Stratovarius (2005)

Here you can talk about Stratovarius and related bands. Language used is English.
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SentineLEX
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Stratovarius (2005)

Post by SentineLEX » Wed Sep 09, 2020 1:39 am

A few days ago was the 15th anniversary of the black album. Since the band didn't bring it up on their FB page like they did for Infinite and a few others (maybe they'll do it for the 20th), I want to talk about it here instead.

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I'd have to rank it second-to-last among all Strato albums (above Fright Night) but only because I enjoy the others; I think the self-titled is underrated on its own terms. Back to Madness was a nice experimental song at a time when TT really began experimenting with putting out the same 10 songs every other year. The last three songs (Land of Ice and Snow, Leave the Tribe, United) are some of my favorite in the whole discography, and part of me wishes at least one of them was brought back for a few shows like 4000 Rainy Nights from last year or The Hands of Time from a few years before that. The production sounds nice and clean even by Strato standards (feel free to tell me why I'm wrong). My only criticisms other than "doesn't sound like a Stratovarius album" are the anticlimactic buildups in Just Carry On and Gypsy in Me, where the chorus doesn't quite have the payoff that the verses set up, and the fact that despite being only 47 minutes long, certain sections of the album feel overly long and arduous, most notably in Back to Madness and Zenith of Power where the songs never seem to end. The only song that gives me more of a "please end already" feeling than those two songs is Mother Gaia from Infinite.

Thoughts?

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by Motha-faka » Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:54 am

Nemesis not sound like Stratovarius....
Eternal not sound like stratovarius...
Elysium not sound like stratovarius...
Polaris was the most new stratovarius falling in the tolkki era time... and is not bad this

why timo tolkki is not more the guitarist.. .

Stratovarius was the last and close to death tolkki time for that is different... maybe a lot internal fights :shock:

ok, is nice that stratovarius be versatile, not fall in routine for the fans. :D

anytime, robocop is sharing with me muscle men in fabook... and this put me a bit gay. :shock:

:lol:

SentineLEX, you have muscles?, are you handsome?, my mind blows with your name when i think in your muscles. :red:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by robocop » Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:49 am

SentineLEX wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 1:39 am
A few days ago was the 15th anniversary of the black album. Since the band didn't bring it up on their FB page like they did for Infinite and a few others (maybe they'll do it for the 20th), I want to talk about it here instead.

Thoughts?
I don't listen to it. Why? Never liked it. I was always more of a "speed of light" kind of song guy.
Motha-faka wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:54 am

anytime, robocop is sharing with me muscle men in fabook... and this put me a bit gay. :shock:

:lol:
It was just ALEX from Rhapsody of Fire. (With his shirt off!!)

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by ZenithMC » Wed Sep 09, 2020 5:09 am

I'd also place it as the second worst Stratovarius album, but that's not really saying much (because Stratovarius is such a god-tier band that even their weakest material is still quite strong). The issue I have with it, really, is that it consists of far too many mid-paced tracks with no speedsters to be found. If it contained a few fast double bass tracks, I'd rank it higher. The production is... decent. The drums sound very strange to me; perhaps they're too loud. The snare has too many overtones present and not enough snare wire brightness, and the bass drum sounds boxy, boomy, punchy, and clicky, all at the same time. The hi-hats sound very trashy. Everything else sounds pretty okay.

The songs that I really enjoy from this album include Fight!!!, Just Carry On, Gypsy in Me, and United. Fight!!!'s verses are cool, but enough about Fight!!! :lol: I think that the chorus in Just Carry On is my favorite here and I really love the lyrics. Gypsy In Me's intro and guitar licks are unbelievably cool! That one might be my favorite overall here (nice Jens solo to boot). United is a powerful epic song with nice chorus, solo, bridge, and unique trumpet lick at the end. I actually enjoy the optimistic atmosphere from the bridge onward, for a change.

