All Stratovarius songs reviewed and ranked (1989-2018)

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Ovelitus
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All Stratovarius songs reviewed and ranked (1989-2018)

Post by Ovelitus » Sat Mar 21, 2020 1:48 pm

Since SentineLEX did this kind of review some years ago, I've decided to rank all Stratovarius songs and albums, from Fright Night to Enigma: Intermission 2. Bonus tracks will go on their original albums while both Intermission albums will only include brand new songs. Best of also have one new song, Until The End of Days. It will be ranked on the songs ranking but the album won't be ranked since it's only one new song.
Pd: Forgive me if there are any errors on the writing. I'm not English native speaker.

SentineLEX ranking and review, from which I have copied the ranking and review structure: viewtopic.php?t=11746&sid=77955eab9e959 ... c10d925583

Here we go!:

18- Fright Night (1989)
17- Stratovarius (2005)
16- Revolution Renaissance (Stratovarius demo) (2007)
15- Intermission (2001)
14-Twilight Time (1992)
13- Destiny (1998)
12- Enigma: Intermission II (2018)
11- Elements Pt.2 (2003)
10- Polaris (2009)
9- Fourth Dimension (1995)
8- Infinite (2000)
7- Elysium (2011)
6- Elements Pt.1 (2003)
5- Dreamspace (1994)
4-Episode (1996)
3-Eternal (2015)
2-Nemesis (2013)
1-Visions (1997)

There are 200 songs out of these 18 albums + Until The End of Days. Here's the ranking one by one:

200-Dream With Me (Destiny): Kotipelto brings us a somniferous and boring ballad with no noteworthy element.

199-Luminous (Elements Pt.2): As boring as Dream with Me.

198- Metal Frenzy (Twilight Time). A boring short instrumental. Extremely repetitive especially as it is only 2’18’’. Totally skippable.

197- Back to Madness (Stratovarius): The atmospheric and the first riff are actually good but from then on, it’s just forgettable. The middle section including an opera singer is just an abomination.

196- Neon Light Child (Infinite): The song itself is worryingly boring but the chorus is just awful!

195-Requiem (Intermission): What’s the point of this? The song is shabby because of that midi synth in which the song was recorded. With a proper orchestra and a pipe organ it would have been way better. Moreover, I don’t see the point of placing this in the slot 4. This kind of pieces work as an intro.

194-Holy Light (Visions): A forgettable instrumental. The last 2 minutes have been added senselessly but the other 3 minutes are not much better. The main theme works well but apart from that, everything seems as if they were making scales and warm-up exercises.

193-Into Deep Blue (Elements Pt.1): Poor song. It starts ridiculously tedious and although things get a bit better after the solo when the song grows up, despite remaining something very average.

192-Götterdamerung (Zenith of Power) (Stratovarius): Verses are not that bad, but that chorus ends being freaking repetitive.

191-Thin Ice (Dreamspace): Has never appealed to me. Those high notes in the middle of the song are really annoying and the rest of the song doesn't get much better neither. By far the worst song of Dreamspace.

190-Hallowed (Elysium): Weak bonus track. Too dense at some points, in my opinion.

189-Last Shore (Elysium): Slightly better than Hallowed, but weak anyway.

188-Venus in the Morning (Destiny): Generic filler ballad that never moved me. The solo is boring as well. Forgettable.

187-Keep The Flame Alive (Revolution Renaissance): Deceiving ballad. It starts very well intimate and sentimental vibe, but when it grows up I expected something much better.

186-Fire Dance (Fright Night) This pretends to be the mix of flamenco and metal but personally some parts don’t convince me. The final shred is amazing though. Better than Metal Frenzy.

185-Uncertainty (Episode): Boring. From the riff to the chorus there's nothing interesting apart from when it's going to end. I suppose Tolkki didn't allow Kotipelto to write more Strato songs because of this.

184-Born Upon The Cross (Revolution Renaissance): Average song. Only the riff is noteworthy actually.

183-The Curtains are Falling (Intermission): The riff is amazing but the vocal melodies don’t are boring as hell. Could have been much better!

182-Years Go By (Destiny): Pretty same than Venus in the Morning.

181-Witch-Hunt (Fright Night) Parts don't match with the next ones. Still not bad at all.

180-False Messiah (Fright Night) Witch Hunt problems are worsened here, but at least, here, the guitar parts and the verses have better ideas.

179-Leave The Tribe (Stratovarius): Pretty average. Nothing noteworthy around here.

