Prisoners in Paradise
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{For|the song|Prisoners in Paradise (song)}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Prisoners in Paradise
| type = studio
| artist = Europe
| cover = Europe-prisoners in paradise.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Cover art by Mark Wilkinson
| released = 23 September 1991
| recorded = 1990–1991
| venue =
| studio = Enterprise Studios, Burbank, California
| genre = Glam metal, hard rock
| length = 54:57
| label = Epic
| producer = Beau Hill
| prev_title = Out of This World
| prev_year = 1988
| next_title = 1982–1992
| next_year = 1993
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Prisoners in Paradise
| type = Studio
| single1 = Prisoners in Paradise
| single1date = September 1991
| single2 = I'll Cry for You
| single2date = December 1991
| single3 = Halfway to Heaven
| single3date = March 1992
}}
}}
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = Classic Rock
|rev1score = {{Rating|7|10}}{{cite magazine |title=Europe – Out of This World/Prisoners in Paradise |journal=Classic Rock |date=February 2010 |last=Elliott |first=Paul |issue=141 |page=92}}
|rev2 =The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal
|rev2Score = 3/10{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | authorlink1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties | publisher = Collector's Guide Publishing | date = 1 August 2007 | location = Burlington, Ontario, Canada |isbn = 978-1-894959-62-9 | page=143}}
| rev3 = Record Collector
| rev3Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite journal |title=Europe – Out of This World / Prisoners in Paradise |journal=Record Collector |date=June 2013 |last=Jones |first=Tim |issue=415 |url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/out-of-this-world-prisoners-in-paradise |accessdate=19 October 2016 }}
| noprose=yes
}}
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.{{cite book |last1=Marcello |first1=Kee |author-link=Kee Marcello |last2=Johansson |first2=Stefan |title= Rockstjärnan Gud glömde |location=Sweden |publisher=Månpocket |date=8 June 2012 |isbn=978-917-2-32258-5 |language=Swedish }} 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 "Don't Know How to Love No More"{{Cite web|url=http://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/2016/11/album-review-kee-marcello-scaling-up/|title=Album review: KEE MARCELLO – Scaling up}} were re-recorded for Kee Marcello's 2016 solo album "Scaling Up" on Frontiers Records.{{cite web|url=http://www.rocknytt.net/nyheter/18630-kee-marcello-slapper-nytt-album|title=Kee Marcello släpper nytt album – Rocknytt|date=21 February 2016|publisher=}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| title1 = All or Nothing
| lyrics1 = Eric Martin, Andre Pessis, Joey Tempest
| music1 = Tempest
| length1 = 3:54
| title2 = Halfway to Heaven
| lyrics2 = Tempest, Jim Vallance
| music2 = Tempest, Vallance
| length2 = 4:06
| title3 = I'll Cry for You
| lyrics3 = Tempest, Nick Graham
| music3 = Tempest, Graham
| length3 = 5:21
| title4 = Little Bit of Lovin'
| lyrics4 = Tempest
| music4 = Tempest, Kee Marcello
| length4 = 4:48
| title5 = Talk to Me
| lyrics5 = Tempest, Mic Michaeli
| music5 = Tempest, Michaeli
| length5 = 4:06
| title6 = Seventh Sign
| lyrics6 = Tempest
| music6 = Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli
| length6 = 4:42
| title7 = Prisoners in Paradise
| lyrics7 = Tempest
| music7 = Tempest
| length7 = 5:36
| title8 = Bad Blood
| lyrics8 = Tempest, Michaeli
| music8 = Tempest, Marcello
| length8 = 4:19
| title9 = Homeland
| lyrics9 = Tempest, Michaeli
| music9 = Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli
| length9 = 4:51
| title10 = Got Your Mind in the Gutter
| lyrics10 = Tempest, Beau Hill
| music10 = Marcello, Hill
| length10 = 4:59
| title11 = 'Til My Heart Beats Down Your Door
| lyrics11 = Brian McDonald, Fiona
| music11 = Tempest, Michaeli
| length11 = 3:47
| title12 = Girl from Lebanon
| lyrics12 = Tempest
| music12 = Tempest
| length12 = 4:20
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Japanese edition bonus tracks
| title13 = Break Free
| lyrics13 = Tempest
| music13 = Tempest, Marcello
| length13 = 4:05
| title14 = Yesterday's News
| lyrics14 = Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli, John Levén, Ian Haugland