Now for the songs I don't like so much: Maniac Dance just sounds so... retarded to me. :lol: It's incredibly redundant and I consider it one of the worst songs in their discography. That chorus is just... :yuk: I do give it some points for its aggressive verses, though. The only reason it's not the absolute worst is because Know the Difference exists and miraculously has an even worse chorus (and definitely worse verses). :lol: There are things I like about Back to Madness, such as the amazing solo section, but the chorus is too repetitive for my tastes, the operatic vocals sound goofy to me, and the ending monologue reaches a solid 10 on my cringe meter. That seems to happen to me anytime a band puts a monologue in their song, unless it's done in the style of early Sonata Arctica. In newer Sonata Arctica, the monologues utterly decimate me with their unbearable sonic cringe bursts. :shock: :lol: I agree that Zenith of Power drags on for way too long. Leave the Tribe... hmm... I'm just not a big fan of the chorus here. What happened with the drums @ 0:26? Is that timing mishap a production error or a performance error? And another timing issue @ 2:23? I like The Land of Ice and Snow, but it's over far too quickly. I really wish it were longer.
Motha-faka wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:54 am
anytime, robocop is sharing with me muscle men in fabook... and this put me a bit gay. :shock:
Seems about right, or as Captain Price would put it, "Just another day at the office." :lol:
Motha-faka wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:54 am
SentineLEX, you have muscles?, are you handsome?, my mind blows with your name when i think in your muscles. :red:
Hahaha! WTF? :rotflmao1:

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by SentineLEX » Wed Sep 09, 2020 7:48 am

ZenithMC wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 5:09 am
Gypsy In Me's intro and guitar licks are unbelievably cool! That one might be my favorite overall here (nice Jens solo to boot). United is a powerful epic song with nice chorus, solo, bridge, and unique trumpet lick at the end. I actually enjoy the optimistic atmosphere from the bridge onward, for a change.
Agreed
Now for the songs I don't like so much: Maniac Dance just sounds so... retarded to me. :lol: It's incredibly redundant and I consider it one of the worst songs in their discography. That chorus is just... :yuk: I do give it some points for its aggressive verses, though. The only reason it's not the absolute worst is because Know the Difference exists and miraculously has an even worse chorus (and definitely worse verses). :lol:
Know the Difference has some amazing verses wdym. Choruses are a leeeedle anticlimactic but I think that's an artifact of the instrumentation and not the melody itself. As for Maniac Dance, one thing that sold me on the song (although it's still not one of my favorites on the album) is the natural energy that it gets when performed live:
There are things I like about Back to Madness, such as the amazing solo section, but the chorus is too repetitive for my tastes, the operatic vocals sound goofy to me, and the ending monologue reaches a solid 10 on my cringe meter. That seems to happen to me anytime a band puts a monologue in their song, unless it's done in the style of early Sonata Arctica. In newer Sonata Arctica, the monologues utterly decimate me with their unbearable sonic cringe bursts. :shock: :lol: I agree that Zenith of Power drags on for way too long.

Agreed mostly, but if any monologue Timo Tolkki wrote gets a 10 on the cringe meter it's the George W. Bush one in Rise of the Fourth Reich (Angels of the Apocalypse, 2014).

One underrated thing in Back to Madness is the sound of Jorg's then-newborn twins at the end of the song. When you listen to that then Gypsy in Me (or really any of the heavier songs on the album) it adds to the feeling that this is an album produced by grown men. Twilight Time and Stratovarius are probably the two most... masculine?... albums in the discography with Nemesis a distant third.
Leave the Tribe... hmm... I'm just not a big fan of the chorus here. What happened with the drums @ 0:26? Is that timing mishap a production error or a performance error? And another timing issue @ 2:23?
I never noticed it but you're right. It's pretty subtle in my opinion. I can't hear the 2:23 one on my own recording but I can hear it on the ggonza video on Youtube. My old pirate version of Season of Change had a very loud skip in it right at the beginning of the "carousel is spinning fast" section so maybe if I subconsciously did notice it I would've thought it's an artifact of the recording.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by robocop » Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:27 pm

ZenithMC wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 5:09 am

Now for the songs I don't like so much: Maniac Dance just sounds so... retarded to me. :lol: It's incredibly redundant and I consider it one of the worst songs in their discography.
Motha-faka wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:54 am
anytime, robocop is sharing with me muscle men in fabook... and this put me a bit gay. :shock:
Seems about right, or as Captain Price would put it, "Just another day at the office." :lol:
Yes. When I used to listen to old strato all the time (around 2006 and a little later) and heard that song I was thinking WTF happened??

