Europe: 'The Songs Aged With Grace'

Swedish rock band Europe celebrates the 30th anniversary of their hit record The Final Countdown this year. At the time, drummer Ian Haugland wasn't convinced the title track would become such a massive hit, and he admits the band couldn't expect what happened next. "For us it was a totally different world we got sucked into. Everything is going so fast, you don't really know how to handle the situation. It's like jumping on a running freight train, trying to hold on," he says. To commemorate the album's anniversary the band is playing the full album from start to finish at several of their live shows. "Some of the songs we haven't played since the 80s so it's a bit like re-discovering songs. But those songs really hold up still, they've aged with grace."