Stratovarius, the Finnish masters of symphonic metal, are prepared to unleash their eponymous 11th album. The respected lineup of vocalist Timo Kotipelto, guitarist Timo Tolkki, drummer Jorg Michael and keyboardist Jens Johansson has carried on the Stratovarius legacy, along with new bassist Lauri Porra. Taking the listener on a nine song roller coaster ride from traditional headbangers like ‘Gypsy In Me’ to complex compositions such as ‘Back To Madness,’ monolithic anthems like ‘Maniac Dance’ through to a real Stratovarius epic, ‘Götterdämmerung,’ the album reconfirms Stratovarius’ place at the top of the international melodic metal tree.
Stratovarius,Stratovarius,Sanctuary,Pop,Power Metal,Progressive Metal,Rock,Rock/Pop,Scandinavian Metal
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Visions
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Noise ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
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ASIN: B000005DSN Release Date: 1998-01-06 |
Tracks:
- The Kiss Of Judas
- Black Diamond
- Forever Free
- Before The Winter
- Legions
- The Abyss Of Your Eyes
- Holy Light
- Paradise
- Coming Home
- Visions (Southern Cross)
Album Description
U.S. debut for the progressive metal act's 1997 album. Contains 10 tracks, including the single 'Black Diamond'. A Noise Records release.Album Details
Latest Release from These Heavy Metal Greats. Tracks Include Legions, Coming Home, Holy Light, Visions and More.Customer Reviews:
Best Stratovarius Album.......2006-09-08
The best Stratovarius album!.......2006-02-13
1.The Kiss of Judas- 10/10 Amazing melodic opener. The opening keyboards and the intro riff are great. Kotipelto's vocals are excellent and the lyrics are great. The chorus is excellent too. This song has a strong 80's feel to it. The riff right before the solo is excellent too and the neo classical guitar and keyboard solos are excellent. Melodic metal at it's best.
2.Black Diamond- 10/10 The keyboards sound great on this fast song. Kotipelto's vocals are great and he does an excellent job of singing on such a fast song. The lyrics are excellent and Tolkii and Jens Johannsen's keyboard and guitar trade offs are excellent. Another classic.
3.Forever Free- 10/10 An excellent fast paced song with an excellent guitar riff. Kotipelto's vocals are excellent too. The lyrics are excellent too. Tolkii's melodic shredding solo is excellent too.
4.Before the Winter- 10/10 The soft intro is amazing. Kotipelto's vocals are great. This song shows off Kotipelto's range too. This song has a real mideval feel to it. Kotipelto's solo is amazing and it has a ton of feel and some excellent neo classical shredding. Another classic song and one of the best power ballads ever.
5.Legions- 10/10 Another classic song. the main riff sounds like Lightning Strikes by Ozzy and the neo classical guitar fill is awesome. Kotipelto's vocals are amazing and the the drums are great. Great solo by Tolkii again.
6.The Abyss of Your Eyes- 10/10 An excellent progressive song with a lot of changes. There is a heavy part, a really heavy part and a soft part. Kotipelto's vocals are amazing on this song. The keyboards work great and Timo Tolkii's solo is incredible. Another classic song!
7.Holy Light- 10/10 A great instrumental with exceptional playing from Timo Tolkii. This is up there with yngwie's instrumentals as far as neo classical instrumentals go. Very progressive and plenty of changes including a beautiful soft part.
8.Paradise- 8.5/10 Another good song. Timo Kotipelto's quiet vocals sound like Bruce Dickinson. Probably the worst song on this album. I don't why but the feel of the song just isnt't that good. Kotipelto's vocals are good but really not one of the better songs.
9.Coming Home- 10/10 Another amazing power ballad. The arrangement is incredible and Kotipelto's soft vocals are amazing and when the song goes into the heavy part Kotipelto's vocals soar! The lyrics are great and the solo is amazing and rivals any Yngwie Malmsteen solo. The solo has a ton of emotion and shredding.
10.Visions (Southern Cross)- Stratovarius' best song ever! An epic over 10 minutes long! Rainbow has Stargazer, Iron Maiden has Hallowed Be Thy Name, Deep Purple has Child In Time and Stratovarius has Visions(Southern Cross). This is there big masterpeice. The lyrics are excellent and the riff is great. The drums and bass are amazing. The use of keyboards is great on this song too. Kotipelto's first high high note is excellent but he belts out even higher notes later on! The demonic voice sounds great and the soft part of the song is incredible. Timo Tolkii's solo has a lot of feel and fits the song perfect.The high note right before the solo is incredible and shows that Timo Kotipelto's vocal range is over 4 octaves! An amazing epic that is one of the best songs of all time. Kotipelto's ending note hold leads into a great voice telling a short story.
This album is a metal milestone and is up there with Rainbow Rising, Dio Magica, Iron Maiden Number Of The Beast ect. This album has everything mind blowing vocals and guitar, great songwriting, an awesome instrumental, slower rockers, fast songs, epics, ballads everything. Visions (Southern Cross) is one of the best songs ever. This is an album that any metal fan will love.
Timo Kotipelto- Vocals
Timo Tolkki- Guitar
Jorg Michael- Drums
Jari Kainulainen- Bass
Jens Johansson- Keyboards
Don't listen to these people who say that this is the best.......2006-01-24
When I bought this album and listened first I thought it was masterpiece, but I don't think it anymore. It's because of that god damn Jorg Michael's addiction to double bass drums that spoils these tracks: Legions ( despite the good melody ), Holy light ( this instrumental song isn't bad at all; Jens Johansson the keyboardist , playing harphischord, incredibly manages to follow Timo Tolkki in his turbo soloing, putting the musical notes at the same speed as him, Wow!) , Visions and Forever free
( I hate these 2 songs , they suck! )
Another reason to hate Forever free is the chorus. Magnification.
Equal to Episode's (album) Father time.
