If you’ve watched TV or been to the movies recently, you’ve probably seen the ubiquitous Geico commercial featuring the Swedish rock band Europe performing its massive 1986 hit “The Final Countdown.” Even 30 years after the song was first released, that synthesizer riff is instantly recognizable. Hearing just a few seconds of it in the Geico commercial (which positions the band in an office break room, counting down the final seconds of a microwaved meal) will put the incredibly catchy song in your head for the rest of the day.
Although “The Final Countdown” has become an indelible pop-culture touchstone (it topped the charts in 25 countries on its initial release), Europe is about more than that one song. As part of the 1980s glam-metal explosion, the band’s hits also included “Carrie” and “Rock the Night,” and they’ve been featured on numerous compilations celebrating the glories of the hair metal era. Although the band broke up in the ’90s, the lineup that recorded “The Final Countdown” has been back together since 2003, and has released five albums since reuniting. While they continue to produce new music (including recent album War of Kings), their legacy was cemented with those first few notes of “The Final Countdown.”
