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Band page - Stratovarius
Latest news
| Friday, January 14, 2011 - Stratovarius - News on Jörg Michael and Tour | Stratovarius have released the following news:
Some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we're back on the road with Helloween. And Jörg Michael is back in his drum chair after his brush with death.
The bad news is that Timo Kotipelto caught some sort of bacterial infection. We suspect it was something from the backstage food in December, but we don't know. Two of the other people on the tour had the same thing: A very bad dysentery-like stomach infection with vomiting and diarrhea, dehydration, also eventually had to go to hospital, etc.
Timo's infection is stubborn and in addition to ruining his Christmas break, it has dried out his vocal cords. In his own words, he can't sing a note at the moment. We are currently in France and so far we had to cancel playing in Paris and Lyon.
We are of course very sorry about this, and nobody is more heartbroken or frustrated than Timo himself. Apart from heeding the advice from doctors we are in touch with, the only thing we can do at the moment is to hope Timo gets better. We will ride the 1000 km to Bilbao tonight and hopefully we will all get some sleep on the nice smooth French motorways.
Check out a short video about the Paris cancellation and some words from Jörg here.
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| Thursday, November 18, 2010 - Stratovarius - Some Extremely Bad News | Keyboardist Jens Johansson has stated the following on the Statovarius website:
Dear Stratovarius fans, I am afraid we have some quite terrible news. News of the worst imaginable kind. It's about our friend and drummer Jörg Michael.
Jörg has cancer.
He recently discovered a lump on his neck, went to the doctor, they decided to operate, and found what they call "a malignant thyroid neoplasm". They took out his whole thyroid just to have the best chance to get everything out. He will also have to undergo a regimen of radiotherapy. He is a fighter. We have all talked to him and it's clear that this guy is not down for the count. He and his team of German doctors are pissed off and ready to kick ass, and I would not want to be a little cancer cell on these guys' shit list.believe me.
Jörg and his family (and us guys in the band) found this out only last week, after the operation. Naturally we are all going between a lot of emotions, sadness, worry, shock, confusion, even anger.
As for Stratovarius, as you perhaps know there is a long tour coming up with Helloween, and with the surgery and therapy that will now follow there is no way Jörg can do the first part of the tour. For me personally (it's Jens writing this if you didn't figure it out) I at first felt quite hopeless about the tour, because I was so upset about all this news. But Jörg himself has been extremely clear that he does not want the band to cancel a single show because of this. In the end this is what made at least me feel better about going back hitting the road next week.
So, we have debated what to do for many days now. Jörg first suggested my brother Anders to do this November-December 2010 leg, but it turns out Anders will unfortunately be busy recording some record or other with that little indie cellar band of his called HammerFall. :o) After a lot of searching we found a guy that both can do it and didn't have other commitments: Alex Landenburg. He plays well, Jörg says he is a great guy (very important!) and he even started learning the set already before we even had decided what to do, which to me shows a lot of dedication. You can google Alex' name if you are curious.
So it turns out that Stratovarius will do the first leg of the Helloween Seven Sinner tour, just as planned, only not with Jörg behind the kit, but with Jörg very much as a motivator to us being there. Not one single date will be cancelled or changed. Jörg wants to be back on the road with us again as soon as possible depending on the thearapy, but we are not making any promises, that one is up to powers even higher than Jörg Michael and his doctors. We will try to keep you somewhat updated.
Anyway, the most important thing is that they think they got all the bad stuff out and that the end result is that we just fix that sentence I wrote above. We will then say:
Jörg had cancer. But he beat it.
/Jens
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| Friday, October 22, 2010 - Stratovarius Confirm New Album Details | Finnish power metallers Stratovarius are putting the finishing touches on their thirteenth full-length studio album, "Elysium", at 5-by-5 studios in Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, Finland. The CD will be released in Asia on January 12, 2011 via JVC and in the rest of the world on January 14, 2011 through earMUSIC/Edel.
A single with two new songs will be released on November 26 to coincide with the start of the "7 Sinners World Tour" on which Stratovarius will join Helloween as very special guests - kicking off the same day at the Szene in Vienna, Austria.
