Stratovarius Retrospective, and missing playlists
What is the point of these?
I love making lists, and what better band to give a retrospective than the Finnish legends Stratovarius. This is probably the biggest challenge for discog reviews I’ve put myself up to yet. Stratovarius has been a band for 30+ years and with a new release dropping soon they seem to show no signs of retiring anytime soon. The first time I heard this band was on some metal mix album that I bought while living in Finland. Maybe one of the most influential albums of my life as it introduced me to Ensiferum, Finntroll, Stratovarius, Thunderstone, and Children of Bodom. I decided that when I do these pieces I am going to rely on using wikipedia as little as possible as simply regurgitating information from the wiki here is not my goal with these pieces. This is mostly going to be a “vibe check” as the Zoomers say.
Fright Night
Right away the first track “Future Shock” is something that stands out to longtime fans of the band is how different the vocals are for this album compared to later works. The band has much more of a classical heavy metal sound on the opener. The guitars feel thicker than their more modern sound, vocals are closer to being gruff than the soaring vocals we now get from the band. None of this is bad and I think I am going to have a fun time listening to how the sound of this band evolves as they had a much slower evolution progress than Metallica or Nightwish. The follow up track “False Messiah” also feels a lot heavier than what you’d expect from Stratovarius. The band has always had questionable lyrics, but the lyrics for both tracks so far are enjoyable. Most metal songs are very “I am 16 and this is very deep” and the band seems to really nail that aesthetic with their first release. By far the weakest track on here is “Witch Hunt” which has some cool parts sonically, but very boring lyrics, and a vocal style that just didn’t work for me. The guitar work in the song is sick as hell, but something about this tracks vocals doesn’t land with me and I am not sure I can explain it. It just sounds like he’s talking into the mic for most of the song and only sings during the bridge and chorus.
Overall this is a fantastic album from the band that really ages well and it’s fun to go back and visit their early days. The tone of the band has shifted so dramatically from this album to their modern sound. The tracks that I really enjoyed are included in the Best of Stratovarius playlist at the end of the post. For the show I picked “Future Shock” and “Fright Night” as these two tracks best capture the sound of the album, but “Night Screamer” almost made the cut for the show. All 3 of those are iconic tracks for the band.
Score: 3.5/5
Twilight Time
This album starts off with “Break the Ice” and just like Fright Night this album has a very different sound from modern Stratovarius. You get glimpses of what the band will sound like in this track as the vocals are starting to mature a bit. The song has a slow melodic bridge section in the middle which is also a change in sound from their previous release. Things really kick into high gear with “The Hands of Time”. This is one of the all time best tracks from Strat and I was fist pumping in my office when this kicked on earlier this week. The self-titled track “Twilight Time” is also another song from the band that really sticks out, and “The Hills Have Eyes” is a cult classic with it’s weird 80’s synth that hits out of nowhere. The first time I heard this track I had to pause the music because I thought the synth hit was an alert for some arcane program at work. The closer “Lead Us Into the Light” is also particularly good and features that slow haunting guitar riffing that I love from Strat.
The bands sound has some evolution by the second album but not as much and the album has less bangers on it that other sophomore albums covered on this blog. Still a good step forward for a young band with some tracks that remain fan favorites.
Score: 3.5/5
Dreamspace
This album isn’t fucking aorund. The opener “Chasing Shadows,” hits you with the signature vocal styles of Timo Tolkki (this is the last album he is lead singer on) and the band are clearly starting to settle into what will be their future sound. This album is loaded with big synth hits such as those we get on “4th Reich,” along with some nice catchy guitar riffs and solid solos like in “Eyes of the World”. This is the first album from the band where every track is perfect. As this is Stratovarius you know this album is going to have a fucking BANGER for a title track and “Dreamspace,” delivers. Timo’s vocals pierce your ears at the end of the song, the haunting laugh at the interlude, the guitar work that manages to be catchy but not overstay it’s welcome. Just a flawless track from the band. The overall tight cohesive work on the album is a large part of what this album is still held in such high regards by fans of the band.
The last few tracks on this album are the weakest, but even then they really aren’t bad tracks. After “Thin Ice” the album has a nice wind down period. While this is the last album with their original singer the band will go on to release a stream of highly regarded albums for the next decade so buckle the fuck in for some of the best metal ever produced.