Happily ,Jorg Michael, stopped with these annoying repetitions in the 2005 release. Now I forgive him.
These 3 songs are killer:
The Kiss of Judas:
The song that introduced me to Stratovarius.
It has the best drumming peformance by Jorg in the band's history to me besides his multiple flaws.
The solos ( keyboard and guitar) are really fabulous.
Surely it's one of most techically difficult guitar solos that Tolkki even invented. Watch him doing it at the clip and you'll see what I mean. He's a guitar monster, and one of my idols of this genre.
Another wonder in this track is the ending: the chorus in a different tone that gives a gorgeous feel. One of the best endings Strato ever done.
The abyss of your eyes: It starts with a muffled guitar.
No comments:very well played.The bridge and the ending are
amazing.
Coming home: The best ballad of Timo Kotipelto's times. Beautiful.
Black Diamond was one of the singles. The riffing is cool and enjoyable and fits perfectly with the harphischord. It's the
only one where the double bass drum doesn't disturb.
The chorus is another goodie.
" Paradise" is catchy.
Visions (1997 release) has more hits than mistakes and still worths your money.
Now I?ve listened to all studio albums and that?s my sincere opinion from best to worse:
1. Fright Night
2. Dreamspace / Fourth Dimension
3. Visions
4. Infinite / Elements part II / Stratovarius 2005
5. Intermission
6. Episode / Destiny
7. Twilight time
8. Elements part I
Buy in this order if you want to be a completist.It?s really difficult for these finnish to do a perfect record and Fright night came closer. You can see that 2 of the releases on the
top of the list are with Timo Tolkki on lead. The consistency of the songs overall was my standard.
The recipe to be perfect: the repetitive double bass drum loss was the first step , Timo Kotipelto is an extraordinary singer, but Tolkki could get more courage to sing together with him or do backing vocals at least,
put some more skilful guitar/ keyboard solos per album ,forget the ballads without electric guitar ( "drop in the ocean and celestial dream " - like ) and get back with that instrumental songs , with the same quality as Fire Dance or Stratovarius where Tolkki shows why he is number 84 in a list of the best guitarists of all time.
The worse mistake in the double bass drumming was the IDENTICAL rhythm in the songs:
Find your own voice and Father time ( arrgh ), anthem of the world, learning to fly , freedom ( not 100%,but close enough), glory of the world, legions, visions, tomorrow , speed of light , no turning back and stratosphere.
Now this rocks.......2006-01-11
This is the album to get in order to be acquainted with this fine band from finland.
Instant Classic.......2005-07-01
I still rank Episode a little higher than Visions, because it was more emotional and humble effort with better lyrics. Visions is somewhat easier and slightly more commercial than previous albums. Still, all Strato albums following this one feel more or less insignificant and I think Stratovarius will never achieve the same sheer power of Visions. It's almost perfect album when it comes into this kind of music. Recommended!
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Infinite
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Nuclear Blast Americ ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B00004IC9H Release Date: 2000-03-28 |
Tracks:
- Hunting High And Low
- Millennium
- Mother Gaia
- Phoenix
- Glory Of The World
- A Million Light Years Away
- Freedom
- Infinity
- Celestial Dream
- What Can I Say?
Album Description
The 8th release by The Finns, joined by Jorg Michael (drums) & Jens Johansson (keyboards) and featuring Derek Riggs Artwork. Nuclear Blast.Customer Reviews:
A good Stratovarius album.......2006-01-11
While reviewing this album I should also point out that the tour for this disc makes up a lot of the footage used on their first home video and certainly that's a release that any fan of the band should get.
In some ways I think of this as the last proper studio album of Stratovarius' rise to power, for after this the Elements would close in for a couple of albums and take the wind out of their sails (and sales too presumably).
Timo's great music, great mind.......2006-01-03
Repititous and Gets Really Dull.......2005-11-11
To start off, I do not like the singer. To me, he has a rather squeaky and poor voice, and while he does well in the first two songs, I truly start to get sick of him in the rest of the album. I'm afraid I truly cannot elaborate on this, as I can't really describe what it is about his voice, besides that it is too high-pitched, and sounds especially bad when he tries to hit higher notes.
However, I can explain my problem with the songs. There are two problems with repitition: lyrics, and the way the song is played. The songs are basically about the exact same thing; in fact, they are painfully obvious. Furthermore, the lyrics are nearly exactly the same. They haven't even tried to change the phrases. Melinnium contains "We have got to change our ways/ THere is no way to go back anymore"; then Mother Gaia has "There's no second chance/ We should have learned by now/ But it's not to late too change the course"; and then Phoenix has "I got to change the way I live/ Can't go on this way". Worse, the song Infinity has "It's not too late to change the course"; gee, that sounds familiar.
Actually, Melinnium and Infinity are set up in the exact same way, chorus and all. Basically every song has the same message, with no attempt to make it sound poetic or at least hide it. It also sounds the same; there is little to no variation with the instruments and how they are used. Only Mother Gaia is different from the others, and even then there is rather aggravating repitition within the sound. Overall, the album would have been best with one song; it would've told the entire story anyway.
That said, there's another problem with this album, and it again deals with the lyrics. They simply don't have any good quality to them. They are rather cheesy, plainly tell the point of the song, and overall make it so I don't have to think whatsoever about the song. Just listen once and I know what the entire thing is about. I prefer songs that have metaphorical lyrics and a distinct melody to them; basically, I prefer songs that are like really complicated poetry. Stratovarious has no such songs, which disappoints me greatly.
Overall, combined with the poor lyrics and repititious melodies, Infinite gets old really quickly. While I did like it for a few months (unlike other albums, where I can't even get through the entire thing), it has quickly gotten old, and I highly doubt if I'll listen to it again, unless I'm highly bored. I give it three stars purely because it holds some quality at least at some point.
I hope this review helped you. Thank you for reading!
