Author Topic: The Stratovarius Thread (Read 105119 times)

gazinwales · « **Reply #665 on:** July 08, 2019, 01:05:57 AM »

Yeah those drums sounds amazing, very powerful, specially on Infinite.
One thing that most power metal albums are lacking, the drums in most modern albums are so buried, that are almost inaudible.

gazinwales · « **Reply #666 on:** July 09, 2019, 02:51:27 AM »

Had a good listen to Elements 2 on the bus today, while it is a strong album, I think it falls just short of part 1.
Also read Jens extensive comments in the booklet for the Elements Complete edition release.
Turns out that there were 23 songs written for Elements, 21 of which were recorded and released.
Two songs were abandoned leaving 9 songs on each album and 3 bonus tracks.
As usual with the Tolkki era albums, the bonus tracks were written by the other bands members (Jens/Kotipelto)

MirrorMask · « **Reply #667 on:** July 09, 2019, 03:17:42 AM »

Speaking of Tollki, I've read that he's gonna tour latin America playing old Strato songs.

gazinwales · « **Reply #668 on:** July 09, 2019, 04:41:32 AM »

Yeah he posted on FB that he is going to be doing a classic Stratovarius set list tour of South America.
He also just posted today that he has a label to release his forthcoming solo album.

wolfking · « **Reply #669 on:** July 09, 2019, 05:06:56 AM »

Quote from: gazinwales on July 09, 2019, 02:51:27 AM

Had a good listen to Elements 2 on the bus today, while it is a strong album, I think it falls just short of part 1.
Also read Jens extensive comments in the booklet for the Elements Complete edition release.
Turns out that there were 23 songs written for Elements, 21 of which were recorded and released.
Two songs were abandoned leaving 9 songs on each album and 3 bonus tracks.
As usual with the Tolkki era albums, the bonus tracks were written by the other bands members (Jens/Kotipelto)

Part 1 is miles better than part 2 IMO.

Grappler · « **Reply #670 on:** July 09, 2019, 08:21:35 PM »

Over the last few months, I've been listening to power metal more than I usually do. I've also been enjoying watching a lot of concert DVD's, so I figured I should look into some Stratovarius. I found a bootleg TV rip of a show from the Destiny era, which is awesome. Amazon had the Under Flaming Winter Skies DVD for $12, so I had to get it for that price.

Just flipped through it - the video looks killer for being just a DVD (the blu-ray was $22 or something). The band is kicking ass, it's one of Jorg's final shows, and they play about 6 songs from Visions and 2 from Episode. I wish they had one or two from Destiny, instead of 2 cover songs. Either way, this is a fantastic show.

TAC · « **Reply #671 on:** July 09, 2019, 08:33:37 PM »

Watching it on youtube now..

Kotipelto's voice is way less annoying on this live release.

gazinwales · « **Reply #672 on:** July 09, 2019, 11:49:40 PM »

Yeah it is a great show, Jorg is sounding great and alas sadly missed since he left.
Kotipelto also sounds great because he is singing more in his natural range and not being 'forced' (by Tolkki) to sign too high and out of his range.

TAC · « **Reply #673 on:** July 10, 2019, 06:10:09 AM »

Because of that, I'd actually buy this CD, where I could never get myself to buy any of their albums.

The Walrus · « **Reply #674 on:** July 10, 2019, 06:22:50 AM »

That is interesting because I think he sounds poor on it...

wolfking · « **Reply #675 on:** July 10, 2019, 06:28:28 AM »

I'd have to check but I think they play the older stuff in much lower tunings obviously for Timo.

The Walrus · « **Reply #676 on:** July 10, 2019, 06:41:01 AM »

Quote from: wolfking on July 10, 2019, 06:28:28 AM

I'd have to check but I think they play the older stuff in much lower tunings obviously for Timo.

Not much lower but tuned down slightly yeah. Also the covers were Jorg's picks; the band never does covers, but he wanted to play them for his farewell.