The following tracks will be part of the single:
* Darkest Hours (from the upcoming album "Elysium")
* Infernal Maze (from the upcoming album "Elysium")
* Darkest Hours (demo version)
* Against The Wind (live recording, Sofia, Bulgaria)
* Black Diamond (live recording, Göteborg, Sweden)
"Elysium" tentative track listing (order of songs and working titles are subject to change)
01. Heavenly Divine
02. Infernal Maze
03. Elysium, Part I, II and III
04. Civilization
05. Darkest Hours
06. Under Flaming Skies
07. No Return
08. New Horizon
09. Move The Mountain
10. Castaway (Japanese bonus track)
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| Friday, April 30, 2010 - Stratovarius Reissue Polaris With Live CD | Finnish power metal maestros Stratovarius have announced they will be re-releasing last years comeback album Polaris on May 21st with a bonus live CD in a digipack format.
The bonus CD features some of the bands best known tracks from throughout their career and was recorded live on the Polaris tour.
The track listing for the discs is as follows:
CD1
01. Deep Unknown
02. King Of Nothing
03. Winter Skies
04. Higher We Go
05. Emancipation Suite: I Dusk
06. When Mountains Fall
07. Falling Star
08. Blind
09. Forever Is Today
10. Somehow Precious
11. Emancipation Suite: II Dawn
CD2
01. Destiny (live)
02. Hunting High And Low (live)
03. Speed of Light (live)
04. Kiss Of Judas (live)
05. Deep Unknown (live)
06. A Million Light Years Away (live)
07. Bach: Air Suite (live)
08. Winter Skies (live)
09. Phoenix (live)
10. SOS (live)
11. Forever Is Today (live)
12. King Of Nothing (live)
13. Father Time (live)
14. Higher We Go (live)
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| Saturday, September 12, 2009 - Stratovarius - re-release of the epic double album | Stratovarius is without question one of the most recognizable and respected bands in the history of progressive power metal. Over the last 20 years the group released 12 LPs and a number of compilation and live albums. "Elements", the epic double offering from 2003 is by many fans considered as Stratovarius' most ambitious and monumental work yet. These two exclusive re-releases of "Elements Pt.1" and "Elements Pt.2" bring back some of the most enchanting sounds found within the power metal genre. The monumental albums brilliantly combine power metal heaviness with progressive soundscapes, bringing some of the most memorable compositions in the band's career.
"Elements Pt.1", the first of two albums forming a beautifully written suite, starts off with the catchy mid-tempo opener "Eagleheart", which resembles a bit "Hunting High and Low" from "Infinite". It's followed by "Soul of a Vagabond", a strongly keyboard-oriented track with plenty of orchestral parts and a driving riff similar to the one from Dio's "Holy Diver". The next song, "Find Your Own Voice", as well as the latter "Learning to Fly" represent the typical fast-paced Stratovarius style, with some extremely high-pitched vocals by Kotipelto. "Fantasia" and "Elements" are the album's longest and most memorable compositions - filled with choir and orchestral arrangements, both tracks showcase true musical mastery. Other highlights include the instrumental powerhouse ""Stratofortress", with some amazing guitar/keyboard battles, and the epic, dreamy song "Papillion". The album ends with "A Drop in the Ocean", a beautiful acoustic ballad. New digipak edition includes 3 bonus tracks.
"Elements Pt.2" saw the light of day on October 27th, the same year as "Pt.1". The opening track, "Alpha & Omega", begins with the sound of rolling waves (the same sound which concluded the first part of the suite) and develops into an epic hymn with an outstanding vocal performance by Kotipelto. The song is followed by two fast-paced tracks - "I Walk To My Own Song" and "I'm Alive". Next up is the album's first ballad, "Season of Faith's Perfection", which transforms into the monumental "Awaken the Giant", a powerful song clearly inspired by Black Sabbath. "Know the Difference" is another speedy power metal track, while "Luminous" brilliantly showcases the band's progressive influences. The following track, "Dreamweaver", is yet another Stratovarius classic - a strong, epic composition, sounding like Rush combined with metal. "Elements Pt.2" ends with a piano ballad "Liberty", an amazing conclusion to this enchanting suite.
Metal Mind Productions will re-release "Elements Pt.1" & "Pt.2" on 21st September in Europe and 1st December in USA (via MVD). Both titles will be available in a new digipak edition, each limited to 2000 copies. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on a golden disc.