178-030366 (Fourth Dimension): The most ambitious experimental song Tolkki has ever written. Although, most parts don't flow into the next one, this song is still unique and stands apart from every other strato song. The song evokes me a machine working, especially when it is sung 030366. A great moment here is when the drum beat changes the traditional 4/4 beat to a kind of raga rhythm, which unfortunately is ruined by the over distorted vocals.

177-I Did it My Way (Revolution Renaissance): I liked New Era’s version, probably because of Kiske. But here it fails. The band seems souless compared the other version.

176-We Are Magic (Revolution Renaissance): This song is actually weaker than I Did My Way, but here the guys put more effort on getting a good result.

175-What Can I Say? (Infinite): Typical bonus track. It’s just average. Not good enough to be an “album” track.

174-Season of Faith’s Perfection (Elements Pt.2): What could have been a very good ballad, it ended being a kind of Frankenstein track because of those annoying synth riffs.

173-Future Shock 96' (Episode): I prefer the original version rather than Kotipelto's vocals. Moreover, Kotiplelto's voice has a huge and annoying reverb while Jorg's bass drum in barely audible.

172-King of Nothing (Polaris): Pretty average song. I like the instrumentation and the backing vocals though.

171-Atlantis (Dreamspace): A very short interlude. Hard to judge a 1 minute song to be true.

170-Call of The Wilderness (Fourth Dimension): A good way to end up Fourth Dimension. However, in only 1’30’’, it becomes a bit repetitive.

169-Fantasy (Orchestral version) (Enigma: Intermission II): Weak when compared to the original song. These horrible drums ruin this song.

168-Emancipation Suite Part 2: Dawn (Polaris): Decent way to end Part 1. However, when it’s taken isolated it becomes quite weaker.

167-Night Screamer (Fright Night) Here, things start to get a bit better compared to the 3 Fright Night songs ranked above. The riff works very well and the chorus is solid but Tolkki seems to be struggling on the vocals here since he has some tuning problems on the verses.

166-Black Night (Fright Night): Decent song. Good guitar work by Tolkki here.

165-Second Sight (Polaris): This bonus track has never convinced me at all. It’s speedy, melodically it’s not nothing out of this world.

164-One Must Fall (Nemesis): Average song. By far the worst Nemesis song.

163-Eden is Burning (Revolution Renaissance): Similar to Born Upon The Cross but the instrumentation works better here. The intro is a bit too long and I don’t understand why suddenly the song drops completely and starts the verse without rhythmic section. However, when it grows again it’s a very solid song. Timo’s deliver is way better than Pasi.

162-Somehow Precious (Polaris): Mixed feelings. Chorus works really well but verses are a bit weak.

161-Cold Winter Nights (Destiny): Decent bonus track. This isn’t bad but sometimes it seems and unfinished. The solo, for example, it seems to be the first idea that came to their mind.

160-Madness Strikes at Midnight (Twilight Time): I totally agree with SentineLex that the intro doesn’t work with the song. The song itself takes too much time to get into the chorus, although when it gets it's pretty nice.

159-Galaxies (Fourth Dimension): An attempt to write an 80's pop metal trying to keep the Strato sound as well. Not bad but it can’t be ranked higher.

158-Full Moon (Dreamspace): Another experimental song that despite being extremely experimental it fits well with the dark aura of Dreamspace. I like that kind of oriental influences there but it must be said that the song is too long and ends being boring, until the drums and the distorted guitars appear, boosting it and bringing a powerful end.

157-Gypsy in Me (Stratovarius): Decent song. Cool keyboards and a proper riff makes this track better than the average of the self-titled. Tolkki’s guitars improve a bit here as well.

156-Revolution Renaissance (Revolution Renaissance): The song has an amazing chorus but that’s all. However, Kiske still finds the way to make the whole song sound nice and interesting. Timo does not. Drumming and backing vocals are also better on New Era.

155-Darkness (Fright Night) Solid song, works well despite not being a highlight of the album. Like SentineLex said, a proper production and rerecording would boost in significantly.

154-Episode (Episode): A good short instrumental track before Speed of Light. Personally, I would have changed the tracklist order since Speed of Light is just one minute longer than this track.

153-Goodbye (Fright Night): A great short and instrumental track to end the album. Functionally, it works like "Call of the Wilderness" in Fourth Dimension but I think this one works better.

152-Nightfall (Fourth Dimension): Solid ballad. I totally agree in regard to what SentineLex said in his own ranking: "I don't like the sudden shift from the E-flat minor intro to the C-sharp minor on the rest of this song".

151-Hunter (Nemesis): Nemesis’ weakest delivery together with One Must Fall, especially if we take-into account the album’s great quality.

150-Magic Carpet Ride (Dreamspace): Another song which the sections don't flow into the next ones. Despite I have criticized other songs for the same reason, here, the sections itself contain very good ideas which makes the song worth of listening.

