Even Europe can't stand The Final Countdown

Presumably, had John Norum have been able to see the future, he might not have had such a cool reaction when Joey Tempest introduced The Final Countdown at a Europe rehearsal session:

"When Joey first played us the demo, I was one of those who said, 'Are you mad? This isn't what we're about.' It had synthesizers all over it, and we were more into THIN LIZZY, UFO and DEEP PURPLE. But the song did grow on me."

Given that it's the one song which has kept them in work and bread for thirty years, you can imagine how you might grow to like the song. But only a bit, as he doesn't het much to do:

"As a guitarist, there's not much for me to do on that song. Sure, there's a Ritchie Blackmore-type solo, but that's it. Yet when you see the crowd reaction… well, it does make it all worthwhile. I suppose this is a song that now belongs to the world.

"We've never dropped 'The Final Countdown' from our set, and I doubt we ever will I can just imagine how angry our fans would be!"

Given that it's the only song people are paying to see, yes, I imagine they would be somewhat vexed.