As requested in the Finnish talk forum, I translated my rather new Polaris review into English. So, here goes.
After a rather long wait since their previous work, Stratovarius releases a mighty album Polaris, their first ever without the guitar player Timo Tolkki. The opening track, the single of the album Deep Unknown already tells us that we hear pure Stratovarius regardless of changes in guitaring and composing slots, though the music is bit more progressive than before. The second song, hard rocking Falling Star would’ve been more typical “hit-song”. Its hooks get attached to your head already on the first listening, and the song is a rather nice cup of tea anyway. Unconsciously I also searched this song for possible Tolkki references, and I think I found them. It’s funny to think that the ‘I’ of the song would be Timo Tolkki himself, the Falling Star.
These two opening songs already represent some great music to a true fanboy like me, but overally they leave a vapid taste to my mouth. You surely can hear and recognize the old band from the playing and composing, but the ultimate pomposity is nowhere to be found while the music itself is more popish and progressive than on the previous records.
Luckily King of Nothing shuts up those who didn’t believe Strato could compose good songs with this line-up. Though the opinions truly might vary with this song, you can’t denie that it’s full of feel. This rough piece, starting with a march music like intro, doesn’t have much lyrics at all, which to me, together with its roughness, works as a device: a perfect argument about King Tolkki’s kingdom fall wasn’t the idea in the first place. These preferences together intertwine into perfect rant which the composer, keyboarder Jens Johansson strikes towards their ex-guitarist Timo Tolkki.
King of Nothing isn’t just aggressive, but the Swede’s composed heck of solos for the song, too! The first super dramatic keyboard tones already make my skin go all goose bumps for the first time on this album. The Ultimate Strato Grandiosity is present during the whole song really, with huge choirs and instrument walls there, very much stuff, and it all bound together masterfully by the “sixth Strato member” Mikko Karmila.
A characreristic feature for Stratovarius and specifically for Timo Tolkki, (over)bombastic elements are pretty rare on this record. It’s like a spice here, giving flavour here and there, until everything’s finally unleashed into full blossom in the end.
The next song, Blind, is the first traditional fast power metal song of the album. The scarcity of guitar’s dominance, already noticeable on the first three tracks, gets to you expecially on this song in which the main attraction is on Timo Kotipelto’s vocal melodies and Jörg Michael’s drum work. The keyboards by Johansson also become more visible towards the end of the song. The guitar is there, however. It doesn’t “steal the show” at all. The playing of the band is clearly more diplomatic than before, surely mostly because of there’s no certain Timo on the guitar and composing every song anymore. Special thanks for the great, quick keyboard solo once again to the pioneer of the style, Jens Johansson. He still seems to drop the younger keyboarders with this solo, for instance.
Lyrically Blind continues the read-between-the-lines Tolkki grudge, being at least second song a row to do this. And once again it’s Johansson’s song.
The fifth song on Polaris is Winter Skies, a song that reminds me of some Intermission album ballads, although it’s more solid. There’s already pretty much Strato’s trade mark grandiosity on the chorus, and we hear light piano playing and some heavy riffs from Matias Kupiainen in perfect balance. For the first time on the album the guitarist Kupiainen is in his elements and even manages to play one of the best Stratovarius solos ever! The last quarter of the song is pure gold anyway: the cardinal Nordic lines “Winter Skies leave me alone / when I lose my way / Northern Land you are my home” coming from almost every Strato member’s mouth – yes! – at the same time, with authority, just sensitizes a Finnish listener. Far-fetched, all this winter skies and Northstar fuss might be some kind of resistance to Tolkki’s Visions (Southern Cross) and its legacy Tolkki looks to enlighten again according to his own words. Or maybe not. At least you can’t denie that Polaris is far more closer to Visions feel than Tolkki’s Revolution Renaissance’s new album.
The row of great songs reaches four already with the next song, Forever Is Today. The song in question is clearly the best power metal speedster of the album and maybe even the best of the last few years overally, if you count everything in! Kotipelto, who interprets the whole album well, seems to get some extra boost for this song, as he sounds younger and brighter than in any other song. It seems that the 40-year-old, at least red wine sipping TK still handles even the traditional high & loud style masterfully. There are also separate guitar solos from Kupiainen. In the first one he shreds very well as the second roams as if it’s taken from Helloween guitarist Michael Weikath’s book. Otherwise this catchy tune, although I prefer singing it an octave, or two, lower, with a technical and ballsy bassline deserves much credit.
At this point Polaris is almost a perfect 10/10 album, but it unfortunately loses this status with the next two songs. First one of these is Higher We Go. Though a catchy and uplifting tune, it’s after all the second, and worse, speedy song in a row, uninteresting heard straight after Forever Is Today. I’d have had it as the opening track as it’s a brisk short piece that might’ve been even better single than its colleague, literally deeper, more progressive diving song Deep Unknown. Higher We Go isn’t a complete disaster, though, as it’s at least listeneable. It reminds me of the Elements, Pt. 1 song Eagleheart, but it’s more boring.