Score: 4/5
Fourth Dimension
Dreamspace was the beginning of the golden era of this band. Fourth Dimension is one of the best reviewed albums from the band. The band will spend the next 5 years releasing incredible albums. Fourth Dimension starts off with an absolute banger with “Against the Wind.” This is a track I’ve spent a lot of time listening to while playing WoW. I really can’t count the number of hours that I’ve spent listening to this song. The band has a new singer (also named Timo) who really elevated the band to a new level. This is the last album to feature Antti Ikonen. He lays down some of his best work with this opening track. “Galaxies” is another early track on the album that stands out. The pumping chorus will have you fist pumping and doing karate kicks around the office. Timo really shows off his broad range and signature sound on this album with tracks like “Galaxies” and the follow up “Winter”. The haunting vocals have a power behind that and the bridge into the guitar solo is just a perfect fit for his style. Timo really comes out to show that he is the vocalist for the band, and there is a reason he hasn’t been replaced since his first appearance nearly 30 years ago.
This album also features some cool instrumental tracks like “Stratovarius” that give the rest of the band some time to shine. I love the pulsing baseline in this track and the way the bass runs with the guitar during the track. The guitar work is crisp and fast. Keyboards have a good showing in the track and the musicianship of the other band members really comes through in this one.
Score: 4.5/5
Episodes
This album is not fucking around. Right off the bat we get blasted with one of the best Strat songs of all time, “Father Time” with the iconic chorus “Where have all the years gone? \ That’s what I am asking now.” Yes, it’s a little on the Finnish-English side of things, but the song still has a great easy to parse message that feels even more relevant considering this album is nearly 30 years old. This was also the first Strat album to chart in the top 25 in Finland which was a big step for the band. Despite its age the recording quality is great, the mixing is near perfect for the band, and everything feels well layered. “Will the Sun Rise” is another early track off this album that continues to be a favorite of mine. The solo work on the track is great, and the chugging bass really drives the guitars home. The only really odd part of the mixing on this album is how quickly each track fades out. I didn’t notice it at firsty, but once I started to pay attention to it all the song fade outs feel very rushed.
The title track for this album “Episode” is a nice interlude as we move from the first few tracks to the middle of the album. Long albums from the CD era tended to trag in the middle, but this one starts off with a ripper in “Speed of Light”. The weakest song on the album is “Uncertainty,” which has a decent solo but overall feels like a sleepy song you hide in the middle of the album. The middle section of the album closes out with another instrumental song which leads to this album having the most structure so far of their discography.
Score: 5/5
Visions
This album isn’t fucking around. It starts with 3 classic tracks from the band, “The Kiss of Judas,” “Black Diamond,” and “Forever Free.” These are some of the best tracks the band has ever released and all 3 are openers for this album. The album art is also insane for the band. Strat has never been a stranger to weird album art, but this art just goes hard. The band seems to have a good understanding of how to structure an album at this point. “Before the Winter” serves as a nice slow down song after the high energy we got in the previous 3 tracks.
The next track that really sticks out to me is “The Abyss of Your Eyes.” The cool synth strings, counter play with the guitar, and the way the bass chugs along in the opening section let you know the song is going to be awesome. The effect on the vocals to make them more ethereal and haunting combined with Timo’s style really lands well. “Holy Light” is the last instrumental transition song that we get on the album and it leads into another classic from the band, “Paradise”. Both of these songs are fan favorites from the band, with “Paradise” being one of the biggest tracks from the band.
Score: 5/5
Destiny
Another banger album from the band. The album hits hard from the start with the title track “Destiny”. I love the little angelic vocal segment right at the start of the opening track. We hear that motif repeated again on “S.O.S”. The band really leans into having a more mature sound for themselves. They are starting to use more and more 1 shot sound effects in their songs like the popping sound in “S.O.S.” The first half of the album culminates with “4000 Rainy Nights” which is one of their all time best tracks (this album has a few tracks that really hold up). This album doesn’t have the same structure of breaking up the album with instrumental sections like we’ve gotten on other albums. Usually when I listen to an album and I am trying to judge it as a whole complete piece of work I listen to it once, and then hit it up again in a few days after I have an overall impression of it. I hadn’t listened to this album in years and I still remembered all the beats for it. That is something that really signifies this is an all time classic Strat album. Good albums should have staying power with their listeners.
As I said on the show this is an album that you really should listen to instead of just taking my opinion.
