The Stratovarius Thread

[ronnibran]

The new album is surely standing the test of time for me...  In fact I'm quite sure this will be my favorite album by theirs to date.  I'm to the point where I still listen to it almost daily, and there's no songs that I skip.  My favorites on the album vary from week to week (current favorites are "Nemesis" and "If the Story Is Over").

[RazielSR]

Nemesis is beyond amazing. My favourite song of the album and one of the best songs for me in their whole discography is Stand my ground.

[wolfking]

To be honest, I really haven't had any urge to come back to Nemesis.  It's good but I think I will come back to it in time.  I still think Elysium is the better album.

[RazielSR]

To be honest, I really haven't had any urge to come back to Nemesis.  It's good but I think I will come back to it in time.  I still think Elysium is the better album.

Not for me. I found Elysium not as good as Nemesis by far. Anyway, Elysium (the song) is the best song from the new line up till now maybe. It's a pity that you can't enjoy the album, but well, it is a matter of taste.

[RazielSR]

Stratovarius miniconcert in spanish TV -> https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/los-conciertos-de-radio-3/

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Wow, it's been awhile since there's been any activity in this thread. To get some discussion going, what's everyone's favorite album?

I just listened to Dreamspace again, and it's still my favorite. Very unique, sparse cold sound on that one.

Plus, I prefer Timo to Timo on vocals. .....

[Bolsters]

Actually this is an older thread, there was a more recent one earlier this year containing discussion on Nemesis. Can't blame you for not finding it though, the search on this forum is all kinds of shit.

I've pretty much grown out of old Stratovarius, just listened to them too much back in highschool and burned myself out on that style of power metal altogether. Back then my favourites were Episode, Dreamspace and Destiny. But I think as of this moment my favourite Stratovarius album is probably Nemesis.

[Nick]

Merged the two.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Thanks. I tried searching, because I actually remember reading through the other thread, but I couldn't find it.

Actually this is an older thread, there was a more recent one earlier this year containing discussion on Nemesis. Can't blame you for not finding it though, the search on this forum is all kinds of shit.

I've pretty much grown out of old Stratovarius, just listened to them too much back in highschool and burned myself out on that style of power metal altogether. Back then my favourites were Episode, Dreamspace and Destiny. But I think as of this moment my favourite Stratovarius album is probably Nemesis.

Hm, I haven't heard Nemesis yet. I should get it soon.

Though my "get it soon" list is growing unreasonably large.

[?]

I still haven't heard Nemesis and I've listened to Stratovarius very sparsely in the past year, mostly due to my current lack of interest in power metal - even the few songs I have listened to have been slow or mid-tempo tunes. I got burned out on the late 90s/early 00s stuff, because their music got quite repetitive in those days. I think Fourth Dimension and Dreamspace include much more interesting stuff, although Episode has great songs as well.

[Scorpion]

Hey Ninja you remember that one time where I said that we were probably seperated at birth or something? Yeah, that still holds true, Dreamspace is my favourite as well. Abyss is the perfect combination between atmospheric, catchy and metal as fuck.

Second favourites would be Elysium. The title track just slays and the rest of the tracks are all gold as well.

[wolfking]

My fav is still Elements Part 1.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I don't think I've heard that one yet. I'll check it out.

[Bolsters]

Merged the two.

There must have been three. The thread I was referring to was this one: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=34794.140

[gazinwales]

Stratovarius are touring Australia and playing Sydney in 2 days.
Now I've seen the old line up a few times in Finland, but not this one, so only being a 15 minute drive away I think I am going to see them.

[wolfking]

Stratovarius are touring Australia and playing Sydney in 2 days.
Now I've seen the old line up a few times in Finland, but not this one, so only being a 15 minute drive away I think I am going to see them.

Fuck, no Brisbane show, we always get screwed.

[gazinwales]

There must be a reason that promoters are not booking bands to play up your way mate?
Is there no market for metal in Brisbane?
Do other bands play and what size venue and do they get a poor turn out?

[ErHaO]

Stratovarius are touring Australia and playing Sydney in 2 days.
Now I've seen the old line up a few times in Finland, but not this one, so only being a 15 minute drive away I think I am going to see them.

Went to them earlier this year and was pleasantly surprised. Timo sounded pretty good and hit most of the notes perfectly fine. The latest album is also kind of fun and translates well to the live setting imo. I was at the concert in the Netherlands (with Amaranthe, who play really bad live) and this happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDV3dJVcC5o

It was actually a good finisher for the concert and shows the crowd, although very small, was much in to it. I think this line-up works very well, alltough I haven't seen them before.