Stratovarius
"Elements Vol. 1" (remastered + bonus tracks)
Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1323 DG
Barcode: 5907785035416
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numbered copies)
Genre: progressive power metal
Release date: 21.09.2009 Europe / 01.12.2009 USA
Tracklist:
1. Eagleheart
2. Soul Of A Vagabond
3. Find Your Own Voice
4. Fantasia
5. Learning To Fly
6. Papillon
7. Stratofortress
8. Elements
9. A Drop In The Ocean
Bonus tracks:
10. Papillon - French Version
11. Run Away
12. Find Your Own Voice (Demo Version)
Stratovarius
"Elements Vol. 2" (remastered)
Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1324 DG
Barcode: 5907785035423
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numbered copies)
Genre: progressive power metal
Release date: 21.09.2009 Europe / 01.12.2009 USA
Tracklist:
1. Alpha & Omega
2. I Walk To My Own Song
3. I'm Still Alive
4. Season Of Faith's Perfection
5. Awaken The Giant
6. Know The Difference
7. Luminous
8. Dreamweaver
9. Liberty
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| Saturday, May 9, 2009 - Former stratovarius Members Launch Project Strato | In 1982 Tuomo Lassila (drums) formed Stratovarius and came up with its name. Timo Tolkki (guitar) and Antti Ikonen (keyboards) joined the band in 1984, that is some 25 years ago and as a result the group recorded such classic albums as Twilight Time, Dreamspace and Fourth Dimension. After the departure of Lassila and Ikonen in 1995, Stratovarius went to more neo-classical sound and style exploring Timo Tolkki's song-writing and producing skills earning the band a Finnish Grammy and sales exceeding over two million records. After Tolkki's departure from Stratovarius in the late 2007 an idea was born to get the classic Dreamspace line up together for an album. As a result the summer 2009 will be spent writing and demoing songs for a late 2009 release tentatively titled as: PROJECT STRATO: Return To Dreamspace. This album will see Timo Tolkki handling the vocals again and the fans of the Twilight Time/Dreamspace era will surely not be disappointed.
For more info visit www.myspace.com/projectstrato.
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| Saturday, February 21, 2009 - Stratovarius - New Album Due In May, Title Revealed | The rejuvenated Stratovarius, now featuring 25-year old Finnish guitarist Matias Kupiainen in place of former axe/mouthpiece Timo Tolkki, have confirmed the title of their forthcoming album as Polaris. Stratovarius will release their brand new studio album, Polaris, on May 21st, 2009. This new album will see a worldwide release by the band's new label partner edel under the new imprint earMUSIC outside of Asia, and the band's long time label partner for Asia, JVC.
Keyboardist Jens Johansson has issued the following statement: "We are very happy to have found strong label partners for the new era of STRATOVARIUS who truly believe in the band and are as enthusiastic as we are. I can't wait to hit the road again and meet all fans who supported us through all our good and bad times."
Working song titles due to appear on Polaris include 'King Of Nothing', 'Eternal Life', 'Something Precious', 'I Am Blind' and 'Free Diving'. The album will feature 11 songs in total.
Stratovarius 2009 is Timo Kotipelto (vocals), Matias Kupiainen (guitars), Lauri Porra (bass), Jörg Michael (drums), Jens Johansson (keyboards).
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| Friday, October 24, 2008 - Stratovarius returns in 2009 - New album and live shows | Press release from Stratovarius:
Finnish melodic power metal legends Stratovarius are breaking the silence since guitar player Timo Tolkki left the band. They will return with a new studio album in 2009. It is a positive and powerful record that the band's fans all over the world are certain to take to their hearts.
"After Tolkki gave his blessing for us to go on without him, and after writing music together again this summer and a lot of thought, we have decided to carry the legacy of Stratovarius into the future", says Jens Johansson.
"We are all very excited about the record and about playing Stratovarius music live to our fans. We can't wait.", adds Timo Kotipelto.
The new guitar player is 25-year old Finnish guitar phantom Matias Kupiainen. Jörg Michael says, in Matias we found new character who fits perfectly with his way of melodic guitar shredding, he is a killer player, a 'Wunderkind' from Finland!"
The first two festival dates for 2009 have been confirmed already:
Wacken Rocks, Kreuth / Aurich, Germany, May 22, 2009
Wacken Rocks, Kreuth / Aurich, Germany, May 23, 2009
More 2009 festivals are planned and will be announced soon. These dates will be followed by a concert tour.