149-Vapaus (Elements Pt.2): A funny version of Liberty with totally senseless lyrics. Can’t be taken serious since it’s a prank song.

148-Phoenix (Infinite): Filler. It’s not bad but some sections are very bland and the breaks before the chorus are annoyingly repetitive although the chorus is nice. The worst non bonus tracks of Infinite.

147-Find Your Own Voice (Elements Pt.1): Not bad at all. I like that pipe organ intro. But the riff is poor and the vocal lines are bumping and jumping and it makes the lyrics quite difficult to understand. Despite these criticisms Kotipelto does a fantastic job.

146-The Hills Have Eyes (Twilight Time): A quite aggressive song with a killer riff which shows well the style that Stato had in their early albums.

145-We are the Future (Dreamspace): Good speedy power metal song. It would have been ranked higher if half of the sections weren't taken from Helloween's "Eagle Fly Free" and "March of Time".

144-Fire in your Eyes (Eternal): It’s ok but it doesn’t stand out as most of the other Eternal tracks do.

143-Bloodstone (Intermission): A good cover of Judas Priest.

142-Celestial Dream (Infinite): My main complaint about this is that it’s extremely short. When it’s starting to grow and it’s getting really interesting Tolkki decides to end it up there. Such a pity!

141-The Land of Ice and Snow (Stratovarius): Average ballad about Finland. However, it has never moved me really. Not as good as the best strato ballads.

140-Castaway (Elysium): Powerful chorus. However, the intro it’s just a complete copy paste from Black Diamond and the verses are pretty average.

139-Glorious and Divine (Revolution Renaissance): Good power metal song. The riff sounds way better here than in New Era. Lyrics are odd though.

138-Angel (Revolution Renaissance): Solid ballad. I expected something really worse after I did it my Way and We Are Magic. However, Kotipelto was weak here. Kiske did it way better again.

137-Just Carry On (Stratovarius): Works relatively well in the aura the homonymous album was intended to be.

136-Twilight Time (Twilight Time): Another great mid tempo song in Twilight Time. More emotional and passionate than Break the Ice although it lacks the catchy chorus that Break the Ice has.

135-Lifetime in a Moment (Elysium): 100% agree with what SentineLex said and couldn’t be explained better: “Takes a bit to get off the ground, but when it does it's fantastic.”

134-Future Shock (Fright Night) One of the highlights of Fright Night. Despite not being a Strato-classic catchy song, the riff, the verse and the chorus are solid and match with the next part, one of the main problems in Fright Night.

133-Rebel (Destiny): A killer riff followed by an unfitting prechorus and a bland chorus. Such a pity how this riff can be wasted in such way!

132-Freedom (Infinite): I used to love this song but now I don’t anymore. The synth melody is amazing but the rest of the song doesn’t hook me like it used to. Now I find it too cheesy despite knowing it isn’t bad. A similar experience I have with many Sonata Arctica songs.

131-Winter (Fourth Dimension): Such a pity that this powerful chorus can have such boring verses. Kotipelto here gives a nice delivery showing what he's capable of.

130-Endless Forest (Eternal): Love that videogame vibe. Maybe it would have worked better if Giants and The Lost Saga had switched places, and this came after the Lost Saga to end the album. Reminds me a bit of Burzum’s Daudi Baldrs with a proper production. It shows Jens exploring new music genres! Good!

129-Emancipation Suite Part I: Dusk (Polaris): The chorus is excellent but some verses are weaker compared to the rest of the song. It builds up way too slow.

128-Keep The Flame (Infinite): Good bonus track ballad with an intimate and soulful atmosphere.

127-Tomorrow (Episode): The protosong of Forever Free. But this doesn't mean that this is bad. The melody, in fact, it's good and works well, especially when is played by the guitar.

126-Eyes of The World (Dreamspace): A good mid tempo song which follows the old-school and dark sound from Dreamspace.

125-Wings of Tomorrow (Dreamspace): A happy and hopeful track, which even though is not nothing out of this world, it is always enjoyable to hear.

124-I’m Still Alive (Elements Pt.2): Pretty Good song but poor instrumentation. The song seems sort of “empty” and the verses are very poor. The riff could have been much better with some keyboards or some orchestral arrangements.

123-Blackout (Destiny): It does justice to Scorpions’ original one. Kotipelto is great here.

122-Will My Soul Ever Rest In Peace? (Intermission): Good poppy mid-tempo song. Tolkki tries to combine a poppy sound while the harpsichord takes the lead and it works. However, it takes too much time to grow to the chorus, which is something usual on some Tolkki’s songs.