Strato Rules.......2005-10-20
AWFUL.......2005-09-30
I CAN'T STAND THE SINGER'S VOICE.
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Episode
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Noise ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B000007UGZ Release Date: 1998-08-18 |
Tracks:
- Father Time
- Will The Sun Rise?
- Eternity
- Episode
- Speed Of Light
- Uncertainty
- Season Of Change
- Stratosphere
- Babylon
- Tomorrow
- Night Time Eclipse
- Forever
- When The Night Meets The Day
Album Description
Originally released in 1996, their fifth release was a greatsuccess for these masters of melodic metal. For the first time, choirs and a symphonic orchestra are introduced to their music and the effect is amazing. Now includes the bonus track 'When The Night Meets The Day'. 13 tracksCustomer Reviews:
Another amazing album from Stratovarius.......2006-02-15
1.Father Time- 10/10 A great fast opener. The riff is awesome and Timo Kotipelto's vocals are excellent. An excellent guitar solo too. This is a classic
2.Will the Sun Rise?- 10/10 Another great song. The riff is excellent and Kotipelto hits some very high notes. The classic section is great too which leads right into an explosive guitar and keyboard trade off.
3.Eternity- 10/10 The intro is awesome and the riff is one of the best I've ever heard. The soft part which Kotipelto singing has an 80's feel to it. The keyboards are great in this song and Timo Tolkki throws in god like guitar solo.
4.Episode- 10/10 A beautiful instrumental. The keyboards are excellent and Timo Tolkki's guitar work has a lot of feel to it. A great intro to the next song too.
5.Speed of Light- 10/10 Another classic. The riff is excellent. There's one guitar fill in here so fast you'd swear it was sped up but it's not! Timo Kotipelto's vocals are great and Timo Tolkki's guitar solo is incredible and it is one of the best guitar solos I've ever heard.
6.Uncertainty- 10/10 A great song with an awesome riff. The pounding rythym section sounds great too. The soft part is excellent and Kotipelto's vocals are great. Another great guitar solo too.
7.Season of Change- 9/10 A great ballad with amazing vocals by Kotieplto. A very well written song with a great chorus. A great keyboard solo too. Timo Tolkki's solo is great too.
8.Stratosphere- 10/10 An awesome instrumental with excellent guitar work. The opening line is great but it gets even better when it explodes into a fast solo section. The soft part is beautiful and features some of Timo Tolkki's best guitar work ever.
9.Babylon- 10/10 An excellent Rainbow influenced epic. This sounds a lot like the Rainbow songs Stargazer, Gates Of Babylon and Eyes OF Fire. The vocals are excellent and I don't even need to say that the music is great too. The scream beofre the solo is excellent too. The solo sounds like a mix of Ritchie Blackmore, George Lynch and Yngwie and the keyboard solo is great too.
10.Tomorrow- 9/10 Another great song. The riff is awesome and the vocals are great. Timo Tolkki's solo is excellent too.
11.Night Time Eclipse- 10/10 A classic song with one of the best guitar riffs I've ever heard. The soft part is beautiful and Timo Kotipelto's vocals are excellent. More great guitar work. An excellent epic.
12.Forever- 10/10 A beautiful ballad with amazing vocals. This has a real mideval feel to it.
13.When the Night Meets the Day- 10/10 Another great song. This song is very slow and it's a ballad. The vocals are amazing and the guitar solo is very touching.
If you like power metal than this album is essential. There best album is Visions but this album is great too. Timo Tolkki plays fast but plays with a lot of emotion too so the guitar solos are almost perfect. If you like Helloween, Queensryche, Rainbow, Dio, Iron Maiden or any other Stratovarius album than you need this album.
Timo Kotipelto- Vocals
Timo Tolkki- Guitar
Jorg Michael- Drums
Jari Kainulainen- Bass
Jens Johansson- Keyboards
I don't know why people give it less than 4 stars........2006-02-02
An interesting stepping stone on the Stratovarius journey.......2006-01-11
Though I was tempted to make this four stars due to the excellent Season of Change.....
Inconsistent drumming will never do a masterpiece.......2005-08-25
If only Stratovarius could bring Tuomo Lassila back...
The band would be perfect.Jorg Michael used to sound like a drumming machine sometimes .
I don't want to mock you, Jorg, it's only an advice for you to wake up. ( He woke up in Stratovarius 2005 album )
Where on hell were the band's conscience when they chose Father Time to be a single?? What a big mistake.(lovers of this song,sorry).Eternity, Night time eclipse or When the night meets the day are 1000 times better and interesting than this throw-out!
The double bass drums are used in almost 50% of the album(1 star lost):
Father Time ( the chorus had too high vocal notes to me that made dislike
this track,a magnification);
Will the sun rise?;Speed of light; Tomorrow;Stratosphere
Result: lack of originality
Babylon: I tried to enjoy this after some listens. It's boring.
Father time and Babylon took the other star off.
The ups:
-Timo Tolkki's solos in:
1-Speed of light(especially the ones in middle and at the end),
2-Night time eclipse( in the beggining before the singing,in the midway when it speeds up and in 6:13; IMPRESSIVE!!). This track is one of my favourites.
3-Stratosphere
-Timo Kotipelto in Uncertainty , good riff too
Other favourites: Eternity and When the night meets the day (the ending is beautiful when the
voice notes changes with Tolkki's backing vocals; If you don't have it, buy Intermission. I simply don't understand why Tolkki didn't put it Episode originally. What a stumble!It's one of the best Strato's ballads ever). He should have replaced Babylon.
You may be thinking: Why am I complaining about the drums? I don't like double bass? No, the overuse makes the repeated listening tirering or even annoying. There is a risk of getting bored with it.The songs will seem like a formula. Listen to the albums after 1996 and you'll understand my point of view.