Flavio was sharing youtube rhapsody albums. I posted Alex in the gym in the comment so it wasn’t just a random dude. I’ve got a couple hours of sleep. So now I’m going to redo my shitty beer song into a dance song in a little bit.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by ZenithMC » Wed Sep 09, 2020 3:59 pm

SentineLEX wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 7:48 am
Agreed mostly, but if any monologue Timo Tolkki wrote gets a 10 on the cringe meter it's the George W. Bush one in Rise of the Fourth Reich (Angels of the Apocalypse, 2014).
I haven't listened to anything Tolkki put out since he left Stratovarius, so I didn't know about that one! :shock:
SentineLEX wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 7:48 am
Know the Difference has some amazing verses wdym
"wdym". I've never seen that abbreviation before, but I like it. :) Okay, time for my scathing review...

Yeah, what I mean, and this applies to the whole song, is that Kotipelto sounds very strained when he is singing the melodies. On top of that, the melodies themselves just don't seem well-crafted. Tolkki made some questionable rhythmic decisions with the verse melodies and they just don't catch my ear at all. The first half of the verse feels utterly stagnant (very slow rhythmic tempo), but the second half is... okay, I guess... except for Kotipelto's strained voice. For the chorus... I mean... what on Earth was Tolkki thinking with that melody? :lol: It sounds like something Mozart would write, which for the record is someone whose music I strongly dislike.

Okay, in non-technical terms, the song just doesn't exude coolness & badassery. It sounds uninspired and gives a strong déjà vu vibe. If ever there were a Stratovarius song that comes off as filler, it's Know the Difference. The only redeemable thing about it is Jörg's drum fills.
SentineLEX wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 7:48 am
As for Maniac Dance, one thing that sold me on the song (although it's still not one of my favorites on the album) is the natural energy that it gets when performed live:
I watched the song in the video, but I still don't like it. :lol: One thing I did notice is how Jorg is able to move his left hand so freely while his arms are crossed playing the hi-hats. I think I need to readjust my hi-hats so that I can do that, too. :shock:
SentineLEX wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 7:48 am
Twilight Time and Stratovarius are probably the two most... masculine?... albums in the discography with Nemesis a distant third.
I never really thought about this aspect before, but I do agree with you. Where would you place Eternal? 4th place?
SentineLEX wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 7:48 am
I never noticed it but you're right. It's pretty subtle in my opinion. I can't hear the 2:23 one on my own recording but I can hear it on the ggonza video on Youtube. My old pirate version of Season of Change had a very loud skip in it right at the beginning of the "carousel is spinning fast" section so maybe if I subconsciously did notice it I would've thought it's an artifact of the recording.
I investigated more deeply. the oddity @ 0:26 isn't just with the drums. It's with everything! That measure is slightly longer than all of the others. :lol: The oddly timed bass drum hit makes it stick out like a sore thumb. If you were to remove a 0.41 second long region from the onset of that bass drum hit (26.86 seconds into the song), the measure sounds completely normal. Weird. :lol: Same thing with the one @ 2:23. If you remove from 23.451 to 23.509, everything sounds correct again. Note: those timestamps might be unreliable if a different pre-gap setting was used during the ripping process.
robocop wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:27 pm
Flavio was sharing youtube rhapsody albums. I posted Alex in the gym in the comment so it wasn’t just a random dude.
Okay. I was just joking around, that's all. :) When Flavio said that, it reminded me of the body building thread. :lol:

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by doc_holliday » Thu Sep 10, 2020 12:08 am

SentineLEX wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 7:48 am

Know the Difference has some amazing verses wdym. Choruses are a leeeedle anticlimactic but I think that's an artifact of the instrumentation and not the melody itself. As for Maniac Dance, one thing that sold me on the song (although it's still not one of my favorites on the album) is the natural energy that it gets when performed live:

I was there at the concert! It was my first concert I've been to in my life, and I was totally star struck. I was like, omg it's them for real! It was awesome.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by NeverendingAbyss » Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:16 am

doc_holliday wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 12:08 am
I was there at the concert! It was my first concert I've been to in my life, and I was totally star struck. I was like, omg it's them for real! It was awesome.
I also attended that tour (in the US). Seeing them for the first (and only time so far) was unforgettable. I still remember TT playing with his guitar and trying to put it up TK's ass. :lol:

Regarding the black album...

I rank it right next to Twilight Time. The Land of Ice and Snow is my top favorite track, followed by United, Fight!!!, and Gypsy in Me. I agree with you all that Strato albums have all been mostly gems, so it doesn't necessarily make the black album a "bad" album.