121-United (Stratovarius): Powerful and hopeful track to end a weak album. Jens keyboards here are audible (unlike most songs of the self titled) and brings a proper instrumentation (like those trumpets) and some nice solos.

120-Unbreakable (Enigma: Intermission II): Good way to orchestrate. However, the electronic-synth vibe is obviously lost, which weakens the song.

119-When The Night Meets The Day (Episode): A nice ballad that could have fit perfectly instead of Uncertainty. Nice instrumental parts and a solid chorus.

118-Awaken The Giant (Elements Pt.2): A solid mid tempo song where Jorg shines as the real star. Tolkki could have thought more about the guitar solo, though.

117-Abyss (Dreamspace): A nice mid-tempo track which keeps perfectly the aura of Dreamspace.

116-Move The Mountain (Elysium): A moving ballad with a powerful chorus.

115-Mother Gaia (Infinite): A long and progressive ballad. In fact I like it a lot. But the eternal outro and the piano’s Bohemian Rhapsody rip off makes this song fall to this position.

114-Eternity (Episode): A very solid mid-tempo song with a nice dual guitar-keyboard riff and a well built chorus. I wonder if the verses could have been shortened a little bit since they are a bit long in my opinion.

113-Falling Star (Polaris): Typical Lauri’s happy poppy mid tempo song. Works quite well.

112-Know The Difference (Elements Pt.2): Powerful neoclassical song. Surprisingly, this is one of the few Jens’ solos which I can’t enjoy. The harpsichord interlude is quite annoying and the lead synth breaks completely the essence of the song.

111-A Drop In the Ocean (Elements Pt.1): A pretty nice ballad. Orchestration here is fantastic. Unfortunately, that long outro of waves and wind air seems eternal, which makes this song to not be ranked higher.

110-Lost Without a Trace (Eternal): Seems like a metalized version of a sad ballad.

109-Falling Into Fantasy (Intermission): This song knows perfectly how and when to grow. Very passionate and sad as well!

108-Fright Night (Fright Night): It seems ironic how Tolkki couldn't attempt to match properly the parts in other tracks of this album but here, in 8 minutes he managed it. This song combines good riffs, speed, and also some atmospheric moments. By far, the best track of its album.

107-Season of Change (Episode): Captivating ballad with many different passages, some more evoking, some more powerful and even some intimate and a nice solo. However, I don't find this ballad as good as Strato's best ones.

106-Lead Us Into The Light (Twilight Time): A nice passionate ballad which combines the darker approach Strato had in their first 3 albums. That first chord progression played by the acoustic guitar has always captivated me.

105-Night Time Eclipse (Episode): I've always find a bit similar with Eternity, probably because the main riff are somehow similar but despite being longer this one seems fresher and more varied, basically because of verses, which are way better here and the double bass drum section.

104-Shine In The Dark (Orchestral Version) (Enigma: Intermission II): I like the orchestral vibe it creates to this version. The song fits much better with this symphonic style than Fantasy and Unbreakable.

103-Maniac Dance (Stratovarius): I’m one of the people who likes this song. Good

102-Run Away (Elements Pt.1): This is the result when Stratovarius goes Sonata Arctica. The result is actually pretty good despite that abuse of the half step up key shift, which is annoyingly cheesy.

101-The Abyss of your Eyes (Visions): Love the keyboard parts here but in comparison to the rest of the album, the song is overall weaker than most of Visions songs. The chorus seems to be unfinished although the instrumental section keeps a fresh atmosphere on this song.

100-Burn me Down (Enigma: Intermission II): Good song. Didn’t like at all the riff here.

99-Castles in The Air (Nemesis): Good, but not my favourite from Nemesis.

98-Elysium (Elysium): I use to love this kind of long and progressive Strato songs. but here I don’t at all. There are some brilliant and amazing moments but some weak as well. By far Part II is the best one.

97-Oblivion (Enigma: Intermission II): Good atmospherical mid tempo song. A bit short, in my opinion.

96-Papillon (French version) (Elements Pt.1): Just prefer the English version.

95-Papillon (Elements Pt.1): A bombastic ballad from Elements. Tolkki here fails to over abuse of that melodic line, especially on the outro which makes the song too much repetitive. The chorus is majestic and fulfiller, though.

94-Millennium (Infinite): Nice power metal song. When I think of Infinite this and HH&L is what come to my mind.

93-No Turning Back (Destiny): A nice power metal song. The solo has always seemed curious to me because of the Malmsteen reminiscences it has.

92-Learning to Fly (Elements Pt.1): Actually, here, analyzing the song everything seems to me very good. But I don’t know why the song doesn’t hook me at all. It may be the main melody, which is not catchy enough.