Score: 5/5
Infinite
This is a bit of a weird album for the band. There are certainly a lot of great tracks on here that both aged well, and are fan favorites. “Hunting High and Low” is one of the biggest songs from the band. Right now it sits on top of their most popular tracks on Spotify, and it’s the 3rd most popular by playcount. The single for the track debuted at number 4 in Finland. Another track that really stuck out to me when I was listening to this album was “Glory of the World”. The opening riffs on the track do a great job setting the overall tone, and when the keyboard comes in with the cheesy futuristic harpsichord sound you know the track is going to be fucking fire. This band has a knack for writing some of the cheesiest choruses of all time, and this track is dripping with velveeta cheese. While there is no exact title track on this album, “Infinity” is very close for a title track and overall a great track. The synth strings sound great and give the track an epic feel that helps with the soaring vocals we get on the chorus. The song also has a bit of a classic rock “Stairway to Heaven” feel with the opening vocals of the track. I think the softer sections really work well on this one. Overall this is still a great album from the band, and there are a lot of tracks I personally enjoyed, but I can’t put it up in the pantheon of perfect Stratovarius albums.
Score: 4/5
Elements 1 & 2
Who doesn’t love 2 plus hour long albums? This album absolutely could have been shorter, but should it have been shorter? Infinite was a well received album at its release, but was missing something that really pushes a Strat album over the line into perfect album territory. So Stratovarius made sure that didn’t happen by putting everything in this album. It feels bloated and unwieldy, but the idea of having a 2 hour long album was clearly baked up in a sauna. As I said in the show version of this blog post these guys are fucking studio fiends.
Right away we get a classic track from the band with “Eagleheart”. This is one of the more popular tracks from the band and usually sits around number 4 for most played Stratovarius tracks. I feel like listing all the songs I liked on an album is a corny way to do a review so I’ll try to get them all out of the way at once so we can move on. For the songs that I really like I’ll throw in a few notes.
- Find Your Own Voice
- Great Chorus on this one and some cool bits of musicianship
- Fantasia
- Learning to Fly
- Papilion
- Fantastic use of synth, strings, acoustic, and a sonically complex song from a dumb power metal band. Some insane vocal parts
- Stratofortress
- Just a cool instrumental shredder from the band. The guitarists are doing a little flexing.
- I Walk To My Own Song
- Just a personal favorite song from the band that seems to have a chorus I can still get behind. You will be fist pumping to this one in the office
- I’m Still Alive
- Again just another song with a delightfully cheesy chorus that will get you to fist pump and do karate in the workplace.
So far we’ve gotten a lot of great albums from the band, but this is the first album that feels like it really missed the mark, but the album is so long that it does have something for everyone. Part 1 is fine and has most of the good tracks, part 2 feels like a grind to get through. This is less an album you put on to seriously listen to and more something that is on in the background while you take care of other things.
Score: 2.5/5
Stratovarius
I believe this was the first full album from the band I owned, and I somehow got stuck with one of their weakest releases as my first buy. The mixing alone on this album is reason enough to give it a low score. The drums are mixed in such a way that they sound like an early 00’s full electric kit. I don’t know if this was just the style at the time as this was around the time Metallica had those unfortunate drum mixing incidents. The album still has the cheesy goodness you’d expect from the band, Finglish, and some good guitar work. All of that can’t outdo the awful mixing that the album fell victim to. “Maniac Dance” is a cheesy opening song that really sets the tone for the general lighthearted sound of the album, but feels like a weak song from this band as far as their openers go.
The next track that sticks out to me is “Just Carry On”. The chorus on this one is powerful, you will be gyrating your hips to this track when it comes on, but the few good tracks on this album are not enough to save it. Other great tracks on here are “Back to Madness”, “Gypsy in Me”, and “Land of Ice and Snow” which is maybe the only love song the band writes about their home country. This album had all the workings to be a great album from the band, but the mixing really fucks this album over big time. The guitars sound thin, drums sound like a PlaySkool My First Electric Drum Kit, and the bassist was entirely mixed out. The backing choir on some of the tracks also feels odd given Timo has the power to carry a chorus by himself. He does not need a backing choir. There are some good synth effects in the album, and some good use of orchestral elements.
Score: 2/5
Polaris
This is the first album that I’d consider to be part of the band’s modern era. The band moved to a new label and with it a return to the more classic mixing and sound for the band. I like the mixing and mastering on this album and think that overall the album sounds good. All the levels are well matched so that you can hear all the instruments, the backing choir to add some depth to the vocals is a nice touch.
The album starts off with “Deep Unknown” which is a fun opening track, but misses some of the charm of previous album openers. The next few tracks aren’t bad, but aren’t exactly what I’d call memorable for this bad. Really that’s how I’d describe this whole album as nothing in it really sticks out in this band’s storied catalog compared to older (and future) releases. It’s a step back onto the path of releasing cheesy power metal, but nothing to write home about.