Masterpiece!.......2005-07-01
Episode is remarkable album that changed the musical style of the band into more melodic and symphonic. I think this is "the" album where to start listening (or maybe Visions) the band if haven't heard anything from them. Anybody who claims this is an uninspired album doesn't understand anything about music! PERIOD! Musicianship from the whole band is top notch and Tolkki is one of the best guitarists/songwriters ever! I've spoken.
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Destiny
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Noise ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B00000DCJT Release Date: 1999-01-19 |
Tracks:
- Destiny
- S.O.S.
- No Turning Back
- 4000 Rainy Nights
- Rebel
- Years Go By
- Playing With Fire
- Venus In The Morning
- Anthem Of The World
- Cold Winter Nights
Customer Reviews:
their best most mellodic catchiest album to date.......2007-04-19
Michael J. Mathes, you are an idiot........2006-09-02
Oh, and I think this album sucks too. Come and get me, tough guy!
A low 4 stars, but 4 stars all the same.......2006-01-11
But on second listen there are so many things to be thankful for here. Sure, in some ways this album was the beginning of a long decline away from outright hard rock/metal, but stuff like S.O.S is hard to argue with. And in Europe the band were a real force at this point due to talent and plain hard work.
Michael J Mathes.......2005-09-12
Great but nothing new.......2005-07-02
Today when I take this cd for a spin I like it again and think 'This wasn't so bad after all'. Albums starting from Visions are getting more and more epic all the time and it shows on this one too. Now there's 2 long epic tracks "Destiny" and "Anthem of the World" compared to Visions that had only one, the title track. But the most important thing with this album is that it's quite well balanced and it still ROCKS! "SOS" and "Playing with Fire" are the best songs on Destiny and show that Stratovarius hasn't forgot how to please a hard rock fan like me. The latter delivers one of the best performances ever from Kotipelto. His voice sounds perfect when he doesn't try to reach too high notes. The lyrics are about a man eagerly craving a divine woman, very traditional as they are but work everytime. Other great songs are "4000 Rainy Nights" which is a very nice yet quite soapy ballad, and impressive slow-paced "Venus in the Morning". "Rebel" has quite annoying guitars but nice chorus, "Years Go By" is a little pretentious but ends with a beautiful fading guitar solo, "Anthem of the World" has a very atmospheric beginning but get's quite boring towards the end.
In all a very solid release from a band that reached the peak of their career with this one. If there weren't an album called Visions I would give this 5 stars but now I'll take 1 out because of a lack of originality and a little weaker songs.
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Intermission
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Nuclear Blast Americ ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B00005B82V Release Date: 2001-06-26 |
Tracks:
- Will My Soul Ever Rest In Peace?
- Falling Into Fantasy
- The Curtains Are Falling
- Requiem
- Bloodstone
- Kill The King
- I Surrender (Live)
- Keep The Flame
- Why Are We Here?
- What Can I Say
- Dream With Me
- When The Night Meets The Day
- It's A Mystery
- Cold Winter Nights
- Hunting High & Low (Live)
Album Description
Special compilation for the Scandinavian metal act. Released as a thank you to their fans as well as to appease them while the band takes a break from recording. Made up of new material, covers, Japanese bonus tracks & compilation tracks. Full tracklisting, 'Will My Soul Ever Rest In Peace?' (NEW), 'Falling Into Fantasy' (NEW), 'The Curtains Are Falling' (NEW), 'Requiem' (NEW), 'Bloodstone' (Judas Priest Cover), 'Kill The King' (Rainbow cover), 'I Surrender' (prev. unreleased live Rainbow cover). 'Keep The Flame', 'Why Are We Here?', 'What Can I Say?', 'Dream With Me', 'When The Night Meets The Day', 'It's A Mystery', 'Cold Winter Nights' & 'Hunting High And Low' (prev. unreleased live). 2001 release.Customer Reviews:
Truly an Intermission!.......2006-01-21
Something different and fun from one of Scandinavias rock flagships.......2006-01-11
Boring, and forget about the live Hunting.......2004-10-25
I find it very humorous that a reviewer said the live performance was incredible because if you take away the audience, it would sound like studio. That's because Strato is pathetic live. You know why it sounds like studio? Because the band uses studio backing tapes live. This is the worst and most pathetic thing a band can do live. Backing tapes for vocals and instruments should be a crime.
totally awesome.......2003-09-23
11 new songs (4 are brand new, the others are hard to find b-sides and rarities). 3 covers songs (one of them is live). And last, there is the live version of Hunting High & Low.
Ok the 11 new songs are awesome. You can't even tell the b-sides are b-sides because they are so high quality, both in terms of production and song writing. The covers are great, the live cover is just as good as the studio songs on this album. excellent live production. take out the crowd and you would swear it's studio. Same thing goes for the hunting live song. In fact, it's even better than the studio version! It's worth the price of addmission alone.
if your a stratovarius or power metal fan, this is a must buy.
Pretty good left overs........2001-07-19
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Stratovarius
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Sanctuary ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B000ARG2KU Release Date: 2005-09-13 |
Tracks:
- Maniac Dance
- Fight!!!
- Just Carry On
- Back To Madness
- Gypsy In Me
- Gotterdammerung (Zenith Of Power)
- The Land Of Ice And Snow
- Leave The Tribe
- United
Album Description
Stratovarius, the Finnish masters of symphonic metal, are prepared to unleash their eponymous 11th album. The respected lineup of vocalist Timo Kotipelto, guitarist Timo Tolkki, drummer Jorg Michael and keyboardist Jens Johansson has carried on the Stratovarius legacy, along with new bassist Lauri Porra. Taking the listener on a nine song roller coaster ride from traditional headbangers like `Gypsy In Me' to complex compositions such as `Back To Madness,' monolithic anthems like `Maniac Dance' through to a real Stratovarius epic, `Götterdämmerung,' the album reconfirms Stratovarius' place at the top of the international melodic metal tree.Customer Reviews:
Very solid release.......2006-04-08
These are some of the notable highlights from the album:
United is a very powerful song resembling more "older" stratovarius and really captures the heart and soul of what people like about Stratovarius; power and melody.