91-Playing with Fire (Destiny): A nice mid-tempo song. Jens does a nice job on the keyboards playing the riff over the guitar. Probably this song would be absolutely boring without his duty!

90-Before The Winter (Visions): A sweet and tender ballad which grows progressively from the starter arpeggio to the fulfiller chorus. Usually forgotten because it has always been overshadowed by Coming Home.

89-Reign of Terror (Dreamspace): Another mid-tempo from Dreamspace, although this one is way more aggressive.

88-Babylon (Episode): I love this arabic influence into this kind of songs, following Malmsteen's arabic influenced songs like Pyramid of Cheops. The way the chorus is built keeps me fascinated while the duel solos between Tolkki and Jens are quite similar to the guitar solo from Tolkki's Lord of the Rings, from the Classical Variations and Themes album.

87-Kill The King (Intermission): Nice one! It’s always a pleasure to hear Tolkki singing again. Here, I like the modern sound they add to the original. Obviously, Tolkki can’t reach the level of Dio but he still does a great work. My only complaint is the way the original starts is way better than this one.

86-Lord of The Wasteland (Fourth Dimension): The prototype of what Black Diamond would be. The keyboard riff is excellent but the verses and the chorus are too simple and they need to be more developed.

85-Break the Ice (Twilight Time): A nice example to see how Tolkki could write catchy mid-tempo songs. The atmospheric middle part which drives to the guitar solo keeps the song fresh and varied.

84-It’s a Mystery (Infinite): Love that intro! It’s very similar to Pokemon Red’s battle theme. However, these maya lyrics don’t fit with the music style of this song.

83-Higher We Go (Polaris): Nice Power song. I like Matias’ darker and more progressive style.

82-Stratofortress (Elements Pt.1): Pretty good instrumental where Jens takes the lead over Tolkki and he does it brilliant. However, the last section is quite avoidable. The song could have ended before.

81-Paradise (Visions): With Paradise it happened something similar like Freedom. I used to love this song when I was starting with Stratovarius but over the years I don't find it nearly as good as I used to. Works well as mid-tempo song with nice pro-ecology lyrics but it is far from being one of the highlights from Visions.

80-Fireborn (Nemesis): Nice bonus tracks. Jens modern synths take the lead to keep this Nemesis aura.

79-Fairness Justified (Elysium): A very convincing slow song. That beat has always hooked me although these kind of slow beats tend to bore me.

78-Twilight Symphony (Fourth Dimension): The first orchestral approach on Strato's music and it works fine. Clearly a sign to the neoclassical approach that Episode and the following albums would take.

77-Darkest Hours (Elysium): A good mid tempo song a bit overshadowed by the next speedy tracks from this album.
76-Dreamweaver (Elements Pt.2): A simple mid-tempo song that works perfectly. The dark lyrics of it makes it more interesting.

75-Giants (Eternal): Goes back to old Strato with modern production. Jens is the only one who can still write in the old Strato style!

74-Enigma (Enigma: Intermission II): Takes Eternal’s relief in a very similar way. Could have perfectly been an Eternal song.

73-Glory of The World (Infinite): Killer Riff! Jens always brings us very good speedy songs and here’s the proof!

72-Blind (Polaris): Jens bringing old school Strato power songs. Extremely speedy.

71-Halcyon Days (Nemesis): Jens goes out of his neoclassical comfort zone to explore dark electronic synths and it works great!

70-SOS (Destiny): A nice power metal single which have been overshadowed by other songs of its album (Destiny, Anthem of The World) and other Strato singles (HH&L and Eagleheart).

69-Old Man and The Sea (Nemesis): Love the nylon guitar work here!

68-4000 Rainy Nights (Destiny): A nice nostalgic and moody ballad. Here Tolkki leaves behind the intimate vibe of most of Strato’s ballads released before and goes for a powerful chorus to sing along to.

67-Stratovarius (Fourth Dimension): A pretty nice instrumental. It combines flashy neoclassical skills, powerful riffs and good drum beats. It's such a pity that Tolkki didn't write a proper end to this track.

66-4th Reich (Dreamspace): Another Dreamspace dark song with a nice message. The song goes through different passages and parts and it is perfectly driven at every moment.

65-Fight! (Stratovarius): By far the best song of the self-titled album. Powerful with catchy keyboards and a nice chorus

64-We Hold the Key Tonight (Fourth Dimension): A very long and progressive song that works very well. Acoustic parts, a sing along chorus and even an clean electric guitar solo, which is a very rare thing over Stratovarius discography. Undoubtedly, the song that would open the gates to Visions or Infinity.