I just think the album was made far too late, well past Koti's prime but the setlist doesn't reflect where his voice is at these days because Strato gotta play a bunch of their earlier stuff...

gazinwales · « **Reply #677 on:** July 10, 2019, 09:43:49 AM »

I actually think that Kotipelto sounds the best he has in a long time on the two Cain's Offering albums.
https://youtu.be/0-3PM2FF_eU

The Walrus · « **Reply #678 on:** July 10, 2019, 09:46:55 AM »

Oh no doubt. On the records he sounds amazing. But live (just IMO) I don't think he's been very good for a very, very long time. I often refer to the Hiroshima show of 2003 as "peak Timo" when he actually managed to pull off Find Your Own Voice live.

Tolkki just pushed the man way too hard for way too long and their setlists haven't had enough of the newer stuff to give him a big break from the inhumanly high vocals he struggled with live even when he was younger. But I do love the tone of his voice and his accent. I'm glad people are enjoying UFWS!

gazinwales · « **Reply #679 on:** July 14, 2019, 12:50:22 AM »

I was watching the Infinite Visions DVD on YT and boy Kotipelto appears to struggle live.
Even in the old days he wasn't great on this evidence, though the 3 times I have seen them live, he has always been pretty good.

Was listening to Element 1 yesterday, first time in a few years and it's a lot better than I remember.
Could be their most progressive release too, the production is fantastic.
Even the bonus disc of demo's blew me away with the sheer quality of sound.

ErHaO · « **Reply #680 on:** July 15, 2019, 05:09:39 AM »

Never was a big fan of Kotipelto, even those high notes from back in the day sounded a bit silly to me. But I only got into the band in recent years. When I saw them in 2013, I thought it was a great concert and the vocals sounded good live. He does have a nice vibrato for the type of singer he is, a lot of metal singers push way too hard into and and have veeery wobbly vocals as a result(especially when they get older). Anyways, despite thinking the same about his vocals judging from live clips, actually seeing them was great and I enjoyed his vocals during that concert.

Buuut, I agree with gazinwales that his vocals are better with Cain's Offering, somehow the vocal melodies on both of their albums suit his voice better. And judging from youtube clips, this rings true for their live performances as well.

Seeing his thread pop up made me revisit Nemesis, which is simply a fantastic album.

gazinwales · « **Reply #681 on:** July 15, 2019, 05:16:00 AM »

Yeah Nemesis is great, some really fantastic songwriting going on helped by a certain Jani Liimatainen on a few songs too.
Production is also great and for an album with a lot of songs and quite lengthy, not much filler.

Grappler · « **Reply #682 on:** July 15, 2019, 07:03:17 AM »

Nemesis is so awesome. OUT OF THE FOG!

Grappler · « **Reply #683 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:07:56 AM »

http://bravewords.com/news/infinite-visions-former-stratovarius-guitarist-timo-tolkki-announces-vocalist-and-keyboardist-for-new-band?fbclid=IwAR2HXtuX8GBoQppAoyVi4GSy-Nqs5NRjx1edozcBFTGHSRDfQZYhGJ5wlBg

Quote

Guitarist Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius) announces Jorge Segersbol (Ancestral Dawn, Pegasus) as vocalist and Jimmy Pitts (Eternity's End, Northtale) as keyboardist for his new band, Infinite Visions. They are joined by Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody, Avantasia, Sieges Even) on drums.

The band is currently recording a 5-song demo to be presented to labels worldwide. Songs include "Dangerous", "Sonata Black", and "Voice Of Tomorrow".

Jorge recently recorded a medley of two Stratovarius songs, "Paradise" and "Before The Winter", to let fans hear what they can expect when Infinite Visions goes on tour and performs songs from throughout Timo Tolkki's career. Infinite Visions will not only play material from their upcoming debut album, but also Stratovarius classics, and tracks from Revolution Renaissance, Symfonia, and Avalon.

In what can only be described as "destiny", ten years ago Jorge recorded a cover of the Stratovarius gem "Black Diamond" with his previous band, Nautiluz. The Stratovarius material - along with two songs from his band Ancestral Dawn - can be heard below:

This is the first I've heard of this band....I think it's cool that Timo is going to play songs from all of his bands, including Stratovarius. I just hope that the band's original music leans towards the classic Stratovarius style, otherwise the band name is for naught.

The singer sounds very similar to Timo Kotipelto, which is awesome.