Maniac Dance starts out with a simple riff but ultimately carries a lot of power and emotion with it; at first when I heard it I didn't like it, but it grew on me.
Zenith of Power (Gotterdammerung) - Timo Tolkki's song about Hitler, certainly a very powerful song. A bit repetative, and more could/should have been done with it, but it was still really good. By the way, Stratovarius's label almost prevented them from releasing their song earlier; the old version had hitler's speech in it and they worried the people would be outraged...so in the new version, the speech can still be heard, but its toned down.
But the songs Back to Madness and Fight are the best. Fight is just a classic power metal song but it has a great edge to it, and really good vocals by Kotipelto...again its harsher, darker, and slower than previous stratovarius material but they haven't lost that thing about them which identifies themselves from any other boring power metal artist. Back to Madnesse sort of reminds me of an opera, with the singer at the end, its about Timo Tolkki's fight against his depression problems, the things he went through the last year, etc.
I can understand if some people do not like this album because
1) its heavier, slower than some (like me) might like, but really its justified because it was a darker period for the band, and also, Stratovarius really needed to change from the elements style; Kotipelto and Tolkki made an agreement that they would move away from the style. I'd rather have this slower album than no Stratovarius at all, personally
2) Harsher vocals (no squealing from Kotipelto)
3) No double bass drum
4) A few filler songs in my opinion, like Just Carry On, but we've seen a couple of those in every Strato album for quite some time now =]
But ultimately, the power of Stratovarius came through and it was a great release, very solid 4/5.
Solid - but not for beginners.......2006-03-22
Another U-turn. So how was it for you?.......2006-01-11
But I digress. After the lead cut of Maniac Dance you can settle in for a solid, if not yet back to peak condition Stratovarius. After all the inter personal stuff that went on it's amazing this album got made at all. Perhaps not worthy of four stars musically but for sheer effort and determination to overcome barriers it's good to have this band back and making records together, instead of headlines.
Tried to experiment a bit............2005-11-29
Could be..........2005-11-06
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Fright Night
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Import ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B000024M3O Release Date: 1994-06-01 |
Tracks:
- Future Shock
- False Messiah
- Black Night
- Witch-Hunt
- Fire Dance
- Fright Night
- Night Screamer
- Darkness
- Goodbye
Album Description
Reissue of their very first album from 1989. Import only!Album Details
1994 Reissue of the Band's Original 1984 Release, this is the First Studio Album featuring Timo Tolkki on Vocals.Customer Reviews:
The best Stratovarius album? Hmmm... well not for me anyways........2006-08-08
Song ratings: 1 = lowest 10 = highest (in my opinion)
Future Shock: 6/10 Not a bad intro to the album. It kicks things up with a bang.
False Messiah: 7/10 This song has a beat that makes the album feel like it's still starting up while it's getting stronger at the same time.
Black Night: 5/10 My least favorite on here. It's not that bad but the vocalist annoys me when he says "no no no no no no".
Witch Hunt: 10/10 This song is stuck in my head so I really have no choice but to give it a 10. It's an awesome song and the rhythm will get stuck in your head for days.
Fire Dance: 9/10 The half way point of the album. It's an awesome instrumental and it launches you into the second half of the album. The drummer is a shining sun on this instrumental.
Fright Night: 10/10 Best song off the album without a doubt. It's the longest and heaviest song off the album. Very great. Sometimes I just skip to Fire Dance, listen to this song next, then just turn off the album because I just feel like listening to this gem.
Night Screamer: 10/10 Very good song. Deserves another 10.
Darkness: 7/10 Not bad. Very enchanting feeling.
Goodbye: 8/10 It's an outtro. I love albums that have these instrumentals in it cause it keeps the pace of the album will either ending of beggining it. It's a nice way to end this album. After this song ends I feel pretty majestic yet disapointed at the same time.
So this maybe wasn't my cup of tea. I probably had too much death metal is all but anyways. These are just my faults for the album. Others I'm sure will enjoy it since a lot of people enjoy the old school feeling this album brings. I woundn't recommend it to someone who likes really heavy bands such as Necrophagist, Obituary, Carcass, Death, and you get the point. I highly recommend it though to people who love old school metal. Just be warned it's not for everyone at all. Dangerously overhyped.
It lets "Twilight Time" eat dust !.......2005-11-03
(Break the ice or Out of the shadows for example).
Fright Night is the band's rarest studio album, but the best with
Timo Tolkki on vocals if we make the good track percentage. (Debut too)
With the exception of the filler Goodbye ( acoustic instrumental)
this work has NO DOWNS. Almost no keyboards, but inventive riffs
and AWESOME guitar solos by Tolkki as always. Tuomo Lassila ( ex-drummer) doesn't let the repetition ghost, that haunts Jorg Michael, get near.It's heavier overall but didn't lose the melodic metal attributes.
Future shock: Looks like Timo put clothes nailer on his nose to sing, but don't be afraid: it doesn't mean untuning.
False Messiah: It contains something that Jari Kainulainen doesn't do in Strato songs : bass solo (short,but well placed).
The beat varies much (thanks, Lassila!). Good chorus. One of my favourites.
Black Knight: Go, go, go ,go, go ,go! Black Knight! Tolkki's energy in this track called my attention. That guitar stroke in 2:20 ...... fabulous! He does some David Murray-esque(Iron Maiden guitarist) linking solos (turbo)in the beggining. Listen, man!
Witch hunt: Tuomo does an interesting drum solo at start, check it out.
Fire Dance: Well worked instrumental. 47 seconds mark: a rhythm that remembers the army, I like it. As in standard Strato instrumental songs, Tolkki abuses of his playing abilities.How great!