63-Stand My Ground (Nemesis): Nice progressive song.

62-In My Line of Work (Eternal): A nice power metal song with such an interesting riff, which alters typical 4/4 strong and weak beats.

61-Forever Free (Visions): A very nice power metal track which is basically Tomorrow 2.0. The riff and the chorus work very well but this song is overshadowed by other killer tracks from visions.

60-Shine In The Dark (Eternal): Nice Single! It build up very good. However, it seems more like a Cain’s Offering song than a Stratovarius one.

59-Deep Unknown (Polaris): This resumes perfectly Matias’ style and the new Strato era that started then.

58-The Hands of Time (Twilight Time): An amazing song. One of the first songs in which Tolkki would use the song formula which made Strato gain the fame they got some albums later. The lyrics here have always moved me.

57-Infernal Maze (Elysium): Good Elysium speedy song. Jens and Matias do a great work on their particular duel.

56-Hold on to your Dream (Dreamspace): A fantastic rock mid-tempo song to sing along. It seems that the positive message the song gives was transmitted to the whole band.

55-Last Night On Earth (Revolution Renaissance): Nice song, which was supposed to be the single of the album. It could have been even ranked higher with the final lyrics.

54-Infinity (Infinite): Bombastic despite being too dense in my opinion. There many epic moments but here but those brutal dynamic changes from a single acoustic guitar to the whole band and the orchestra are way too radical.

53-Rise Above It (Eternal): A perfect mix between progressive and neoclassical. Matias knows very well how to build a fast song and then slow it up on the chorus making it work perfectly!

52-Dragons (Nemesis) : Extremely catchy mid tempo song. However, overshadowed by Fantasy.

51-Out of The Shadows (Twilight Time): A nice catchy song which fits excellent between the aggressivity of Hills Have Eyes and the the moving Lead Us Into The Light. The highlight of Twilight Time together with The Hands of Time.

50-Forever Is Today (Polaris): Excellent power metal song by Lauri. The riff and the chorus are the highlight here but the rest of the song works well too. In Polaris, Lauri shows that he’s capable of writing many different kind of songs.

49-Liberty (Elements Pt.2): One of the most hopeful Strato songs, which in my opinion represents the farewell of Tolkki’s era before all the following drama. Very inspiring despite that strange key shift from Eb to Gb to come back again to Eb.

48-Man In the Mirror (Eternal): What a chorus! Michael Jackson would approve for sure!

47-Stratosphere (Episode): Probably the best Stratovarius instrumental. It starts with a flashy and speedy neoclassical part built a lot circle of fifths and cromatisms and followed by a calm slow part which still remain some counterpoint between the guitar and the keyboard. Finally, it goes back to the first theme to conclude epicly the track.

46-Heroes (Revolution Renaissance): Perfect! With proper keyboard arrangements it sounds much a better and the guitar solo is way better than that Against The Wind rip off of New Era. Such a pity that the lyrics here are weak compared to the final ones.

45-I Walk to my Own Song (Elements Pt.2): A nice single of Elements Pt.2 that is amazingly catchy. I wonder if that keyboard riff inspired the Unbreakable one.

44-Alpha and Omega (Elements Pt.2): A very powerful song. The music reflects very well the message of the lyrics and the orchestration is just amazing as well. A revealing opener.

43-Fantasia (Elements Pt.1): A bombastic and grandiloquent song. Lots of sections and many different parts. In my opinion, the most complex orchestration of all Stratovarius career.

42-A Million Light Years Away (Infinite): Probably one of the poppier songs I remember from Stratovarius. But it’s excellent! This is the way to sound poppier without sounding cheesy at all.

41-Out of the Fog (Nemesis): Timo, Jari and Matias show how to build a progressive song full of different sections and rhythms flowing perfectly.

40-When The Mountains Fall (Polaris): Good sentimental ballad. Lauri knows how to orchestrate properly this kind of songs.

39-Under Flaming Skies (Elysium): A new Stratoclassic along with Unbreakable. Everything fits perfect except I expected a solo before that interlude.

38-The Game Never Ends (Elysium): The way the riff is built here just fascinates me. Jens is the perfect mix between the old and the new Strato. Moreover, he does a great job here, especially on the solo.

37-Winter Skies (Orchestral Version) (Enigma: Intermission II): Very good. I love the orchestral arrangements here! However, I still miss Lauri and Jorg prominent duo. My main regret here goes on why the guitar solo was played by an acoustic guitar, breaking the power of this section. I expected a violin, which would have sounded way more powerful.

