is great too!

Some of it is too fast for me. What? Yeah. Iron Maiden and Anthrax. It hit a cut off point for me. Fast at certain parts of the song are welcome and exhilarating. But because of Yngwie or whatever it came upon a lot of solos...where it wasn't needed. It ain't a sport. But old Schenker, Uli Roth etc. go as fast as anyone but at the build up point. Thee emotion is here but at some points, even though it is crisp and clear it's like, why? Bend the note here and there for the feel, to emphasize something....the speed runs it over. Like hey baby.....bam, bam, bam. Uh, look at her face Buster. What's she feeling? Or are you doing yourself? Old school, I know. Shame on me. John's great. I think Michael played Lights Out with them once. It's all there. But for 20 seconds or so the speed goes nutz and that is the emphasis where speed is essential. Hey, I'm just a listener. Of 500 years!!!!