Prisoners in Paradise

For the song, see Prisoners in Paradise (song).
Prisoners in Paradise
Cover art by Mark Wilkinson
Studio album by
Europe
Released23 September 1991
Recorded1990–1991
StudioEnterprise Studios, Burbank, California
GenreGlam metal, hard rock
Length54:57
LabelEpic
ProducerBeau 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 US, which is unusual for a major label follow-up to two recent (multi)platinum albums. Prisoners in Paradise is the last album to feature guitarist Kee Marcello.

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, "Wild Child" and "I Don't Know How to Love No More"[5] were re-recorded for Kee Marcello's 2016 solo album "Scaling Up" on Frontiers Records.[6]

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
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
13."Break Free"TempestTempest, Marcello4:05
14."Yesterday's News"Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli, John Levén, Ian HauglandTempest5:27
Spitfire Records 2001 remaster bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
13."Mr. Government Man"Tempest, HillTempest, Hill3:36
14."A Long Time Comin'"TempestTempest, Marcello3:55
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)[7])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
6."Stranded"4:32
7."I Want Your Love"6:20

(Note: These unreleased demos can be heard on YouTube and, thusly, accurate time lengths for these songs were acquired.)

Personnel

Europe

Additional musicians

  • Nate Winger, Paul Winger – background vocals

Production

  • Beau Hill – producer, mixing
  • Jimmy Hoyson – engineer, mixing
  • Martin Horenburg – assistant engineer
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Jeff Katz – photography
  • Mark Wilkinson – illustrations
  • Tony Sellari – art direction

Charts

Chart (1991) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] 32
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9] 60
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[10] 21
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 38
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[12] 22
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] 12
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[14] 18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[16] 17
UK Albums (OCC)[17] 61

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Sweden (GLF)[18] Platinum 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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 19 October 2016.
  4. ^ Marcello, Kee; Johansson, Stefan (8 June 2012). Rockstjärnan Gud glömde (in Swedish). Sweden: Månpocket. ISBN 978-917-2-32258-5.
  5. ^ "Album review: KEE MARCELLO – Scaling up".
  6. ^ "Kee Marcello släpper nytt album – Rocknytt". 21 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Encyclopedia Of Swedish Hard Rock And Heavy Metal av Janne Stark (Bok)".
  8. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Europe – Prisoners in Paradise" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  9. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Europe – Prisoners in Paradise" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  10. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  11. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Europe – Prisoners in Paradise" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  12. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 12 January 2024. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Europe".
  13. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  14. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Europe – Prisoners in Paradise". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  15. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Europe – Prisoners in Paradise". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  16. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Europe – Prisoners in Paradise". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  17. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  18. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011.