I completely agree that the monologue in BTM is boring/unnecessary. I didn't like the first monologue in Nightwish's Greatest Show on Earth, but the second hits the spot right after that grand finale. They could have ended the song right @ 16:30ish, but that monologue was so well written, complementing the persuasive message. They could have gone without the monster/predator/animal sounds, though.

I consider Maniac Dance as a fun, non-serious, American rock track. Zenith of Power was stupidly long with no build up. Just Carry On and Leave the Tribe are in my "eh" list. Not bad, not great.

Separately, Know the Difference is a great song, imo. I don't listen to it often, but I don't find it distasteful at all.
What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch?!

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by AAAAAAAAAA » Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:40 am

NeverendingAbyss wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:16 am
doc_holliday wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 12:08 am
I was there at the concert! It was my first concert I've been to in my life, and I was totally star struck. I was like, omg it's them for real! It was awesome.
I also attended that tour (in the US). Seeing them for the first (and only time so far) was unforgettable. I still remember TT playing with his guitar and trying to put it up TK's ass. :lol:
Yep, I also saw them on that tour. Can't believe how long it's been. I like the Black Album, but I rank it as one of my least favorites simply because the other albums are so strong. I'd give it a solid 3.5/5 overall. Decent songs, and I like the production/vibe of the album.

Land of Ice and Snow, Leave the Tribe, United, and Gypsy in Me are great songs. I don't care what you guys say, Leave the Tribe is awesome! I can relate to the lyrics and really enjoy the guitar solo.

I can't understand why some people hate Maniac Dance. Its a perfectly fine single in the same vein as Hunting High & Low, SOS, or Eagleheart. Catchy, short and simple. Great guitar solo and good vocals.

Fight & Just Carry On are decent songs, if a bit boring. Usually I skip them, but they are not bad.

Back to Madness and Gotterdammerung are huge momentum killers for me. Just terrible snooze-fests. I can never get through them. And yes, the spoken word stuff is so comical to me.....have you ever been X? Have you ever been Y? Who gives a damn, mothafucka! These two songs actually could be quite decent if the fat was trimmed off a bit.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by AAAAAAAAAA » Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:43 am

Separately, Know the Difference is a great song, imo. I don't listen to it often, but I don't find it distasteful at all.
Don't listen to glow in the dark CIA agent Zenith! Know the Difference is a great song. Yes, the chorus is not good, but as an entire package I approve wholeheartedly. Elements albums sound so damn good that even derivative songwriting can be forgiven.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by Motha-faka » Thu Sep 10, 2020 3:39 am

Now the Element albums are good?, I remember that in 2003 all said that the albums are shit, like my English... :lol:

Now the Element Albums are good ... dear gosh..... :eyes

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by ZenithMC » Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:56 am

AAAAAAAAAA wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:43 am
Don't listen to glow in the dark CIA agent Zenith!
Muahahaha! :evil:
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AAAAAAAAAA wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:43 am
Elements albums sound so damn good that even derivative songwriting can be forgiven.
You know, you're much more lenient than myself when it comes to these things. I guess I'm the hard-ass on this forum. :lol: Know the Difference brings out the nadir in me. :red:
AAAAAAAAAA wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:40 am
I can't understand why some people hate Maniac Dance. Its a perfectly fine single in the same vein as Hunting High & Low, SOS, or Eagleheart. Catchy, short and simple. Great guitar solo and good vocals.
It's because Maniac Dance is a redia, of course. :roll: From a songwriting perspective, it's vapid and, as you say, simple. In fact, it's too simple for me. Another factor is that when I hear it, it doesn't make me think "Stratovarius". It sounds like Stratovarius performing a cover of a different band. It is comparable to Break the Ice (and to a lesser extent, Reign of Terror), in several ways. The difference there is that Break the Ice is actually good. Basically, every element is more interesting than on Maniac Dance. With its massive emphasis on the blues scale & structure, Maniac Dance sounds like a song that could've been written by any number of the Metallica clones that sprung up in the 90's. I do have to give props to Tolkki during the solo, though. He somehow managed to make it completely devoid of any of the typical Tolkki solo tropes. It's perhaps his most bluesy solo ever. It reminds me of the solos that glam metal bands would perform back in the 80's.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by SentineLEX » Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:32 am

AAAAAAAAAA wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:43 am
Separately, Know the Difference is a great song, imo. I don't listen to it often, but I don't find it distasteful at all.
Don't listen to glow in the dark CIA agent Zenith! Know the Difference is a great song. Yes, the chorus is not good, but as an entire package I approve wholeheartedly. Elements albums sound so damn good that even derivative songwriting can be forgiven.
I agree with this on KtD. As a whole it has this arcane quality that's present on the Elements albums. Especially the transition into Luminous.