36-Soul of a Vagabond (Elements Pt.1): One of the most epic chorus I’ve ever heard. This magnificent orchestration and the choir boosts significantly this song. The guitar solo is probably my Tolkki’s favourite of all Stratovarius career.

35-Shattered (Dreamspace): An fast, powerful and kickass song written in an 80's speed metal style to speed up the end of Dreamspace, and with no doubt, it does it..

34-Chasing Shadows (Dreamspace): A nice opening for Dreamspace and a perfect example of what this album is meant to be. A dark speedy song with a catchy riff. That interlude between the guitar solo and the last chorus is just brilliant.

33-Feeding The Fire (Eternal): Matias writes a much better song to talk about our attitude against Earth’s destruction than Tolkki with Paradise. Acoustic guitars on the beginning of the verse work excellent.

32-Distant Skies (Fourth Dimension): A nice power metal track to sing along to. The song introduces together with Against The Wind these epic choruses sung together by both Timos that gave a powerful boost to Strato's music.

31-Will The Sun Rise (Episode): An excellent track from Episode. It features the first keyboard-guitar/Tolkki-Jens duels and a beautiful and impressing neoclassical interlude in the middle section that would become a Strato trademark. Furthermore, Jorg does a great job on the drums.

30-Few Are Those (Eternal): Nothing innovative here but still manages to be beautiful and powerful at the same time.

29-Nemesis (Nemesis): Powerful. It resumes the album’s style in this 5’30’’ minutes. I love Matias delivery with all those high pitched riffs.

28-Tears of Ice (Dreamspace): A Brilliant moving ballad. The guitar sound creates this dark atmosphere and the flute, and later the oboe, adds the melancholic vibe to this sad ballad. A very underrated gem, which unfortunately, like every single track from Dreamspace, it has been forgotten by the actual band.

27-Abandon (Nemesis): The best way to open Nemesis. Rolf starts brilliantly his Strato adventure.

26-Destiny (Destiny): Brilliant and Perfect! This song shows Strato’s trademark sound. Speedy, melodic, and neoclassical. The slow part isn’t as good as the rest of the song so I think a 6’30’’ minute song without the slow part would have worked much better.

25-The Lost Saga (Eternal): Matias does a nice long and progressive delivery here. In my opinion, it works much better than Elysium, with much less weak moment. That medieval aura is present in both lyrics and music. Nice work here!

24-Until The End of Days (Best Of): Uplifting lyrics with the typical Lauri’s good vibe poppy sound. Pretty nice!

23-If The Story is Over (Nemesis): Jani managed to achieve a beautiful ballad perfectly build. However, there are still some few which move me even more than this one, especially on the lyrics.

22-Speed of Light (Episode): The song owes its name. A hell of a riff with a perfect chorus that as SentineLEX said "passes at the speed of light", basically because it's just a 3 minute song. Such a pity it can't be longer!

21-Anthem of the World (Destiny): Bombastic and Majestic. The best way to end Destiny, especially after 2 somniferous songs like Years go By and Venus in the Morning. The orchestral riff is just amazing and Tolkki manages to build a great and epic end to this song.

20-Event Horizon (Elysium): Speedy as hell! Despite not being one of Elysium’s most famous song, in my opinion, it’s its best.

19-Ride Like The Wind (Elements Pt.2): Neoclassical and incredibly fast. The keyboard solo is the only section which could have been seriously improved. I can’t understand how this is a bonus track, especially taking into account that there are many weak tracks on Elements Pt.2. My Favourite ot it!

18-Unbreakable (Nemesis): Matias’ Strato classic by all means. No wonder why it’s always a must on live shows.

17-Hunting High and Low (Infinite): The iconic Stratoclassic by all means. The first Strato song I listened to and I’ve never get bored of it!

16-Visions (Southern Cross) (Visions): Probably, many of you would discuss that if Visions is better than Infinite or Destiny with me. I must say that in my opinion it is. Maybe it's the least symphonic and majestic, but there are many things that work perfectly here. The riff and the verse work well, the slow middle part exactly the same in a more intimate vibe, which drives to the crystalline solo to finally end with an epic and positive message following the prophecy of Nostradamus in a major key, symbolizing hope.

15-Coming Home (Visions): Another great ballad. Here the main stregth is about the way the verses grow and drives to the fulfiller and inspiring chorus. The guitar solo has to be mentioned because it tries to create the same direction. It starts with few notes and then it grows until Tolkki delivers his lightning scales patterns.

14-Elements (Elements Pt.1): The resume of all Stratovarius registers. Bombastic moments, acoustic passages and keyboard and guitar solos. Tolkki’s final masterpiece. Probably Tolkki should have ended his Stratovarius career after this.