Fright Night : It's like the 2nd track ,many tempo variations.
It came closer to the progressive style.
It has my favourite riffs in the album. One word sums it all:
perfect
The 7th and 8th tracks are worthwhile too.
If you can't buy it in your country try downloading it from internet.
Masterpiece for melodic metal fans!.......2003-09-06
I Love This Album!.......2002-11-14
Frightfully genius!.......2000-07-13
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Elements, Pt. 1
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Nuclear Blast Americ ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B00007LL7O Release Date: 2003-02-11 |
Tracks:
- Eagleheart
- Soul Of A Vagabond
- Find Your Own Voice
- Fantasia
- Learning To Fly
- Papillon
- Stratofortress
- Elements
- A Drop In The Ocean
Album Description
This release is the first of a two part concept album series, part two will be released in 2004. Cover artwork by Derek Riggs (Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson and Gamma Ray). This is their first release in almost three years. Nuclear Blast. 2003.Customer Reviews:
Very Underrated! There was only three songs that I didn't like off this CD (not a kid).......2006-08-18
This CD is highly underrated. I was listening to this CD prepared to bein disapointed and I pretty much loved it. I can't believe how everyone rated this CD. This atleast deserves a few stars instead of one. This CD does indeed have it's boring moments but there are relatively less boring parts over the fun parts. The CD has an operatic style on some of the songs which might have also contributed to the low album rating. Also there are three soft songs off the CD. I only liked one of them. The rest are pretty heavy. Don't believe me? Listen to Eagleheart. That sounds nice. Also Find Your Own Voice. Sounds heavy enough yet? That song even reminds of a Visions album song. Elements.. Yes... that song is plenty heavy and it just builds up as it rolls along. It's not heavy in a death metal kind of heavy it's in a power metal kind of heavy. I was not disapointed by this CD at all unlike many of the other people here. When it ended I felt very spacey and atmospheric. A pleasant musical adventure.
Here are the song ratings. They rate for 1 to 10 in my opinion.
1. Eagleheart: 10/10 Don't understand why the person who calls this their favorite album says this is the album's worst song. I prefer to disagree. This is my 2nd favorite off the album. I love this song. It's very atomospheric with asstounding bass beats. The vocalist is at his best on this song. Probably one of the band's most unique song.
2. Soul Of A Vagabond: 7/10 This song is indeed repetative but it makes up for it in heaviness. Also not only is it repetative but it has a very slow beggining. Every song except Eagleheart and A Drop In The Ocean has a slow beggining off this album. Once they started up though it sounds awesome. This song is no exception. If you think 7 is a low number it is not, it is still a great song.
3. Find Your Own Voice: 10/10 3rd favorite. This song sounds like something you'd hear in the Visions/Episode/ or Destiny era. Very slow beggining but the AMAZINGNESS of this song definitly reverses the thought of it even having a slow beggining. A perfect score 10.
On a side note... the album slows down dramatically for the rest of the album. The first 3 songs were the really fast songs off the album. The only time the album will speed back up again is on Stratofortress bridge instrumental.
4. Fantasia: 4/10 The most disapointing song off the album (even though it's not my least favorite). Just listen to the first couple of mins or so and you'll see why I feel it is so disapointing. The beggining is absolutely amazing and I loved it so much. When I first heard it I was thinking this could be the greatest song the band has ever made. But no they had to slow it down into something so boring and so annoying I coundn't stand it. Plus the lyrics annoy me even more. If the entire song kept up a pace just like the beggining did then this could have turned into the best Stratovarius song ever. They ruined the greatest oppurtunity they ever had in their career and the chance to make people feel this album is asstounding. Really deserves a 5 but I gave it a 4 out of disapointment. The Beggining is good and there is one minute in the middle of the song that I do like. It's when the heavyness increases for just a brief moment and the ending is average.
5. Learning To Fly: 6/10 This song has no direction in it with drumming. It stays the same. The guitars have some talent in it I guess. The vocalist is horrible at the ending of the song. The song also has a very slow beggining and ending which makes the song also boring for a heavier song. It's average but definitly bad for Stratovarius standards. Good song after listening to Fantasia though so that's why it gets a 6 instead of a 5.
6. Papillion: 2/10 I don't like this at all. It is slow all the way through, soft all the way through, and it just repeats the boringness of the song over and over. Just skip past Fantasia, Learning To Fly, and Papillion fore they are all fillers and might have led to the album to be criticized as "boring". Would be good for an opera though.
7. Stratofortress: 7/10 Great instrumental. It's exetremely powerful with great guitar playing and even better drumming. The last 58 seconds of it though ruins the instrumental for me though. It's got a really annoying guitar beat with it on the last 58 seconds. I just tend to skip the last 58 seconds but the rest is outstanding.
8. Elements: 10/10 I love this 11 mins long song. I can't really figure out a way to describe it though like the rest of the album. Mmm lets just say that it just builds up as the song goes along and the last portion of the song, after the continous builing up, made it my 1st favorite song off the album. It talks about the elements of the earth and the emotions of the earth.
9. A Drop In The Ocean: 9/10 Another soft song. Actually I wasn't annoyed by this song for being soft like Papillion and Fantasia. The reason why is because it's highly atomospheric and has an oceanic feel to it. Once it ends I feel ummm just fantastic.
6 good songs 3 bad songs. Really it deserves less than 5 stars but this album is so poorly underrated I'm gonna give this a 5. Plus since Eagleheart, Find Your Own Voice, Elements, and A Drop In The Ocran are some of my most favorite Stratovarius songs ever, I don't see why I shoundn't be prasing this album. I have yet to check out or even listen to anything off of the Elements Part 2 album so I can't provide the answer on if this is better than Elements Part 2. Most of the other people on here say yes. That'll be awesome if Part 2 is better than Part 1 cause I already love this album enough. But anyways I am just rambling now. Ready for some of the best Stratovarius songs you'll possibly ever hear (and some of the worst also!!!) then come on by and check this out. Your about to discover what Stratovarius sounds like at their best and at their worst! Also recommended is Visions, Episode, and Destiny.
