Stratovarius

I got into Stratovarius when Elements pt.1 came out. I think I have every album of theirs since, and while I always liked about half of the songs on any given album, the other half were always just ok or meh at best.

I remember checking out many power metal bands web pages maybe 10 years ago, and there were plenty of musicians, in the bio sections, that when asked what their favorite concert was, would say Stratovarius. I guess I never got that, only being a casual fan.

Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I was browsing a few different groups here on Metal Music Archives, and went to the Stratovarius page. I noticed that the album Visions is the highest rated here on this site, so I bought it. Wow, what a fantastic album! Every song on it is killer.

So I went and bought their Under Flaming Winter Skies concert DVD today, and again holy smokes! Those guys rip in concert. The new guy on guitar absolutely rips. I'm going to have to revisit all their albums I already have.

Are there any other of their old albums that are a 'need to have', besides Visions?

Even being as big a power metal fan as I am, I find Stratovarius to be a bit hit and miss sometimes when it comes to songwriting. I do agree with the album's UMUR mentioned as all being particularly good, though, with Destiny and Visions being my two favorites. One thing to keep in mind: The particular period you mentioned starting from is certainly their weakest, in part because it started around the time Tolkki was having his meltdowns, which he still to this day hasn't really recovered from, and then with Polaris and Elysium they weren't quite on track, because they needed time to get fully in sync with their new members. Definitely give Nemesis a try if you haven't, though, because I find it to be easily their best since Destiny, and it's the first sign of the new lineup fully clicking and possibly being able to match their best work again.

Like other people have stated they tend to be hit or miss for me....their mid-late 90's stuff seems to be best but idk. Still a bit of a noob when it comes to them!


Edited by Psydye - 26 Jan 2015 at 2:17am

I like Stratovarius, more in the other times.

I appreciate Episode, Visions, of Destiny I like the music "Rebel".
Of the albums of the 00 ', like the Infinite and the Elements (more Part I).

I prefer the voice of Kotipelto's, is very clean and sharp.

A friend of mine recorded a compilation of their music some 12 years ago, I freaked out! I showed it to my mother, who is a pianist, she was also impressed, until today when we heard anything from them, love. Today, I consider very good technically band, but I like to listen to other styles before, because they almost always means me sound repetitive, there prefer prog or thrash.