Stratovarius is:
Timo Kotipelto vocals
Matias Kupiainen guitars
Lauri Porra bass
Jörg Michael drums
Jens Johansson keyboards
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| Saturday, June 21, 2008 - Timo Tolkki: 'There will be one more Stratovarius album' | Timo Tolkki has issued the following update on Revolution Renaissance and Stratovarius:
"The songwriting is going very smoothly and nicely. We are making some demos soon and will hit the studio around September. Some song (working) titles are: 'Icarus', 'Age Of Aquarius', 'The Loneliness Of A Thousand Years', 'Revolution Has Begun', 'Mary My Guardian' and 'Walk On'. I will be able to announce the bass player in early August, but I can tell that he is in fact Swedish. We are still planning the extensive South American tour we have been offered. This would be in December
I am also happy to tell that there will be one more Stratovarius album sometime late next year. This will be a 'get together' album with old friends Tuomo Lassila on drums, Antti Ikonen on keyboards and me on vocals and guitars. There are 12 months in a year and this will be the last and 12th Stratovarius album that will close the whole saga with dignity and respect. The way it is supposed to be.
I will also reissue my Classical Variations and Themes and Hymn To Life remastered versions through my webshop. The whole Tolkki.com is currently undergoing maintenance and new layout procedure and will remain closed for some days more."
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| Sunday, June 1, 2008 - Timo Tolkki Reports On The Future Of Stratovarius | Timo Tolkki has issued the following update on Stratovarius:
"Just thought you might want to hear this and end the speculations.
Today I made an interview with a biggest Heavy Metal magazine Rock Hard in Germany with a long time journalist friend of the band, Mr Frank Albrecht.
I was wondering when he was talking about all the time 'now that Strato won't continue without you'. I told him that as far as I know they are and he said that no, because Jörg Michael sent him a statement a week ago that will be in the next issue of Rock Hard.
Jörg says among other things: 'We thought about continuing with the name Strato, but we came into a conclusion that it is Tolkki's band and therefore we are not going to do it'.
I believe this sets the record straight and is also the right decision. How you view this in the light of the recent statements of Jörg & co, is entirely up to you. I just thought that you would like to know how things are and the Germans can read it from the next issue of Rock Hard.
They will probably issue some kind of statement together with that.
Now let's get back to music!
Cheers, Timo."
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| Monday, May 12, 2008 - Timo Tolkki - "I Will Be Away For A While" | Timo Tolkki has issued the following update:
"Just wanted to let you know, that I will be away for a while. I need to get away from this negative and hate filled atmosphere of the last days.
The statement of Jens and co. hurt me deeply with its aggressiveness and hate, not to mention the lies they wrote to make it look like totally my fault. I have been very down the last days, so I need some time alone.
I still cannot believe that it is not possible to go separate ways in a civilized way. My statement was in my opinion like this. From their statement, all I get is this enormous hate and bitterness towards me plus that they made it public even including figures there. Being accused of being greedy narcistic Faust by someone I talked on the phone in the last 6 months countless times laughing like before and making jokes, comes as a very heavy blow. I thought Jens was my friend.
Instead of staying what I considered a very sick band and getting all that money, I decided to start from scratch without anything, even members. And knowing I will have to pay lot of money too from the legal costs, but that was irrelevant at that point, because I gave the management and lawyer all the time I could and 60 days before the release of my new band, I had to come to public about Stratovarius.
So the greediness attack comes as a total surprise to me against the facts and also their lies.
Mainly about the timings. The idea for RR was born and the contract singned long after October 2007, when I broke Stratovarius.
Since it really seems that they will continue under the name Stratovarius, that I own and that I have contracts with each of them, I have to of course think what should I do?
As clearly as there can't be Strato without Kotipelto, as clearly there cannot be Stratovarius without me. That was my band totally since around '86, ten years before anyone of these guys joined the band. I think there is something else behind this and I dont believe that they really will continue under that name. That would make them look like they would just want to use the bands name to make money. Why not start from the clean table like me?
In any case, my first initial thought was to let them use the name, but now I have started to think that since all this hatred is projected to me and the obvious reasons to use the name would be just financial, why should I give it to them. Stratovarius was a band that I controlled in a very similar way than Tuomas of NIGHTWISH up until I got very sick in 2004. The things started to be taken away from my control and that lead actually to the demise of the band. Do you think Nightwish could exist without its soul? I suppose it could, but again what would be any other point, than capitalize the name?
With these thoughts I leave you now for some time and come back with a bit more clear head.