The Walrus · « **Reply #684 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:13:37 AM »

Jimmy Pitts is my absolute favorite new musician in recent memory. He is the keyboardist for NorthTale who released their debut last year, and has a few other projects, including The Fractured Dimension (prog metal) and Eternity's End (blistering shreddy power metal). Although I am super skeptical of Tolkki being capable of doing, well, literally anything these days beyond basic communication with people, I can't deny I'm extremely interested at the prospect of Jimmy and Alex freaking Holzwarth playing with him.

Again, I don't expect Tolkki to actually accomplish this but I could be wrong. Last year was a real low point for him.

MoraWintersoul · « **Reply #685 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:17:29 AM »

Yeah, Tolkki is like... severely unwell. I can't find his last active Facebook profile now but the last I checked about a month ago he was absolutely melting down.

The Walrus · « **Reply #686 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:22:34 AM »

Quote from: MoraWintersoul on February 28, 2020, 08:17:29 AM

Yeah, Tolkki is like... severely unwell. I can't find his last active Facebook profile now but the last I checked about a month ago he was absolutely melting down.

A couple months ago he DMed one of my friends and asked for her whatsapp. Tolkki is a married man, and my friend is about to be married. Before that he was advertising his whatsapp on Facebook and said "GIRLS ONLY" or something. And before that, last summer, he announced a new project with Timo Kotipelto and Rolf Pilve, and that he was signed, shared the announcement and everything, only for it to be completely scrubbed a couple hours later after Koti found out and was like "I don't know anything about this, WTF Timo?"

MirrorMask · « **Reply #687 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:31:58 AM »

Quote from: Kattelox on February 28, 2020, 08:22:34 AM

Quote from: MoraWintersoul on February 28, 2020, 08:17:29 AM
Yeah, Tolkki is like... severely unwell. I can't find his last active Facebook profile now but the last I checked about a month ago he was absolutely melting down.

A couple months ago he DMed one of my friends and asked for her whatsapp. Tolkki is a married man, and my friend is about to be married. Before that he was advertising his whatsapp on Facebook and said "GIRLS ONLY" or something. And before that, last summer, he announced a new project with Timo Kotipelto and Rolf Pilve, and that he was signed, shared the announcement and everything, only for it to be completely scrubbed a couple hours later after Koti found out and was like "I don't know anything about this, WTF Timo?"

And let's not forget the whole mexican debacle with him getting lost after a random singer that got a restraining order against him.... let's hope the music will help to keep him focused and concentrated!

The Walrus · « **Reply #688 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:33:46 AM »

Quote from: MirrorMask on February 28, 2020, 08:31:58 AM

Quote from: Kattelox on February 28, 2020, 08:22:34 AM
Quote from: MoraWintersoul on February 28, 2020, 08:17:29 AM
Yeah, Tolkki is like... severely unwell. I can't find his last active Facebook profile now but the last I checked about a month ago he was absolutely melting down.

A couple months ago he DMed one of my friends and asked for her whatsapp. Tolkki is a married man, and my friend is about to be married. Before that he was advertising his whatsapp on Facebook and said "GIRLS ONLY" or something. And before that, last summer, he announced a new project with Timo Kotipelto and Rolf Pilve, and that he was signed, shared the announcement and everything, only for it to be completely scrubbed a couple hours later after Koti found out and was like "I don't know anything about this, WTF Timo?"

And let's not forget the whole mexican debacle with him getting lost after a random singer that got a restraining order against him.... let's hope the music will help to keep him focused and concentrated!

And the time a South American fan won his famous 'Visions' guitar in a contest and Tolkki never sent it to him... you could write a book on this guy's antics since 2003.

Grappler · « **Reply #689 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:36:23 AM »

Wow. I don't follow him closely enough to have seen all of that. Maybe this project won't have any wheels after all. Hopefully it does.

The Walrus · « **Reply #690 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:41:18 AM »

Well, he's managed to put out 7 records since leaving Stratovarius and put one out last year, so never say never... I just don't believe anything until it's done and ready to go

Again Jimmy + Holzwarth + Tolkki is a really exciting musical combo for me so I do hope this pans out...

BelichickFan · « **Reply #691 on:** February 28, 2020, 08:43:34 AM »

I love everything Tolkki has done. The one he did with Andre Matos was one of my favorites. Maybe he's a flawed person but he's a great songwriter.