[Scrub206]

I'm glad they're playing new places and returning to areas that haven't seen them in a while, but they need to come back to the USA. I miss them . Its been damn near 9 years or so.

[wolfking]

There must be a reason that promoters are not booking bands to play up your way mate?
Is there no market for metal in Brisbane?
Do other bands play and what size venue and do they get a poor turn out?

Not really.  I haven't been to a show for a while now.  The turnouts are pretty crap compared to Sydney and Melbourne.

[gazinwales]

Well they were bloody loud, I have pro ear plugs and my ears are stilling ringing!
That said the boys were in top form, everyone individually a master of their instrument and it on show for all to see.
I've seen them 4 times over the years and this is the tightest I'd see them and Kotipelto was also in fine voice.

The set list, well I was floored with a few choices, three from my fave Infinite album, and the total shock, Destiny.
4 from Nemesis and as far back as the Forth Dimension album.

[Scorpion]

gaz, was this the show you went to? Because I'd bloody kill for that setlist.

[gazinwales]

Yup that was the show, and yes killer set list.
If only they had played Out Of The Fog from the recent album.....
But I never expected Destiny, A Million Light Years or Phoenix.

[NotePad]

So I am not very familiar with Stratovarius. I want to give them a good listen, and would like to get recommendations as to what album(s) I should listen to. I know this is an old thread but its the Stratovarius thread, so....

As some may know, I'm a huge Helloween fan, particularly the newer material, the Deris-era. Iv always thought of Stratovarius as just being another bland Helloween clone trying to recreate the sound and style of the Keepers albums. Iv heard a few songs in the past but want to get an album or two and give them a chance. I realize they have quite a few albums, so there's gotta be at least one that I'd really like.

Im not a huge Keepers fan but love newer Helloween songs like Burning Sun and Salvation, songs that are similar in style to what was done of the 2 first Keepers, but with Deris vocals and crunchier guitars. So I'm not a huge fan of the classic power metal sound all the time. But as I said, Stratovarius has a lot of material so there must be some albums I'd enjoy. I did listen to their self-titled, becuase I heard it was odd and an effort by the band to be commercial. I can't remember much about it though.

I'd love to get some recommendations based on what Iv said. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

[Dark Castle]

I really like their newest album 'Nemesis' and 'Elysium' is pretty cool as well. But other than that, I myself need to do some more listening.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Dreamspace is my favorite Strato album, and the only one I listen to with any regularity.

It's pretty different from their other material though, darker and more atmospheric.

[?]

Episode and Visions are the most popular albums, but Fourth Dimension was my favorite when I still actively listened to Strato - it's a bit more progressive than most of their albums.

[Bolsters]

Of the older stuff, my favourites were Episode and Destiny. Infinite and Elements part 1 were good too.

But I don't really listen to them anymore save a song here or there. These days I'm all about Nemesis.

[NotePad]

Dreamspace sounds like it could be interesting. Maybe I'll check it out. Are there any newer albums i should check out? Like in the second half of their career?

[wolfking]

I always had a soft spot for Twilight Time.  Great atmosphere on that record.

[NotePad]

Is Stratovarius's music at all comparable to Edguy? I'v really been digging Edguy lately. I love their last few albums, but I don't expect a band like Stratovarius to sound like recent Edguy ;p But I'm really really into the Mandrake album. What's a good album for an Edguy fan to get into?

[?]

I've never heard anything by Edguy, but didn't Timo Tolkki produce one of their albums?

[Fisi]

This is what Timo Kotipelto thinks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyVkU4qakzE

(And sorry, I can't give a proper answer as I don't really know Edguy at all.)

[ErHaO]

Definately their latest album Nemesis, including the bonus tracks (why is Kill It With Fire a Japanese bonustrack...? It is a really fun powermetal song imo). To me that is their best work and I've listened to most of their albums a few times now (save for a few of the first without Kotipelto), but I am not a big fan or anything like that.

I kind of dislike Edguy. I have yet to hear a song from them that speaks to me musically. Avantasia does, however, have some very nice tracks. In part due to the awesome guest vocalists.

[wolfking]

I've never heard anything by Edguy, but didn't Timo Tolkki produce one of their albums?

He mixed and played a guitar solo on Vain Glory Opera.