Here comes another album for this new edition of the "Album of the day" series. And this time I bring an album that made history in my life.
The album "The Final Countdown" by Europe!
With this album I got to know what Rock music was in a conscious way when I was 10 years old. I remember it was 1988 and we were at a school camp. In one of the recreational parties that took place at night, suddenly I heard the beginning of the song "The final Countdown" and the music made me raise my head and look for the speakers where it came from.
And there I saw them. A group of boys and girls moving their heads back and forth to the rhythm of the music. A few seconds later I was next to them moving my head, trying to imitate them, closing my eyes and letting myself be carried away by that music that was different from the Salsa music that was played all the time on the Cuban National Radio and TV. Except for some groups that nobody really knew why they were sometimes shown on TV, Rock music in general was forbidden in Cuba for being "Ideological Divisionism".
I remember that when the two sides of the cassette were finished I couldn't stop thinking about the music, I asked to see the cassette (it was an original cassette, with its cover with the lyrics and everything else) and I asked them what the music was. I received as an answer a question - "How old are you?". Of course when I said 10 years old they laughed a lot but they still told me a little about Rock music and various groups. Thanks to them I learned about Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Metallica, Kreator, Sodom and several other bands.
When I returned to my school group some kids would yell at me - "Friki, el Friki!" - which was the name that was derogatorily given to those who listened to Rock music in Cuba. I think they did it to make fun but I, until that moment, had never felt so good in all my short life.
Well, that was the beginning of a relationship with Rock music that has lasted until today and, as far as I can see, will last until I die. And of course, it was obvious that one of the first albums I bought when I started collecting vinyl records was "The Final Countdown".
The version I have is a rather rare version of this album. It is an original version released in 1986 but it was produced in Hungary. The weirdest thing of all is that Hungary was socialist at the time so I don't know how they did it. Maybe because the band was from Sweden, not the USA or England and also called Europe, they relaxed a bit and made a release of the album for the socialist side.
And of course, as the saying goes "son of a cat catches a mouse", about a year and a half ago I played the album for my son one morning to wake him up. It's something I've always done for a long time, I wake him up with music. Well, I played him "The Final Countdown" once and from that day on that album has been one of his favorites to wake him up in the morning. Sometimes he even asks for it himself. When I played it to him the first time he was the same age as I was when I first listened to this album, 10 years old.
It seems like this album is perfect to get people started in the world of Rock music 🤘😎