MirrorMask · « **Reply #692 on:** February 28, 2020, 09:01:53 AM »

Well, it's not that he's flawed - he's ill. He's been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. Sure he's on some kind of medication that keeps him in check, and also the music and whatever he does that he enjoys must help. I mean, it's natural that we all have a light chuckle at the idea of him promising a guitar and not sending it, or reading about whatever wacky thing he does like when he tried to shag a mexican singer, but let's not forget that he's ill.

The Walrus · « **Reply #693 on:** February 28, 2020, 09:04:18 AM »

That's precisely why I would rather he stop focusing on music and just get well. The last few years have made me very concerned for his physical and mental health.

BelichickFan · « **Reply #694 on:** February 28, 2020, 09:08:55 AM »

Quote from: MirrorMask on February 28, 2020, 09:01:53 AM

Well, it's not that he's flawed - he's ill. He's been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. Sure he's on some kind of medication that keeps him in check, and also the music and whatever he does that he enjoys must help. I mean, it's natural that we all have a light chuckle at the idea of him promising a guitar and not sending it, or reading about whatever wacky thing he does like when he tried to shag a mexican singer, but let's not forget that he's ill.

I don't know anything about his issues, I just love his music. Flawed, ill, whatever, not judging him in any way. I just wish him the best and hope for new music. I'm still disappointed that there was only one Symfonia album. Forevermore is a top 10 Tolkki and top 10 Matos track for me and the whole album is really good.

cramx3 · « **Reply #695 on:** February 28, 2020, 09:16:52 AM »

I know nothing of this man, but thats a bit creepy with the girls thing but if he's mentally unstable, then that should be taken into account.

Anyway, I guess I didn't even realize there was a Stratovarius thread. Most of my discussion of them has been in the Progpower thread.

I now have Eternal, Nemesis, and Enigma: Intermission 2. Essentially most of the new stuff and the stuff that is with the current version of the band that I expect to be seeing at Progpower. Must say, I enjoy this more than the older stuff I've sampled. I also did get Nemesis on CD specifically to bring to PP for them to sign.

Also, the orchestral versions of the songs on Enigma are beautiful.

The Walrus · « **Reply #696 on:** February 28, 2020, 09:22:39 AM »

Nice, cram. I'm going to pick up vinyls of Eternal and either Nemesis or Enigma to have the band sign, since all three of those records have the current lineup on them (well, most - I don't think they re-recorded Jorg's drums for some of the bonus tracks like Giants but I could be wrong, doesn't sound like Rolf playing them though). Since they'll probably have a 2 item limit I gotta choose.

Or maybe I'll get all 3 and bring them just in case...

wolfking · « **Reply #697 on:** February 28, 2020, 01:21:54 PM »

The album he released last year was actually his best since the RR debut IMO. Didn't know he was still that unwell. Saying that, I couldn't really care less about this.

wolfking · « **Reply #698 on:** February 28, 2020, 01:22:37 PM »

Quote from: BelichickFan on February 28, 2020, 09:08:55 AM

Quote from: MirrorMask on February 28, 2020, 09:01:53 AM
Well, it's not that he's flawed - he's ill. He's been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. Sure he's on some kind of medication that keeps him in check, and also the music and whatever he does that he enjoys must help. I mean, it's natural that we all have a light chuckle at the idea of him promising a guitar and not sending it, or reading about whatever wacky thing he does like when he tried to shag a mexican singer, but let's not forget that he's ill.
I don't know anything about his issues, I just love his music. Flawed, ill, whatever, not judging him in any way. I just wish him the best and hope for new music. I'm still disappointed that there was only one Symfonia album. Forevermore is a top 10 Tolkki and top 10 Matos track for me and the whole album is really good.

Huh, I always thought that album was absolute shit.

The Walrus · « **Reply #699 on:** February 28, 2020, 01:29:57 PM »

Symfonia was a great record with supremely gifted members but the problem is the record was Stratovarius in every way but the name and the people behind it. Same old captain (Tolkki), same old ship (Tolkki's Stratovarius-style songwriting), completely new crew (Matos/Harkin/Kusch/Kainulainen). Production was iffy too. But I think it's a fantastic record - even if it does show Tolkki's flaws more than anything he'd done in 20 years outside of Revolution Renaissance... kind of revealed a lot, honestly.

News: The Gift of Music official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fae4FQ4McSY

Author Topic: The Stratovarius Thread (Read 105119 times)