Thank you for your support and take care of yourselves.
Love, Timo."
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| Thursday, May 8, 2008 - Former Stratovarius Members: Timo Tolkki's Main Motivation Was Greed | Former Stratovarius members Timo Kotipelto (vocals), Jens Johansson (keyboards), Lauri Porra (bass) and Jörg Michael (drums) have issued the following joint statement:
"Timo Tolkki published a statement on April 2 this year. The other members of STRATOVARIUS would now like to set the record straight. You can't argue with someone's perception of things, you can just explain how you see things differently.
"The confrontations, fights, incompetence, tensions, negativity, bitterness, hostility, disinterest, bad musicianship, and unfriendliness that Timo described were never there. He constructed this alternate reality around these simple and for him painful facts:
1) The band's momentum has been slowing since 2004.
2) The media chaos of 2004 made him lose a lot of trust and respect both within and outside the band.
3) STRATOVARIUS' label Sanctuary had severe financial problems from 2005 on. It forced us to start a legal process at the beginning of 2007.
"If you live your life through other people's eyes, declining sales or a perceived loss of power are matters of deep, stinging personal humiliation.
"Other sad facts remain. The legal fight left us without a way to make a new album, and financially strapped. Timo's main motivation for what he did was greed, not issues of friendship or art.
"In the summer of 2007, he presented the STRATOVARIUS/REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE demos we had all financed and recorded to Frontiers Records, and signed a recording agreement for a solo project. Unbelievably, he promised Frontiers that he alone could (and would) stop STRATOVARIUS from being active for the duration of the R.R. project, for marketing reasons. In exchange for this, Timo alone was paid 154,000 US dollars. He did this behind our backs, as we were deep in pursuit of Sanctuary legally with a large legal bill. He still hasn't had the guts to tell us what he did. We pieced it together from various press releases of his and scattered email correspondence.
"In October he sent us a mail saying he didn't want to continue, a quite impersonal way after having been in the same band for 12 years. He explained that he was tired of STRATOVARIUS, and would concentrate on things like his opera. We had known for some time he really hated playing live. He did not mention anything about his Frontiers deal, which placed the rest of us at great financial risk. He very clearly asked that we wouldn't contact him and try to talk him out of it, which we all respected. He would later make much of the fact that nobody tried to talk him out of it.
"This year, Sanctuary agreed to settle, but Timo's announcement and Timo's announcement alone ruined that, leaving us with a debt of 54,000 US dollars. The total loss is around 346,000 US dollars. There was no reason for the timing of his announcement other than some foolish belief it would make the promotion of Timo's project record a bit easier. What he did to the rest of us was stupid, selfish and more than disappointing to us since we all stood shoulder to shoulder with him financially in 2004.
"Then late January, surprisingly, he proposed us playing as hired guns on R.R. (turning it into a STRATOVARIUS record), and doing a tour with Jari on bass. Apparently he again had financial problems due to his failed opera project. He then quickly dismissed the idea himself.
"In short it's not so much a story of simmering discontent leading to a wise and respectable decision. It's definitely not a story of naiveté. It's the story of Faust, the story of madness, of a band's natural and slow decline, but in the end something mundane: the story of a supreme narcissist going broke and betraying friends of 12 years who helped save him a few years earlier.
"Hopefully this explains the situation a little bit. Sorry if it is long on business crap, and short on humor or music. This was a terrible, disaapointing blow to us.
"We would like to thank our fans who make it all worth it, and despite it all, we would like to thank Timo for the past, the nice music and the good moments.
"The rest of us want to make clear that we are doing great and that we will continue making music together, because we care about each other and we care about our fans. We have grand plans indeed, and we will have some very interesting news in the months ahead!"
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| Wednesday, April 2, 2008 - Stratovarius split up | The following has been posted at the official Timo Tolkki website:
Dear Stratovarius Fans,
It is time to stop the silence and announce what some of you have already been speculating. Stratovarius is no more.
Last October I told the guys that I am stopping the band and told them the reasons why. This letter is addressed to you, Stratovarius fans, who have supported the band for so many years. I first thought that I would write just a very generelized, typical "music business" statement that basically never says anything. Then I decided that you deserve to hear at least parts of the truth what has been going on behind the scenes so you will be able to understand my decision better.