“Winter Skies” might be where the album starts to turn around into being a good album. There are some things in the solo that I’ve never heard the band do before. The follow up track “Forever is Today” has a great chorus, ripping guitar solo, easy drum beat to fist pump along with. Very much a classic Stratovarius song for all the boys and girls to enjoy. The album starts to fall off again at “When Mountains Fall”. Overall a nice return to tradition, but something is really missing on this album for it to stick out.
Score: 3/5
Elysium
Another album where I really wonder why I decided to do this band for this retrospective. The opening track, “Darkest Hours” has some weird mixing that can’t be saved by adjusting my equalizer at home. The bass feels heavier and the highs feel thin to non-existent. The mids also sound too forward in the mix. The resulting sound is just a mess. This album charted well and overall is better than the predecessor. This album was the beginning of the band starting to get back to their roots, and I would suggest you give this album a listen instead of reading a review about it. No I’m not being lazy with writing about this album 🙂
Score: 3.5/5
Nemesis
This is the first lineup change we’ve seen in awhile. The band picked up a new drummer and the energy does seem to show in the music. This is the best album they released in quite awhile. The first half of the album is pretty incredible back to back bangers. The opening track “Abandon” does a good job getting the energy up and showcasing the new drummer’s ability. The second track (and first single) of the album “Unbreakable” is a standout track that really gave us a sneak peek for the album. Kotipelto vocals shine on this album in a way that we haven’t seen in a few releases.
While the band did a great job returning to a more traditional sound for this release and using layering to make the songs have a rich and full sound, the album is fairly unoriginal. I think that they could have done a lot more and songs like “Castle in the Air” show that the band is trying to make more inspired projects. It’s great to see the band going back to a sound that fans obviously enjoyed, but the power metal world has evolved a lot since their early days. Stratovarius can’t continue down this path if they want to stay relevant.
Score: 4/5
Eternal
While the band has slowed releasing works to once every 2 years since 2009 this album still is an improvement. This is the 16th studio album for the band, and it can still stand with the best works they’ve released. An incredible feat for the Finns. What I still find so amazing about this band is that they STILL have passion for trying new things, accepting criticism, and songwriting. It’s no secret that most of their songwriting duties fall to Timo Kotipelto, and some tracks like “Man in the Mirror”, and “My Eternal Dream” are the perfect kind of Strat songs that made me fall in love with the band. Big bombastic catchy tracks that are perfect for live performances. Timo still sounds great on vocals after so many years with the band, guitar and drum work are fantastic and show that the band is continuing where Nemesis left off.
The album is lacking in originality as younger power metal bands continue to push the genres boundaries. I’d like to see the band add a new member, try a new instrument out in their mix, or go back to writing loose concept albums.
Score: 4.5/5
Survive
This is the album that tricked me into thinking this was a good idea. I’ve ruined my spotify recommendations, my year in review put me in the top 1% of Stratovarius fans, and I’ve put off writing other blog posts so I could finish this monster of a post.
The singles off this album are a large part of what made me want to listen to the band again to see if I was insane for thinking they were consistently good. Aside from a few mid releases the band has maintained a high level of musicianship that I think other ancient power metal greats like Iron Maiden, Avantasia, Helloween, etc. clearly forgot. Stratovarius are willing to admit when sonic changes fail to impress. Is the band perfect? No, they are getting left behind when it comes to original compositions, but even when the band was younger they didn’t have the most original sound.
This album sounds similar to Nemesis and Eternal, and not quite a throwback to their 90’s sound. The production is fantastic, songs are not original, but still great. The opening track “Survive” is clearly the band making a statement about still being relevant despite their age, line up changes, and shifts in what power metal is supposed to be. Like Maverick from Top Gun, Stratovarius has to come back and remind us how it’s done. Tracks like “World on Fire” and “Voice of Thunder” also show that Strat still has that magic to write songs that you want to hear live, and as a whole the album is just consistently good. Every time I listened to it I found myself enjoying new tracks from the previous listen.
This is their 17th album and probably my personal favorite of their new releases. I recognize that Eternal is a better album than this, but I still enjoyed this album quite a bit. “Frozen in Time is a nice mid-tempo anthem, and contrasts nicely with “Glory Days” which is a high-energy chorus bomb. I also really appreciate that the album only has 1 filler song. I am glad that bands have continued to skip releasing filler tracks as we don’t have to fill a CD anymore.
Score: 4.5/5
Final Rankings
- Visions
- Destiny
- Episodes
- Fourth Dimension
- Survive
- Eternal
- Dreamspace
- Infinite
- Nemesis
- Fright Night
- Twilight Time
- Elysium
- Polaris
- Elements
- Stratovarius
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