Eurock – Eurock

Eurock were a Swedish AOR band that operated between 1977 and 1985 and were reluctantly embroiled in a naming dispute with another popular Swedish band with a similar name.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Eurock
ALBUM: Eurock
LABEL: Eutone
SERIAL: EULP 675
YEAR: 1984
ALBUM INFO: Discogs Info List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Sweden

LINEUP: Jan Morge – vocals, guitars * Michael (J:son) Jonsson – guitars, backing vocals * Janne Blondell – bass * Lars ‘Quast’ Dahlqvist – keyboards, backing vocals * Anders Theander – drums

TRACK LISTING: 01 The Loner * 02 Starlight Night * 03 Still Time * 04 Hell Of A Saturday * 05 Ready For Love * 06 Heloise * 07 Nightmare Lady * 08 Ain’t Fantasy * 09 Stenblomma

WEBLINKS: NA

Background

Eurock were a Swedish AOR band from Malmo that operated between 1977 and 1985 and were reluctantly embroiled in a naming dispute with another popular Swedish band with a similar name. That band was Europe, who went by the name Force during the early 80s, prior to their 1983 debut.

Force‘s manager Thomas Ertman had wanted to buy the Eurock name along with one of their songs but was denied. Force went on to become Europe and the rest is history, and all this after Eurock had contemplated taking legal action but were advised by lawyers it wouldn’t succeed.

In their own right, Eurock delivered a set of great pomp styled rock, with loads of keyboards and sharp guitar work. The keyboard work is reminiscent of bands like Dutchies The President and Belgians K West though without the high end production.

The Songs

‘The Loner’ is a great introduction, with its twin guitar opening sequence, before unloading in true pomp style. This track is one of only two videos found on YouTube. The other is ‘Hell Of A Saturday’, which moves more in a rock boogie direction a la Status Quo and late 70’s Uriah Heep.

You have to wade through the first 50 seconds of piano and vocals on ‘Starlight Night’ to get to the goodies. Once there, the pomp quota bursts forth like a boiled lolly with all that sugary goodness inside being unleashed. Again, the twin guitar work is a standout. ‘Still Time’ is a good template of early 80’s AOR with a funk flavour added for good measure.

‘Ready For Love’ is more subdued and with a slower tempo this could be construed as late 70’s krautrock. The song that Force wanted to buy was the track ‘Helloise’. I’m not sure the arrangement really suited Joey Tempest and co, which didn’t say a lot about their manager’s musical judgment. ‘Nightmare Lady’ is strong on backing vocals, while the verses are top heavy with a funky clavinet keyboard sound.

‘Ain’t Fantasy’ takes the mid-tempo route, it’s pleasant enough with guitars, keys and backing vocals all integrating well. The other highlight is the funky rocker ‘Stenblomma’. The intro sounds like The Scorpions ‘Steamrock Fever’, while the guitar work is pretty heavy on this one, again with a hint of boogie in the mix, like Bodine on steroids.

In Summary

Despite the low profile, these Swedes should be better known as they preceded much of the more popular Scandinavian AOR acts that existed from 1985 onwards. Eurock by 1985 had called it quits, with only drummer Anders Theander moving onto anything substantial, including running the successful Roastinghouse Studio, well known among followers of west coast and AOR. Eurock are a rare commodity and are well worth tracking down by 80’s era pomp fans. As expected, this album has never received a CD reissue.

Video

The Loner