John Norum "Face The Truth"

Face the Truth is the second solo album by John Norum, the guitarist in the Swedish hard rock band Europe. It was released in 1992.

Former Black Sabbath / Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes sang several of the songs on the album. The song "Opium Trail" is a cover version of the Thin Lizzy song. "We Will Be Strong" is a duet with Europe vocalist Joey Tempest, which is not included on the American edition of the album.

The Swedish special edition contains a biography for John Norum, written in Swedish.

Track listing

European, Japanese Pressings

1. "Face the Truth" – 4:17 (Glenn Hughes, John Norum)
2. "Night Buzz" – 3:22 (Norum, Henrik Hildén, Michelle Meldrum)
3. "In Your Eyes" – 3:45 (Hughes, Norum, Peter Baltes)
4. "Opium Trail" – 4:00 (Brian Downey, Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham)
5. "We Will Be Strong" – 4:12 (Norum, Joey Tempest, Billy Haggerty)
6. "Good Man Shining" – 3:04 (Hughes, Norum, Mats Attaque, Micke Höglund, Thomas Broman)
7. "Time Will Find the Answer" – 5:02 (Hughes, Norum, Billy White)
8. "Counting on Your Love" – 3:16 (Göran Edman, Hughes, Tempest, Norum, Peter Hermansson)
9. "Endica" – 2:44 (Norum, Baltes)
10. "Still the Night" – 3:58 (Hughes, Pat Thrall, Paul Delph)
11. "Distant Voices" – 5:46 (Norum, Hughes, Baltes, White)

Produced by: John Norum and Wyn Davis

Engineered by: Wyn Davis and Melissa Sewell

Mixed by: Max Norman and Wyn Davis

Mastered by: Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk

Assistant Engineer: Doug Drury

Recorded at: Total Access Recording, Redondo Beach, CA

Mixed at: One on One, The Grey Room and The Enterprice [sic], Studio City, CA

Logo Design by Johan Jäger / Drömfabriken

Cover Design by: John Norum and Johan Jäger

John Norum "Total Control"

Total Control is the first solo album by John Norum, the guitarist in the Swedish hard rock band Europe. It was released in 1987, after John Norum left the band, following the release of The Final Countdown album and the tour that followed.

The album features two cover songs, "Back on the Streets", written by former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent with country artist Richard Kinky Friedman and originally recorded by the band 3-Speed for a 1984 movie soundtrack, and "Wild One" by Thin Lizzy.

The album's producer Thomas Witt is/was Norum's stepfather, a former drummer for Eddie Meduza and a high-ranking manager at CBS/Sony in Sweden at the time.

Total Control is dedicated to Tommy Östervik, one of Norum's friends and heroes, who died in a drowning accident the same night as Europe played a concert that later was broadcast on Swedish television.

Norum toured Scandinavia in early 1988 with a line-up consisting of himself, Edman, Jacob, keyboardist Mats Olausson (Yngwie Malmsteen, Talisman) and ex-Trash drummer Hempo Hildén. After the tour a collaboration with Phenomena and Deep Purple singer/bassist Glenn Hughes was announced and Edman and Jacob were let go. The collaboration was short lived and resulted only in a short televised live performance from Gothenburg. Edman and Jacob replaced Hughes for the booked summer tour but were let go once again when Norum and Hildén were recruited by Don Dokken for his solo album and tour.

Track listing

All songs were written by John Norum and Marcel Jacob, except where noted. Most of the Norum/Jacob credited songs can be found in earlier demo form with Jacob's former band Power.

1. "Let Me Love You" – 3:23
2. "Love Is Meant to Last Forever" – 3:40
3. "Too Many Hearts" – 3:12
4. "Someone Else Here" – 4:13 (Norum, Jacob, Peter Hermansson)
5. "Eternal Flame" – 3:14
6. "Back on the Streets" – 4:11 (Vinnie Vincent, Richard Friedman)
7. "Blind" – 3:53
8. "Law of Life" – 4:22 (Max Lorentz, Mats Lindfors)
9. "We'll Do What It Takes Together" – 3:25
10. "In Chase of the Wind" – 3:02
11. "Wild One" (bonus track) – 4:20 (Phil Lynott)

John Norum - Producer

Thomas Witt - Producer

Per Blom - Co-producer, engineer, mixing

Mats Lindfors - Engineer, Mixing

Peter Dahl - Mastering

Phantom Blue "Built To Perform"

Built to Perform is the second full-length album by American heavy metal band Phantom Blue. In contrast to the first album's glam metal sound, Built to Perform displays a more raw, heavy metal sound. It also features songwriting credits by all five of the band members plus former member Nicole Couch, who left prior to the album's release. The album includes the band's cover of Thin Lizzy's "Bad Reputation."

Veteran producer Max Norman oversaw the album's production, while Marty Friedman (who was then with Megadeth) and John Norum (of Europe) contributed as guest guitarists. Norum and guitarist Michelle Meldrum eventually married in 1995. "My Misery" was co-written by West Arkeen, known for his collaborations with Guns N' Roses.

Released by Geffen Records, this was the band's only album under a major record label.