As for the question of most masculine album after TT, s/t and Nemesis, that's a hard question. The rest are very close to each other in terms of testosterone present. I don't even know what the least manly album is. Polaris?

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by SentineLEX » Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:38 am

ZenithMC wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:56 am
It's because Maniac Dance is a redia, of course. :roll: From a songwriting perspective, it's vapid and, as you say, simple. In fact, it's too simple for me. Another factor is that when I hear it, it doesn't make me think "Stratovarius". It sounds like Stratovarius performing a cover of a different band. It is comparable to Break the Ice (and to a lesser extent, Reign of Terror), in several ways. The difference there is that Break the Ice is actually good. Basically, every element is more interesting than on Maniac Dance. With its massive emphasis on the blues scale & structure, Maniac Dance sounds like a song that could've been written by any number of the Metallica clones that sprung up in the 90's. I do have to give props to Tolkki during the solo, though. He somehow managed to make it completely devoid of any of the typical Tolkki solo tropes. It's perhaps his most bluesy solo ever. It reminds me of the solos that glam metal bands would perform back in the 80's.
Inb4 Tolkki didn't do the solos on Maniac Dance

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by ZenithMC » Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:31 pm

SentineLEX wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:32 am
As for the question of most masculine album after TT, s/t and Nemesis, that's a hard question. The rest are very close to each other in terms of testosterone present. I don't even know what the least manly album is. Polaris?
I'd say Infinite is their least manly sounding album, with songs like Hunting High and Low, Mother Gaia, A Million Light Years Away, & Celestial Dream. The production also helps to influence my decision here. I'd say the least manly sounding song in their discography is Eagleheart.

*Nah, what am I thinking? Luminous clearly takes the cake here. Into Deep Blue is a close second.

I want to make it abundantly clear that when I say "least manly", I'm not saying the song is bad. I'm trying to convey that it is very passive natured (non-aggressive).

I'd say Stand My Ground is their most aggressive song.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by NeverendingAbyss » Thu Sep 10, 2020 3:13 pm

ZenithMC wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:31 pm
I'd say Infinite is their least manly sounding album
+1. Even the pose wasn't exactly manly. :lol:

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What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch?!

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by Motha-faka » Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:50 pm

ok, give 2 years more and all will start to say that Stratovarius Album is a great album. :lol:

theory based in elements Albums :lol:

TIMO TOLKKI - THE MOST HATED GUITARIST AND NOW THE MOST LOVED ONE, LESS FOR PANCIO (THE ITALIAN MAFIA)... OF COURSE :lol:

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by Motha-faka » Thu Sep 10, 2020 9:30 pm

I was curious and i see some pages about this album. the true is that Stratovarius album not work so bad in Finland! 4| position in charts!! :shock:

Stratovarius is the self-titled eleventh studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 5 September 2005 through Sanctuary Records.[1] The album reached No. 4 on the Finnish albums chart as well as the top 100 in six other countries.[1] "Maniac Dance" was released as a single, reaching No. 4 on the Finnish singles chart and the top 100 in three other countries.[3]

It is the last album to feature the band's longest-standing line-up which had been consistent since Episode (1996), as bassist Jari Kainulainen would leave Stratovarius later in the year, followed by guitarist and bandleader Timo Tolkki in 2008.

Overview
The release of Stratovarius came after a highly troubled period for the band in 2004, during which they temporarily split up following a nervous breakdown suffered by Tolkki. After a year-long hiatus, they reunited in 2005 and embarked upon a worldwide tour for the album, playing for the first time in the United States and Canada.

