STRATOVARIUS — Stratovarius (review)

STRATOVARIUS — Stratovarius album cover Album · 2005 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
ydewata
Stratovarius self-titled record in 2005 marks the return of singer Timo Koltipelto after a few years of infamous hiatus and the band failed to find a suitable (and in some cases, respected by the fans) replacement for the charismatic yet unique singer. The output is somewhat a laid-back record where it seems that everyone in the band (even the mastermind guitarist Timo Tolkki himself) did not working their asses in the best of capability at the moment… and there’s also “dark mood” that you may be able to spot here and there in the songs.

Stratovarius compiles 9 songs that you would pretty much able to recognize that half of the record is a mid-tempo power metal tracks worthy of banging your head, while the other half is using a-more-ballad-ish approach that may not please some of their diehard fans. Opening track “Maniac Dance” is simply an upbeat, angry, and dynamic song that pretty much tells the story of Tolkki’s feeling, emotion, and depression during his down-time after Kotipelto left the band. They were keeping the beat and melody pretty much balanced during “Fight!!!” and “Just Carry On”. The latter being a radio-friendly track is a song that you would love to love once you hear the intro. On the contrary of “Maniac Dance”, “Just Carry On” brings a more positive touch through the lyric (no wonder, this is Stratovarius that we knew all along!). Yet you could feel the dark mood here.

“Gypsy In Me” is also another highlight in the record. Kotipelto’s melodic voice penned the song really deep. Unfortunately, “Gotterdammerung” and “Leave The Tribe” being a somewhat boring songs here. The semi-ballad “Back To Madness” is quite a salvation here (although I think that Kotipelto pushes his voice to hard on this), while “The Land of Ice and Snow” is also another average slow track provided, although this has some highlight lyrical lines here and beautifully sung. Needs to be remixed, probably? The album closer “United” is delivered in a heavy tune and in mid-tempo. This song probably has one of the best sing-a-long chorus in the life of the band. Must be a great live song!!

Being a comeback record, the members of the band seemed to being very cautious that affected their energy delivered to the songs provided. You would rarely hear Jens Johanssen’s keys solo, the way his trademark boosts life to many Stratovarius songs. What disappoints me is that Jorg Michael seemed having difficulty to keep his drumming beat and tempo to the song, mostly to the slow ones. Yet still this effort is a fresh re-start for the band we could expect something more in the future to come.
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