''Stratovarius'' is the eleventh studio album by

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

, released on 5 September 2005 through

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

."Stratovarius - Stratovarius (album)"
''finnishcharts.com''. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2021. The album reached No. 4 on the

Finnish albums chart The Official Finnish Charts ( fi, Suomen virallinen lista; sv, Finlands officiella lista) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiell ...

as well as the top 100 in six other countries. "

Maniac Dance Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

" was released as a single, reaching No. 4 on the

Finnish singles chart The Official Finnish Charts ( fi, Suomen virallinen lista; sv, Finlands officiella lista) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiell ...

and the top 100 in three other countries."Stratovarius - Maniac Dance (song)"
''finnishcharts.com''. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2021. It is the last album to feature the band's longest-standing line-up which had been consistent since ''

Episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning t ...

'' (1996), as bassist

Jari Kainulainen Jari "Jartsi" Kainulainen (born 29 April 1970) is a Finnish bass guitarist. He is best known for having been the bass player of the power metal band Stratovarius from 1993 until 2005. Kainulainen is currently the bassist of Masterplan, having ...

would leave Stratovarius later in the year, followed by guitarist and bandleader

Timo Tolkki Timo Tapio Tolkki (born 3 March 1966) is a Finnish musician best known as the former guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer of the power metal band Stratovarius. With his tenure lasting for more than twenty years, he was the longest standing ...

in 2008.

Overview

The release of ''Stratovarius'' came after a highly troubled period for the band in 2004, during which they temporarily split up following a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

suffered by Tolkki. After a year-long hiatus, they reunited in 2005 and toured worldwide in support of the album, playing for the first time in the United States and Canada. Stylistically the album displays a dramatically noticeable shift from the

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

power metal sound of previous albums: the songs are more hard-edged and slower, with Tolkki's signature neo-classical shred soloing almost completely absent. Keyboardist

Jens Johansson Jens Ola Johansson (born 2 November 1963 in Stockholm) is a Swedish keyboardist and pianist who currently plays in the Finnish power metal band Stratovarius and Ritchie Blackmore's rock project Rainbow. He is notable for his high-speed neoclas ...

's role is particularly restricted, as well as Jörg Michael's drumming, which features hardly any of his signature

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

playing. Singer

Timo Kotipelto Timo Antero Kotipelto (born 15 March 1969) is a Finnish musician best known as the lead singer of the power metal band Stratovarius, whom he joined in 1994, as well as fronting his own band Kotipelto. Biography He studied vocals at the pop/ja ...

also attempts a different vocal approach, mostly avoiding his usual high

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

. Tolkki has since stated in interviews that he was unsatisfied with the end result of the album due to it being too far removed from the band's true style.Priest, David (2007). . On Track Magazine. 2007. Archived fro
the original
on 2007-04-18. Retrieved 2014-01-07.

Track listing

Personnel

Stratovarius *

– lead vocals *

– guitar, engineering, mixing, producer *

– keyboard arrangement, orchestral arrangement (track 7) *Jörg Michael – drums *

– bass Additional credits *

Max Lilja Max Lilja (born 27 October 1975) is a Finnish cello player. He is best known as a founding member of the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica, a band he left in 2001 to join the Finnish thrash metal band Hevein. Beginning in 2007, Lilja has ...

– cello (track 4) *Petri Bäckström – tenor vocals (track 4) *Marko Vaara – backing vocals *Kimmo Blom – backing vocals *

Pasi Rantanen Pasi Rantanen (born 30 October 1969, in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish singer best known for his power metal band Thunderstone, of which he was a member from the band's creation in 2000 until 2007. He rejoined Thunderstone in 2013 as a full-tim ...

– backing vocals *Anssi Stenberg – backing vocals *"Starbuck" – spoken vocals (track 4) *Mikko Oinonen – engineering (drums) *Svante Forsbäck – mastering

Chart performance

Album

Singles

References

External links

''Stratovarius''
at stratovarius.com {{Authority control Stratovarius albums 2005 albums Sanctuary Records albums