Stylistically the album displays a dramatically noticeable shift from the symphonic power metal sound of previous albums: the songs are more hard-edged and slower, with Tolkki's signature neo-classical shred soloing almost completely absent. Keyboardist Jens Johansson's role is particularly restricted, as well as Jörg Michael's drumming, which features hardly any of his signature double bass playing. Singer Timo Kotipelto also attempts a different vocal approach, mostly avoiding his usual high vocal range. Tolkki has since stated in interviews that he was unsatisfied with the end result of the album due to it being too far removed from the band's true style.[5]

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well, Eternal not got the same chart position in finland? :?:

I think that is not so bad... :)

THIS IS THE TRUE, METAL KIDDOS, ACCEPT NOW >=( :x

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by robocop » Fri Sep 11, 2020 8:47 am

Ahhh...you cumboys got me thinking I should re-listen to the self titled. I'm going to drink some tea and give it another chance. :crazy2:

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by ZenithMC » Fri Sep 11, 2020 5:07 pm

Motha-faka wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 9:30 pm
I was curious and i see some pages about this album. the true is that Stratovarius album not work so bad in Finland! 4| position in charts!! :shock:
Eh... I wouldn't conflate high chart position with high musical quality. The high chart position only signifies that it was popular in Finland when it was released.

For example, every one of Sonata Arctica's albums (including their most recent material) charted very high (with the exception of Ecliptica) in Finland.
https://finnishcharts.com/search.asp?ca ... rch=starts

And all of Stratovarius' albums beyond Episode charted very high in Finland. Albums before Episode did not chart in Finland (and Episode itself charted much lower than subsequent albums).
https://finnishcharts.com/search.asp?ca ... rch=starts

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by Motha-faka » Fri Sep 11, 2020 5:33 pm

well, the theme is that Stratovarius album had more high position in charts that Elements albums (5° position)

but ok.... charts is shit... how they measure the albums then?.

JENS!! STRATOVARIUS THINK ABOUT CHARTS MEASURES O IS PURE SHIT THIS!! :shock:

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ZenithMC
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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by ZenithMC » Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:04 pm

Yeah, charts measure the popularity of an album, in comparison to other contemporary albums, at a specific time and in a specific country.
Motha-faka wrote:
Fri Sep 11, 2020 5:33 pm
but ok.... charts is shit... how they measure the albums then?.
Measuring the quality of an album is a subjective matter. It really comes down to your own opinion about what is good and what is not. :) I mean, you could also read reviews of albums to get a better understanding of them, but it is really best to determine the quality for yourself.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by Motha-faka » Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:12 pm

ZenithMC wrote:
Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:04 pm
Yeah, charts measure the popularity of an album, in comparison to other contemporary albums, at a specific time and in a specific country.
Motha-faka wrote:
Fri Sep 11, 2020 5:33 pm
but ok.... charts is shit... how they measure the albums then?.
Measuring the quality of an album is a subjective matter. It really comes down to your own opinion about what is good and what is not. :) I mean, you could also read reviews of albums to get a better understanding of them, but it is really best to determine the quality for yourself.
Tons of bands and artist fighting for charts position in the history for nothing?, dear gosh!! Are the winners pure marketing?, https://www.billboard.com in america is pure shit??

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON OF PINK FLOYD IS A LIE??!!! :shock:

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by ZenithMC » Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:37 pm

Motha-faka wrote:
Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:12 pm
Tons of bands and artist fighting for charts position in the history for nothing?, dear gosh!! Are the winners pure marketing?, https://www.billboard.com in america is pure shit??
I wouldn't say they're fighting for nothing, but I do agree that the ones who chart the highest are the most successful at marketing themselves and their music. It's a massive popularity contest, after all.

Lmao @ billboard.com. :lol: Did you check out their top 200? https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200
I must say that I hardly know any of these groups/artists. :roll: And yeah, the billboard in the U.S. is absolutely pure shit. My opinion, of course. :lol:

They don't understand the wonders & allure of Stratovarius! :shock: :headbang: Of course they don't though. The people who listen to the songs by artists in the billboard top 200 don't care for actual quality; they merely care about trendiness and other pop culture bullshit. :shake: They're probably the same kind of people who follow celebrities on social media, but I digress. :lol:

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by Motha-faka » Fri Sep 11, 2020 7:13 pm

yes, is strange that Stratovarius, nightwish or sonata arctica not have a place in USA charts.... they sound epic. :(

I look nordic countries like an apart market in the music.

https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200 have tons of shits.... :? but including all this shit, all want take the U.S market. This is sick. :|

Correction! - In april, Nightwish got the position 110 in billboard with his new album.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I listened the album, and is not so HUUU!!!! IS VERY NICE!!. I like it more tarja that flor jansen.