(ps if this helps to see my views of Stratovarius I wasn't a big fan of Fright Night and have yet to check out another album by the older Stratovarius, I will one day though cause I didn't terribly hate it)
Oh dear, The Elements are against us...........2006-01-11
Boring Part 1.......2005-10-01
yaaaawwwwwnnnnnn.......2005-03-11
The Stratovarius Disease...........2004-10-25
What am I trying to say? Well, Stratovarius makes 1 or 2 masterpieces on each album and every other song is a throw-out. This album is no different, there's Eagleheart and A Drop In The Ocean, melodic and catchy as hell. The rest are....boring.
Other examples include:
Infinite - Hunting High and Low, A Million Light Years Away
Fourth Dimension - Against The Wind, Distant Skies
Other than the two great songs per album, it's just the same ol stuff over and over. Tolkki just does a fast guitar riff, terrible double bass pounding and Timo's lead vocal is just doing the same ol stuff on every fast strato song.
C'mon Strato, pull it together and give us a whole album.
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Dreamspace
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Noise ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B00000AE1Y Release Date: 1998-10-20 |
Tracks:
- Chasing Shadows
- 4th Reich
- Eyes Of The World
- Hold On To Your Dream
- Magic Carpet Ride
- We Are The Future
- Tears Of Ice
- Dreamspace
- Reign Of Terror
- Thin Ice
- Atlantis
- Abyss
- Shattered
- Wings Of Tomorrow
Album Description
Early album from 1994 by the Finnish prog metal quintet, available for the first time in the U.S. 14 tracks. 1998 Noise International release.Customer Reviews:
Their BEST album.......2005-07-01
"Chasing Shadows" has a haunting guitar sound with irresistible drive.
"4th Reich" has the most creative sound in this album, something I can't even describe.
My absolute favourite piece is "Eyes of the World", pure genius! Tolkki sings so beautifully in this one and the lyrics are really touching, not to mention the guitar solo that is one of his all time best (it's not about how fast you play, it's the emotion you deliver and how great it fits into the song overall). Only con is that it might get too repetitive in the end but it doesn't bother me really cos I like the chorus sooo much.
"Hold on to Your Dream" is one of those incredibly catchy and positive songs.
"Tears of Ice" is very beautiful ballad with great atmosphere.
"Dreamspace" is the most progressive song they've ever made and also one of their best. Includes some finest riffing in the middle of the song and also notice how high Tolkki reaches with his yell.
"Reign of Terror" is very angry song with crunching riffs and funny lyrics. It's about the time when Matti Nykänen (skijumper champion from the 80's) made a horrible song in the beginning of the 90's and it was somekind of a "success". Lyrics go like this: 'What the hell is going on, skijumpers making music that sells gold'. Very funny indeed.
"Thin Ice" is the only track I still don't understand.
"Abyss" one of the best with great keyboard melody.
"Shattered" a nice trash metal piece with the most furious riffs ever from Tolkki.
"Wings of Tomorrow" a great ending and one of those cheerful and positive songs.
I could go on forever. Too bad this album seems to be heavily underrated by many people who just want to listen to those stereotypical power metal songs. Tolkki actually sings quite well and his voice definitely fits these songs better than Kotipelto's would. On their DVD "Infinite Visions" is a bonus acoustic live video of "Hold on to Your Dream" sung by Kotipelto and it sounds quite bad. He tries to reach too high with his voice and just messes the whole song, too bad. I recommend this album to everyone who likes the band or doesn't like (yep, it's that different, believe me). No matter what kind of albums Stratovarius makes nowadays and in the future, these oldies will live forever!
Best old-school Stratovarius record.......2005-01-31
1. There are only four members, just two of which played on anything after 'Fourth Dimension' (1995).
2. Antti Ikonen is more of a backing keyboardist, there are no keyboard solos.
3. The basic sound of the guitar and bass is COMPLETELY different than the more modern Stratovarius. The bass sounds much cleaner (as opposed to a more slapstick sound used on later releases), and the guitar sounds a lot crunchier.
All those differences aside, 'Dreamspace' is a terrific album, and for the time, the production by Timo Tolkki is certainly far from bad. Timo Tolkki is not as good of a singer as Timo Kotipelto, but when listening to this record, I could instantly picture Kotipelto singing a vast majority of the songs from this album. Jari Kainulainen is his usual self, though at the time of this record's release, it would be hard to say that, since this was the band's first recording with him on bass. I really must say, I don't pay as much attention to Antti Ikonen as I would to the godly keyboardist Jens Johanssen (who replaced Antti not long after 'Fourth Dimension.') Drummer Tuomo Lassila is actually a lot better than his replacement, Jorg Michel. It's not that he's BAD, it's just that Tuomo has a bit more technical skills.
And now, the highlights of this album. Opener "Chasing Shadows" is a typical power metal opening tune: fast and frantic. Very heavy, with a bone chilling intro riff. Track 4, "Hold On To Your Dream," is my personal favorite of the album, the little lead at the beginning is really cool, and I love the buildup of the song, it begins with the lead, then for the first part of the verse, we get no guitar, just a simple bassline, but then the guitar kicks in for a simple tune that crunches along at a perfect tempo. Then, there's the title track (track 8), which has a very interesting intro. The riff is one I can expect to hear in a planetarium, and the bass line...I picked it up right off the bat, it's not hard at all. However, it is one of the lengthiest tunes on the album (a straight 6 minutes) and really shifts around a lot. Ultimately, this is the band's most unpredictable album, and I would highly recommend it to fans of any of Stratovarius' other albums: 'Fright Night,' 'Twilight Time,' 'Fourth Dimension,' 'Episode,' 'Visions,' 'Destiny,' 'Infinite,' and the Elements series. Also recommended for fans of Finnish metal like Nightwish, Thunderstone, Sonata Arctica, and Children of Bodom or power metal like Helloween, Edguy, Blind Guardian, and Gamma Ray.