The other song in my book that doesn’t get my full acceptance is Somehow Precious. I don’t believe I’ve heard anything like it, ever. That is, it’s somehere between a power metal anthem and a syrupy love song. The song blends light, cold keyboards and pretty brutal bass lines, among other things, and it lacks identity. It tries to represent too many kinds of music without being about anything in the end, and the too sappy lyrics ruin the song completely. The best part in the song is Kupiainen’s pleasant guitar playing. The melodies and accompaniment are in fit, as are those pretty long and entertaining solos that sound like trademark Kupiainen without taking anything away from Stratovarius sound still.
If the all-present bombastic sound on Visions is only mainly a device on Polaris, it’s all gotten loose on the epic song of the album, on Emancipation Suite Part I: Dusk. In the intro, the angelic choir synthesizer sounds and Jörg’s drums thunder together as some of the most majestical rhytms I’ve ever heard start roaming forward, only to silence into very atmospheric, narrative singing of Kotipelto accompanied with such tender music. I got instant goose bumps of this. Next, the song grows bigger and bigger towards the chorus, and “a new day will be dawning / Emancipation – I will break free” pathos is already part of the top A class Stratovarius music, and music in general, I’ve ever heard anywhere! The violins and other orchestral arrangements are now fully released, crying like the eyes of the Strato epic fans hearing this song for the first time. Especially on the keyboard solo, the Strato refiner mills with biggest possible grandiose rounds, just like in maestro Tolkki’s biggest works at their best! The song of course loans much from those, especially from the song Elements, but it’s still a puzzle worth more than its pieces, a fully intependent song written by Tolkki. Err… except for it’s Lauri Porra’s! The bassist shows unbelievable ability to, like, transform into the composer Stratovarius has always had! He’s also so versatile: he’s composed hard rock, power metal, and also this epic masterpiece for this album, the masterpiece that by the way ends with heavenly joint solo where every band’s musician has turns to shine.
…and continues to its second part, Dawn, gaplessly, with an especially loud doomsday bell toll. The atmosphere unwinds and Emancipation Suite continues with narrative, restrained Kotipelto singing, after which the singing once more intensifies all the way to the very highest pitches. After this starts the Matias Kupiainen Show as the guitar guru cans marvelous harmonies in the air in this showcase of his, one of the few. The guy is impressive through the album, especially in this song.
Emancipation Suite isn’t bombastic only musically, but with lyrics, too. It’s a picturesque story of the last living man seeing the end of the world, the end caused by the human race itself. Although standing on the burning ground, this man still believes in better tomorrow. In the end, he receives the ultimate price, the “dawning first light” – the heaven’s gates. So this song duo states that to survive, you must face the difficulties head held high and believe in yourself. That’s classic Stratovarius message.
After the breathtaking pair of songs, there’s still one more song, unnecessary ballad for little girls, When Mountain Fall. The only good thing in this song is a sort of gramophone sound made with violins. A ballad ending similar to this has been with Stratovarius since Forever, a very emotional, fragile ballad. After this most of the ballads haven’t been working, such as A Drop in the Ocean right after the huge epic Elements. When Mountains Fall suffers the exact same fate. I even waited for a ruthless instrumental, so that even the mountains might fall when it hits the speakers, but I was awfully mistaken. So, the song disappointed me in many ways. As these seem unfitting ending songs time after time, too sappy after the huge song, Stratovarius needs to stuff this necessary, or so it seems, ballad into a different slot next time.
Overally Polaris caught my eye as not being as guitar-driven album as I’ve used to with this band. Especially Jens’ keyboards have a bigger role than usually. It’s not that they’re hiding Kupiainen, it’s that they brought equality to the musicians. And why not, since they’re all professionals and real masters on their own instruments, respectively. Jörg’s recognizeable but not that self-repeating and self-evident drum bridges; Jens’ various keyboard intros and solos; Lauri’s Jari Kainulainen-style bass playing; and especially Timo Kotipelto’s timbre, rather bad pronunciation and, it feels like they’ve already been heard a hundred times, vocal melodies bring comfortable familiarity to the album. Why change something that doesn’t need to change?
At start the weakest and now, I think, the strongest links on the album are lack of those synth and keyboard elements that brought bombastic feel to Tolkki era Stratovarius. These are mostly used only as a spice on the album, and an experienced listener feels that with Tolkki gone, the band has lost its way to create these most epic sounds. But like King of Nothing and Emancipation Suite proof, the ability is still there. Now the music itself seems to play the major role, not effects.
The songwriting is divided pretty evenly to Johansson, Porra and the Kupiainen/Kotipelto axis, and there are still a lot of good songs. I can’t help but to thank the band for this success – it was feared that they can’t really do it without Tolkki. Of course also the production and mixing are top-class, thanks to Mr. Karmila.
Stratovarius manages to provide an evenly balanced album full of great music, with only little disappointments, whatever the reviewer’s perspective. The band has become more mature with the album.
9½/10, the Album of the Year so far on par with Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know.
