"The last studio album by the legendary Europe,'Prisoners of Paradise'was their attempt at establishing a solid American following.After their attempt at emulating the new hair bands within the difficult musical climate of 1991 had failed,they finally disbanded.However,long out of print,this is a superior album,even though a tad different from the usual Europe fare.It is a summation of metal,blues and pop affinities,very much above most of the hair band thoroughfare."
One of the best albums ever.
S. Snodgrass | williamson, WV United States | 11/09/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Here we are on the eve of the new Europe album "Start From The Dark",So I thought I'd go back and listen to their 1991 album "Prisoners in Paradise"again,and I have to say that this album rocks from start to finish.I have always been a Europe fan and I got thia album when I was very young and and to this day it remains as one of my fav albums ever.Europe DID NOT sell out with this album.They just took their music to the next level and it turned out awesome,This album has the classic Europe melodies in such ballads as "I'll cry for you" and "Homeland",as well as the heavy rocking "Seventh sign"and "Talk to me". I would recomend this album to anyone who likes good music."Prisonsers in Paradise"is one of those albums you can just push play an not worry about,Every song on this album is killer.Go buy it."
Europe in America
scottydog | USA | 01/28/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
""Prisoners in Paradise" has been my favorite and least favorite album in the Europe catalog. The album rocks and was the most raw album the band recorded up to that time. It's melodic. It has great live energy and big hooks. I totally loved this album when I was a teenager and I still like it. Yet today I have to say its' the one Europe album I don't like as much now as I did in the past. Today it sounds a bit too juvenile to me. It doesn't have as much personality as its predecessors, and this is probably due to the outside writing influences on the album and new producer Beau Hill, plus the fact that the band was living in Los Angeles when they wrote and recorded it. It sounds very American and this is great, except Europe is a Scandinavian band and I think they were at their best when they were more connected to their homeland.
"Halfway to heaven", "I'll cry for you" and the title track were the singles from the album, with "I'll cry for you" being a #1 hit in Sweden and peaking at #25 in the United Kingdom. Tracks such as "Talk to me", "Bad blood" and "Girl from Lebanon" are also big standouts. A good album all around. Deserved more recognition than it received. It was released in 1991, just as the "Grunge" scene was beginning. Had this been released a couple years earlier it probably would've been a bigger hit.
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Their best record ever.
M. Vargen | Vancouver, Canada | 11/24/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"People, you have got to try this. The best song they ever wrote is on here, but never got any attention because the record company and managers (...) the band royally. If you love melodic rock, you have to have this in your collection. For "Girl From Lebanon" if nothing else. The next best track (to me) is "Seventh Sign", inspired by the movie of the same name. If you're a long time fan of the band, scream loud for them to re-unite. If you're not a long time fan, this disc WILL change your mind."