POP MUSIC REVIEW : BAND FROM SWEDEN FAILS TO CONQUER

Can you think of one band named after a city, country or continent that has added anything of significance to the history of rock music? Boston? Chicago? Kansas? Asia?

Didn’t think so.

How about bands from Scandanavia that have made any contributions of note?

Same again.

So when you’ve got a Swedish band named Europe, you start out with double zilch, and it only took a few minutes for the quintet to live down to those expectations in its local debut Wednesday at the Wiltern Theatre.

The concert began predictably with the pompous keyboard introduction to the MTV-spurred hit “The Final Countdown,” followed by a bright explosion that served as a starting gun to a race as to which storehouse of cliches would be exhausted first: golden-tressed singer Joey Tempest’s microphone stand twirls and silly posturing or the band’s everything-borrowed pop/metal sound. Call it not-so-Deep Purple or Aluminum Maiden.

From there on out, it was tedium ad nauseam as the band supplemented the songs from its lone U.S. album with some earlier material, a dull drum solo (is there any other kind?) and guitar histrionics from Kee Marcello that would embarrass Spinal Tap (including a swat at “The Flight of the Butterfingers” . . . er, “Bumblebee”).

The one thing the band has going for it, though, is fan appeal, and in the teen-metal market that may be enough. With it’s good looks (Wednesday’s audience was heavy on teen-age girls) and ability to come up with rudimentary anthems like “Countdown” and “Rock the Night,” Europe could become the next Bon Jovi.