| music14 = Tempest
| length14 = 5:27
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Spitfire Records 2001 remaster bonus tracks
| title13 = Mr. Government Man
| lyrics13 = Tempest, Hill
| music13 = Tempest, Hill
| length13 = 3:36
| title14 = A Long Time Comin{{'-}}
| lyrics14 = Tempest
| music14 = Tempest, Marcello
| length14 = 3:55
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Tracks from the Prisoners in Paradise recording sessions available on various compilations
| title1 = Sweet Love Child
| note1 = released on the 1982–1992 and 1982–2000 compilations
| writer1 = Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli
| length1 = 4:57
| title2 = Rainbow Warrior
| note2 = released on CD with Encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal 1970–1996
| writer2 = Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli, Levén, Haugland
| length2 = 6:35
| title3 = Blame It on Me
| note3 = released on CD with Encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal vol II (2002){{cite web|url=http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789189136137/encyclopedia-of-swedish-hard-rock-and-heavy-metal/|title=Encyclopedia Of Swedish Hard Rock And Heavy Metal av Janne Stark (Bok)|publisher=}}
| writer3 = Tempest, Marcello, Michaeli, Levén, Haugland
| length3 = 4:45
| title4 = Here Comes the Night
| note4 = released on the compilation album Rock the Night: The Very Best of Europe
| writer4 = Tempest
| length4 = 4:27
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Demo tracks that remain unreleased
| title1 = Wild Child
| length1 = 4:05
| title2 = Don't Know How to Love No More
| length2 = 5:50
| title3 = Wanted Man
| length3 = 4:44
| title4 = Little Sinner
| length4 = 3:56
| title5 = Never Gonna Say Goodbye
| length5 = 3:45
| title6 = Stranded
| length6 = 4:32
| title7 = I Want Your Love
| length7 = 6:20
}}
(Note: These unreleased demos can be heard on YouTube and, thusly, accurate time lengths for these songs were acquired.)
Personnel
= Europe =
- Joey Tempest – lead vocals, acoustic guitars
- Kee Marcello – electric guitars, background vocals
- John Levén – bass guitar
- Mic Michaeli – keyboards, background vocals
- Ian Haugland – drums
= 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
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (1991) ! Peak |
| {{Album chart|Austria|32|artist=Europe|album=Prisoners in Paradise|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
| {{Album chart|Netherlands|60|artist=Europe|album=Prisoners in Paradise|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
| scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts){{cite book|last=Pennanen|first=Timo|title=Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972|edition=1st|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava|location=Helsinki|year=2006|isbn=978-951-1-21053-5 | page= 166 | language= fi}}
| align="center"| 21 |
|---|
| {{Album chart|Germany4|38|artist=Europe|album=Prisoners in Paradise|id=1311|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
| scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi){{cite web|url=http://www.musicaedischi.it/classifiche_archivio.php|title=Classifiche|work=Musica e Dischi|language=it|access-date=January 12, 2024}} Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Europe".
|align="center"|22 |
| scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon){{cite book|title=Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005|publisher=Oricon Entertainment|location=Roppongi, Tokyo|year=2006|isbn=4-87131-077-9|language=ja}}
| align="center"| 12 |
| {{Album chart|Norway|18|artist=Europe|album=Prisoners in Paradise|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
| {{Album chart|Sweden|9|artist=Europe|album=Prisoners in Paradise|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
| {{Album chart|Switzerland|17|artist=Europe|album=Prisoners in Paradise|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
| {{Album chart|UK2|61|date=19911013|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|type=album|title=Pirsoners in Paradise|artist=Europe|award=Platinum|relyear=1991|certyear=1992}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=yes}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Europe (band)}}
{{Authority control}}