When it was time to choose the first single from the album The Final Countdown, Tempest suggested the song "The Final Countdown".[1] The band had not originally planned to release the song as a single, and some members wanted "Rock the Night" to be the first single.[8][2] "The Final Countdown" was written to be an opening song for concerts, and they never thought it would be a hit.[8] When their record company Epic Records suggested, however, that it should be the first single, the band decided to release it.[11]