13-Why Are We Here (Infinite): Probably the best Strato mid-tempo song. Jens nail it here. A perfect riff covered by Jens’ keyboards, a nice chorus and a superb solo. Like Ride like The Wind, a bonus track is again my favourite, in this case from Infinite.

12-Dreamspace (Dreamspace): Another rarity over Strato's discography, and in my opinion, one of their best songs. A completely different song which stands out for not following the verse-chorus song structure and for experimenting with haunting noises and other rare sounds. Moreover, the way the main riff is built up and how it develops into the "verse" is just amazing. The pearl of this album.

11-Fantasy (Nemesis): Lauri’s catchy songs at its best!

10-Kill it with Fire (Nemesis): That’s the result when Jens leads a song showing his neoclassical skills at his best. Genius!

9-Legions (Visions): Another killer song from this brilliant album. Everything works perfect here, from the riff, to the chorus passing through the verses and the solos and lead passages.

8-The Kiss of Judas (Visions): Charming! Jorg's duties here are superb! Tolkki also does a great job exchanging acoustic and distorted guitars over the verses and of course on the solo as well, which is one my favourite Strato solos!

7- Father Time (Episode): Brilliant and perfect. Ultra fast, powerful, and kickass. Jorg and Kotipelto do a fantastic job on their on duties. A new strato sound was born with this song. This is how I expect Power Metal to sound like.

6- Eagleheart (Elements Pt.1): Am upgraded version of Hunting High and Low. Probably the best chorus Tolkki has ever written.

5- Against The Wind (Fourth Dimension): A Strato-classic. The lyrics give you power and rebelliousness and with no doubt is one of the best Strato songs to sing the chorus along to. The highlight of Fourth Dimension.

4-Winter Skies (Polaris): Jens’ best ballad! Jens harpsichord over Timo’s voice and Jens piano’s interlude are simply beautiful! But what every other Strato ballad lacks and this nails it is Matias amazing solo.

3-Forever (Episode): Beautiful! There's almost no words to describe such a beautiful masterpiece condensed in just 3 minutes. Every time I listen to this I get emotional. If Father Time was how expected Power Metal, this is how I expect
a perfect ballad to be like!

2-My Eternal Dream (Eternal): My favourite modern Strato song. Nice writing, nice playing, with progressive and neoclassical elements and hopeful lyrics, similar to those Tolkki’s happy lyrics but without nonsense sentences. Everything builds up perfect!

1-Black Diamond (Visions): What to say about this gem that you guys don't know about? I just felt in love with this song at first listen. Since I was already into classical music before I started to listen to metal, when I first listen Jens' riff it was kind of a revelation for me, because I never thought a harpsichord could fit that well into metal. Something similar happened when I listened to solo duels. I was completely astonished by the musical technique this band had. This was the second song I heard from Strato after HH&L and I was shocked by how could I had been missing this music for so many years. Since then, Black Diamond has remained my favourite Strato song!

Thanks for reading!

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NeverendingAbyss
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Re: All Stratovarius songs reviewed and ranked (1989-2018)

Post by NeverendingAbyss » Sat Mar 21, 2020 8:21 pm

I see you have a lot of time off in this quarantine.
What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch?!

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AAAAAAAAAA
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Re: All Stratovarius songs reviewed and ranked (1989-2018)

Post by AAAAAAAAAA » Sat Mar 21, 2020 8:25 pm

My main take away from your post was that the coronavirus has put a lot of people out of work. :shock: :shock:

All joking aside, in my opinion the guitar solo in Dream With Me is one of the best solos of all time.

Kudos for your write-up! If I ever hit rock bottom I will make my own.

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Motha-faka
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Re: All Stratovarius songs reviewed and ranked (1989-2018)

Post by Motha-faka » Sat Mar 21, 2020 9:40 pm

he wrote the stratovarius bibble... :shock:

HE IS THE NEW MOISES!! 0.0!!

Ovelitus
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Re: All Stratovarius songs reviewed and ranked (1989-2018)

Post by Ovelitus » Sun Mar 22, 2020 3:25 am

Not at all. I had actually done part of this in the last months but yeah in the quarentine I had enough time to finish it!

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ZenithMC
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Re: All Stratovarius songs reviewed and ranked (1989-2018)

Post by ZenithMC » Sun Mar 22, 2020 3:58 am

Nice review. My list would be quite different, in some respects. Maybe I'll write one sometime this century. :lol:

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SentineLEX
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Re: All Stratovarius songs reviewed and ranked (1989-2018)

Post by SentineLEX » Fri Apr 24, 2020 2:27 am

Black Diamond #1

BOOOO CONFORMIST

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