DEATH TO FALSE METAL!-Manowar
Their best.............2004-04-22
Sheer European (Prog-Metal) Excellence!.......2004-03-01
Darker Strato.......2003-12-17
Overall, it's a different album, and great for those who want to discover a new side of Stratovarius
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Twilight Time
Stratovarius Manufacturer: Noise ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B00000IKNB Release Date: 1999-04-20 |
Tracks:
- Break The Ice
- The Hands Of Time
- Madness Strikes At Midnight
- Metal Frenzy
- Twilight Time
- The Hills Have Eyes
- Out Of The Shadows
- Lead Us Into The Light
Album Description
Reissue of the Scandinavian prog metal group's second album, originally released in 1993, one of Japan's best-selling titles at the time. Contains the original cover art & all eight of the cuts from the original release. 1999 release.Customer Reviews:
Pretty good early Stratovarius.......2007-04-21
Twilight Time is a good disc from a great power metal band. When listening to this album though, one must realize that this was back in the early 90's and a sophmore effort by this band. The music is quite good, but also quite empty in some sections. For me, the standout songs are Out of the Shadows, the Hands of Time, and Twilight Time. These songs are quite commercial but do sound good. This album does chronicle the journey that Stratovarius has been on. It does not sound like the newer albums, but you can hear hints of it starting here. There is a very airy quality to it with more ethereal keyboards rather than the soloing that Jens does on the newer music. Timo Tolkki also sings on this album and his voice is good, but it just does not come across as a 'dedicated lead singer' type voice (like Timo Kotipelto's does). The music has a lot of reverb on it. I personally like it, because I like 80's music. If you listen to this one and then Dreamscape, this one will be more commercial than Dreamscape. Dreamscape is much darker thatn Twilight Time. If you compare this one to any from Episode to now, it will be much different. If you are a collector of Strato music, then get this one. If you like 80's metal not unlike Yngwie Malmsteen, then you will like parts of this album. If you are expecting music like what Strato sounds like today, you will be not be terribly happy. Overall though, it is a good listen and has neat parts in it.
Oooh the early days.......2006-01-11
And that's just it - there isn't much here to tell you that these guys would later write stuff like Black Diamond or Hunting High & Low. And without the signature vox of one Timo Kotipelto it doesn't feel like Stratovarius to a later convert like me. And a poor mix doesn't really help but they probably had to hide the vocals a bit.... sorry Mr Tolkki.
It won't lead us into the light.......2005-07-08
Timo Tolkki, with evidence, isn't as good as Kotipelto.However,he has the potiential
to share the lead vocals ,not be as a backing. It could always be done like the
Gallagher brothers from Oasis do. Unhappily, he palled on singing lead in Stratovarius.
What a pity.The truth is:
I liked half of this album. The bad half is consisted of weak and average songs.
The litter: The hills have eyes (A rigmarole.It drags), Madness strikes at midnight
(lack of voice variety,not quality) and Metal Frenzy ( cool guitaring, but the repetition lets it get lost)
The regular:and Twilight time( The start is Ok, repetitive chorus on opposite)
The worths:
The hands of time, Lead us into the light (a ballad as good as Tears of ice from Dreamspace), Break the ice (It has very few melodies,good midway solo,heavier)
and Out of the shadows (the only gem; beautiful riff , excellent chorus and melody)
Stratovarius stumbled in Twilight Time. Buy it for curiosity, or if you are a completist.
Avoid trying to it if you're new to the band.
With Tolkki's vocals, Dreamspace is far better.
I would give it 2.5 stars, but Out of the shadows provides the third star for its quality.
Groundbreaking 2nd album.......2005-07-02
"Break the Ice" is a great hard rocker with surprisingly strong vocals from Tolkki (and his English pronounciation is actually better than Kotipelto's).
"The Hands of Time" is the most groundbreaking song (and also one of their all time best) with mindblowing beginning that clearly inspired many musicians like Edguy's Tobias Sammett (listen to the song "Vain Glory Opera", very similar beginning isn't it).
"Madness Strikes at Midnight" is the first of two more traditional metal tracks with eerie melody in the beginning, somehow catchy with nice solo.
"Twilight Time" also one of all time best, quite varied with changing tempo, nice slow chorus and heavy riffing and again nice solo.
"The Hills Have Eyes" a bit similar with "Madness..", eerie beginning but afterwards turns out as a nice rocker with catchy groove.
"Out of the Shadows" sounds very happy and light after few heavier songs, slightly similar with "The Hands of Time" with very catchy chorus.
"Lead Us in to the Light" fantastic and almost hypnotic slow-tempo epic-ballad-thing, one of the most succesful compositions from Tolkki.
Very underrated album and one of Stratovarius' finest moments. This album clearly shows that Tolkki had vision that he succesfully continued to fulfil on Dreamspace. It's creative in certain limits, not like Dreamspace which is creative as a whole. This is the last Strato album where you can still hear traditional 80's heavy metal influences elsewhere than just in solos. I'll give this one 4.5 stars!
Why does this band receive so much dirt?.......2005-03-02
This one is ultimately not their best one, but it is still a great piece of art from Finland's finest. Some of my personal favorite tracks are as follows: My favorite track on the album is "The Hands of Time," it's fast, heavy, and conentrates a fair amount on the synths, which is a plus. Also awesome are the title track and "Break The Ice," which are perfect mid-tempo heavy rockers. Try to find this if you possibly can (try somewhere like Newbury Comics, Tower, or Bull Moose music, not a little local record store.) Ultimately, I just don't feel that Stratovarius deserve the dirt that they get.
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