I think that the new Nightwish is cold and less attractive for me.



charts of last Nightwish album:

Image

I dont understand, is bored and extra comercial, compared with the Tarja Nightwish ???

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by robocop » Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:19 am

Motha-faka wrote:
Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:12 pm
ZenithMC wrote:
Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:04 pm
Yeah, charts measure the popularity of an album, in comparison to other contemporary albums, at a specific time and in a specific country.
Motha-faka wrote:
Fri Sep 11, 2020 5:33 pm
but ok.... charts is shit... how they measure the albums then?.
Measuring the quality of an album is a subjective matter. It really comes down to your own opinion about what is good and what is not. :) I mean, you could also read reviews of albums to get a better understanding of them, but it is really best to determine the quality for yourself.
Tons of bands and artist fighting for charts position in the history for nothing?, dear gosh!! Are the winners pure marketing?, https://www.billboard.com in america is pure shit??

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON OF PINK FLOYD IS A LIE??!!! :shock:
Pink Floyd is from a totally different time..different decade...different everything.

Yes, kids now trying to make it only care about how many song plays or followers they have. :eyes

The general thought is most of the stuff that makes it is crappy...it's always been that way. You have to dig deeper for the gold. Most people and kids don't make it past that surface level of music and don't care. Which is fine, I don't give a shit what people do. :lol:

Anyway,
I listened to half of the self titled and fell asleep. CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, some parts of the songs were clipping.
The style of the album isn't really my favorite. I can see how people like it. I guess I put off from listening to it because it wasn't non stop classic power metal.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by ZenithMC » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:15 pm

robocop wrote:
Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:19 am
CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, some parts of the songs were clipping.
Color me surprised. The part in Zenith of Power where Hitler comes in is clipped somewhat, but It's not something that is easily audible. When you look at the waveform there, some of the peaks are clipped, which will produce a small amount of digital distortion.

That's the only place I found clipping, anyway.

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by Motha-faka » Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:03 pm

ZenithMC wrote:
Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:15 pm
robocop wrote:
Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:19 am
CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, some parts of the songs were clipping.
Color me surprised. The part in Zenith of Power where Hitler comes in is clipped somewhat, but It's not something that is easily audible. When you look at the waveform there, some of the peaks are clipped, which will produce a small amount of digital distortion.

That's the only place I found clipping, anyway.
this happen when the mastering engineer abuse of COMPRESSOR.

exist two styles of Mastering in the music time.

One is that the music levels is moderate and the music got expression (F, SF, P,PP) (forte, semi forte, piano, pianissimo etc) :)

and the other one is that use FINVOXX and metal comunnity that is the "WALL OF SOUND", that is a exagerate compression application :)

The Queen Album "Made in heaven" have extra compression that clip in all parts too :shock:

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Re: Stratovarius (2005)

Post by ZenithMC » Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:43 pm

Motha-faka wrote:
Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:03 pm
this happen when the mastering engineer abuse of COMPRESSOR.
Yeah. You know, I've been thinking about when it is appropriate to use a limiter and... I can't think of it! :lol: A limiter is a specialized type of compressor with very fast attack and release times. A compressor should only be used when one wishes to achieve a certain sound by squashing it somewhat (and by "it" I mean a particular instrument only, NOT the master bus! :shock:) If liberal amounts of compression is used, it's best applied to a dedicated bus that receives the track you want to compress, in tandem with a non-compressed version of that track (aka side-chain compression). But yeah, using a limiter for the sake of loudness is stupid to me...

*Okay... there are some practical use cases for limiters, actually. However, I don't find hard limiters to be very practical. Soft limiters are preferred because they reduce the dynamic range of the waveform without completely flattening (aka clipping) the peak (which would've caused distortion). For instance, you can use a limiter on overhead mics (in this case, cymbal mics) to greatly attenuate the snare and toms without greatly affecting the cymbals.
Motha-faka wrote:
Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:03 pm
and the other one is that use FINVOXX and metal comunnity that is the "WALL OF SOUND", that is a exagerate compression application :)
Hopefully, ever since the advent of the LUFS EBU R 128 broadcasting standard, the loudness war will continue to taper off. I also believe streaming services are adhering to this standard.
Wikipedia wrote:The recommendation encourages the use of a wider dynamic range in production, despite not deprecating employing heavy dynamic compression a priori. In essence, it ties the use of using dynamic compression to artistic and aesthetic decisions, rather than the necessity of obtaining a louder mix. Link

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