Prisoners in Paradise by Europe, album cover
Album · 35 years old this year

Prisoners in Paradise

LabelEpic
Popularity57.5

Prisoners in Paradise is the fifth studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe, released on 23 September 1991 on Epic. It followed The Final Countdown and Out of This World, and it produced the title track and "I'll Cry for You" as its best-known songs. Despite those two recent platinum-selling records behind them, it failed to chart in the US. It also marks the last appearance of guitarist Kee Marcello.

The road to the record was bumpy. Marcello has said Bob Rock was the first choice as producer but left to work on Metallica's self-titled album. An earlier version, called "Seventh Sign", was turned down by the label in 1990, so the band wrote and recorded fresh songs. Some of the discarded material resurfaced later: ideas became "New Love in Town" and "Bring it All Home", and two tracks were re-recorded for Marcello's 2016 solo album.

Prisoners in Paradise: tracklist, credits and charts

12 tracks · 54:57

Tracklist

  1. 1All or NothingTempest, Martin, Pessis3:55
  2. 2Halfway to HeavenJim Vallance and Joey Tempest4:07
  3. 3I’ll Cry for YouNick Graham and Joey Tempest5:21
  4. 4Little Bit of Lovin’Kee Marcello and Joey Tempest4:48
  5. 5Talk to MeMic Michaeli and Joey Tempest4:07
  6. 6Seventh SignJoey Tempest4:43
  7. 7Prisoners in ParadiseJoey Tempest5:37
  8. 8Bad BloodMarcello, Tempest, Michaeli4:20
  9. 9HomelandMarcello, Michaeli, Tempest4:51
  10. 10Got Your Mind in the GutterBeau Hill and Joey Tempest5:00
  11. 11’til My Heart Beats Down Your DoorMichaeli, Tempest, Fiona, McDonald3:48
  12. 12Girl From LebanonJoey Tempest4:21
Produced by
Beau Hill
Recorded at
The Enterprise (Burbank, California)
Recorded
1990–1991
Mixed by
Beau Hill, Jimmy Hoyson
Engineered by
Jimmy Hoyson
Label
Epic
Length
54:57

Line-up

  • Ian Haugland · drums (drum set), background vocals
  • John Levén · bass guitar
  • Kee Marcello · electric guitar, background vocals
  • Mic Michaeli · keyboard, background vocals
  • Joey Tempest · acoustic guitar, lead vocals
  • Nate Winger · background vocals · guest
  • Paul Winger · background vocals · guest

Singles

  • “Prisoners in Paradise” · September 1991
  • “I'll Cry for You” · December 1991
  • “Halfway to Heaven” · March 1992

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
UK Albums Chart · 199161
Swedish Albums · 19919
Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 199112
Swiss Albums · 199117
Norwegian Albums · 199118
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 199121
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi) · 199122
Austrian Albums · 199132
German Albums · 199138
Dutch Albums · 199160

Certifications

RegionCertification
Sweden · 1992Platinum

From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.

57.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
765
ListenBrainz listeners
26k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
4.2k
Deezer fans (all editions)

Released the same week

Also released on 23 September

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Releases and pressings

How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz23 September 1991
Wikipedia infobox23 September 1991
Wikidata23 September 1991
US release23 September 1991earliest US date
UK / Europe release1991earliest UK or European date
13 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
1991GBEpic5099746875527other
1991XEEpic5099746875510other
1991GBEpicother
1991USEpic0074644532821other
23 September 1991DEEpic5099746875527original
23 September 1991USEpic5099746875527original
30 September 1991JPEpic Records4988010546021other
2001USSony Music Special Products670211519020other
4 September 2001US—other
23 September 2004JPEpic4562109408713other
6 November 2007XWEpic074644532821other
2009GBIronBird Records5013929880177other
2024—Rock Candy5056321670397other
Cover art sources

coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 1873x1862 to 1862x1862

SourceSizeVerdict
coverartarchive ✓1873×1862cropped: cropped from 1873x1862 to 1862x1862
deezer1200×1200upscaled
fanarttv1000×1000upscaled