John Norum (Official Thread)

[Rocker440]

John Norum was born February 23, 1964 in Norway and is an extremely talented, skillful hard rock/metal guitarist that initially received major attention with the Swedish rock band Europe, which he co-founded and also continues to perform with on occasion. He does also perform solo, and with guest appearances with other bands, as well as was a member of Dokken for some time. John's sister, Tone Norum, is pretty talented herself, and is fairly well known for her own musical accomplishments and career, which has included guest appearances of John on a couple of her albums.





John Norum's first album Total Control was released in 1987.




This album has some fantastic songs, music and especially the guitar works of John! There are many great songs on this album, imo. With a nice combination of excellently written and performed songs, most of which are collaborations with Marcel Jacob, who does play bass on the album, too. I also enjoy the instrumental "In Chase Of The Wind" and the excellent cover version of one of my favorite Thin Lizzy songs, "Wild One." John Norum has done some terrific cover versions of a few Thin Lizzy songs mostly on his solo albums that I both like and also believe that Phil Lynott would like and appreciate, too, imo!



Let Me Love You



Love Is Meant To Last Forever



Eternal Flame



In Chase Of The Wind

The video for "Wild One" is on YT, however I get this message when trying try to view it...
This video contains content from The Orchard Music and Sony Music Entertainment. It is not available in your country.
Sorry about that.
Hopefully some people can view the video without any hindrances.

As much as I greatly enjoy a lot of Europes' earlier songs/music with John Norum as guitarist (which I certainly do!), I thoroughly enjoy his first few solo albums significantly, with a significant emphasis on volume!

 

[METALPRIEST]

Great guitar player man!!! I remember when he and Vinnie Vincent had the same song out.

 

[Rocker440]

^^^Grinthumb I think Gary Moore also has a song entitled Back On The Streets, as well. That title must be pretty popular, or it was back then!

 

[METALPRIEST]

The VVI and John Norum songs freaked me out at the time...they both came out on different albums close together...I forget the connection now and who was covering who. Oh WIKI!!!

 

[Rocker440]

John Norum's second solo album was Face The Truth, released in 1992. This is an aboslutely fantastic album, imo! It is my favorite solo John Norum album, and also one that I enjoy listening to as much as possible! There are great songs throughout this album, and with an additional, superb vocal touches and capabilities of Glenn Hughes! There is an awesome cover version of one of my favorite Thin Lizzy songs, Opium Trail, on this album that I believe that Phil Lynott would greatly appreciate, too!

There are three different editions of Face The Truth that I'm aware of, with the European and Japan editions featuring different songs and track listings than the US issue. The European and Japan editions feature an excellent cover version of the great Phenomena song, Still The Night, with Glenn Hughes exceptional vocal talents and also another excellent collaboration with Joey Tempest (Europe) with the rocking song, We Well Be Strong.



Face The Truth

John Norum – Guitars, Lead And Backing Vocals
Glenn Hughes – Lead Vocals
Peter Baltes – Bass
Henrik Hildén – Drums
Joey Tempest - Vocals on "We Will Be Strong"
Billy White - Rhythm Guitar on "Time Will Find the Answer"
Mikkey Dee - Drums on "Distant Voices"
John Schreiner - Keyboards
Andy Lorber - Additional Backing Vocals

Two excellent songs that are on the import editions...



We Will Be Strong



Still The Night



And a few more fantastic tracks featured on all editions!



Opium Trail



Endica



Face The Truth



In Your Eyes

 

[That 70s Guy]

One of the best guitar solos ever in this song!!

 

[Rock Candy]

Legend has it that John Sykes once refused to give Norum VIP passes to a Lizzy show because "He stole too many of my licks"

Great guitarist though, Face the Truth is his best imo, every song clicks. And of course it has Glenn Hughes, so that just sweetens the deal

And just a cool little clip I stumbled upon the other day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujkNVxO9MIE

 

[Lynch]

I met Norum (briefly) when he was in Don Dokken's band (following the 1990 breakup of Dokken). Seemed like a nice guy, but was a bit quiet.

Dude is a good guitar player though, no question.

 

[Rocker440]

Legend has it that John Sykes once refused to give Norum VIP passes to a Lizzy show because "He stole too many of my licks"

Great guitarist though, Face the Truth is his best imo, every song clicks. And of course it has Glenn Hughes, so that just sweetens the deal

And just a cool little clip I stumbled upon the other day.
YouTube - John Norum with Brian Robertson - Massacre & Emerald (live)

I bet there are a lot of guitarists that do claim and say that, RC. Many guitarists get ideas, inspirations and licks from other guitarists, and probably always will, too! It's probably a good thing that guitar licks aren't copywrited or they probably would be some major problems for many artists, imo!

I certainly agree with those great points, too, RC! Imo, Thin Lizzy had a significant impact on many fans and musicians worldwide, but perhaps more so with fans, followers and musicians within countries where they played frequently. I greatly enjoy some artists that do cover versions of fave bands and songs, but John Norum does excellent Thin Lizzy cover versions, imo, and Glenn Hughes is a fantastic singer!

I met Norum (briefly) when he was in Don Dokken's band (following the 1990 breakup of Dokken). Seemed like a nice guy, but was a bit quiet.

Dude is a good guitar player though, no question.

I believe that John Norum was married to one of the female guitarists from the US band Phantom Blue, who suddenly passed away a few years ago? Up From The Ashes is the Don Dokken album that I do have with John Norum, but I haven't listened to it for some time, I'll give that excellent album some spins and enjoy.

 

[Rock Candy]

I bet there are a lot of guitarists that do claim and say that, RC. Many guitarists get ideas, inspirations and licks from other guitarists, and probably always will, too! It's probably a good thing that guitar licks aren't copywrited or they probably would be some major problems for many artists, imo!

I certainly agree with those great points, too, RC! Imo, Thin Lizzy had a significant impact on many fans and musicians worldwide, but perhaps more so with fans, followers and musicians within countries where they played frequently. I greatly enjoy some artists that do cover versions of fave bands and songs, but John Norum does excellent Thin Lizzy cover versions, imo, and Glenn Hughes is a fantastic singer!

One thing I've always liked about Norum is that I've always found him to be kinda the "follow-up" if you will, to Gary Moore's 80s hard rock/metal phase. To my ears anyway, Face the Truth is very much the spiritual successor to Run for Cover. Even the cover artwork isn't too dissimilar!