All the time, since TK and Jörg joined the band, there have been tensions and negativity flying around. This has been concentrating on me, TK and Jörg. The reasons Jari Kainulainen was fired some years back were so absurd that I am not even try to explain them here. If I write a book one day, maybe then. Anyways, I think the seeds were planted already back then, something like 12 years ago. There were many confrontations, Jörg has been complaining to me about TK and TK complaining to me about Jörg. At a times it was a mess, although of course, it never would show outside to the fans. It is not my intention to disrespect TK and Jörg here. They are both fundamentally good guys. Things just sometimes happen and relationships go to directions we don't want them to go. It's like a divorce, nobody wants it to happen but sometimes it is best for all so everyone can continue their own lives. Plus I want to tell how things have been behind the curtains. You always only see the good side anyway, you don't really know what is going on.
We had amazing years, 14 records, 6 world tours with over a thousand shows all across the Globe, 3 gold discs, a Finnish Grammy and almost 3 million records sold. I have arrived to my decision after careful, long and rational thinking of over a year and I know it is the right way for me. I just felt so bad being in Stratovarius. Something was terribly wrong in there and nobody seemed to care.
The countdown really started from the last Stratovarius album in 2005. At that time the atmosphere in the band was extremely weird. I had spent most of 2004 recovering from my nervous breakdown in April 2004 when I was hospitalized. It was at this point when things started to change. Jens supported me immensely during 2004 with his phone calls. We then did that "Stratovarius" album, which I think is an awful album and went for the subsequent tour production. By that time it was apparent to me that things really were bad. Nobody seemed to care about anything. I had the idea to use projection screens and for that, you need to produce graphics. I planned those and basically the whole show. Nobody seemed to have any interest in it. It was more like, the less the better. The atmosphere at the rehearsals was awful. Lauri Porra who had just joined the band was wondering what is going on with this band. Jörg Michael came straight from Saxon to this tour wearing a Saxon shirt during most of the shows. His attitude for most of the tour was extremely arrogant, pretty much towards everybody. But especially towards me and TK. And TK's attitude towards me was lukewarm and polite, but I could sense the hostility. Of course we as professionals put on very good shows but it was more craftmanship and rehearsed performance than a great united band playing emotionally from the heart. I think TK was always very bitter about that he could not get his songs and/or lyrics on Strato records. I did not understand this really cause he had/has his solo band where he could do what he wanted. It took me many years to learn to simply tell him that I don't like his songwriting and lyrics and that the main difference between me and him is that I am writing songs that end up being Strato songs while he is trying to write Strato songs that end up being Kotipelto songs, which means they belong on a Kotipelto record. It is not easy to say to someone that you don't like his music. You guys and girls dont like all music, neither do I. Neither does TK. I am not anyone to tell what is good and what is bad music, but I do can tell what kind of music I like. And TK's stuff just doesn't do it for me. I do have to say that I think he has written many great songs as well during his solo career. Plus he probably would say the same things about my songwriting. We are just very different. He has a very different sense of humor than I have. Maybe the weirdest thing in Strato was that we never really were friends in the band. I visited TK in 12 years perhaps 5 times. To me Jens was the closest in the band and lately Lauri Porra, who is a wonderful guy. But none of use was really ever real friends. It might be surprising to you but that is the truth.
The tour continued and Jörg's drum roadie told me drunk that Jörg is leaving the band after the tour but he is doing the tour cause "he is a businessman". I guess you could say that Jörg's attitude pretty much culminated what he said to me in Seattle on that tour. He told me that he thinks the band is over. We tried to record, 3rd time, a live DVD in Sao Paulo but could not use the shootings because we played so badly. It was just plain awful. Although we rocked lot of crowds on that 120 date world tour, still the overall vibe was very much like "going to work". Not for me though. Not still at that point. But it felt to me that nobody's heart was in the band and it was just for the money.
The tour came and went, we survived and Jörg didn't leave the band. But it was the weirdest tour I have ever done. Very succesful, but still it felt like forcing something. It was not fun. It was sad.
The next thing I had in mind was to write a really fresh good old fashioned Power Metal album in the vein of Visions. I felt our fans deserved it and I felt it was the right thing to do. This was the infamous "RR" album. The songwriting was flowing and the songs sounded really nice and melodic and very much like old Strato. I was all the time on my toes because of the situation in the band and I was anticipating difficult recording sessions. Anyways in late 2006 we completed a demo tape containing 10 brand new songs. I wasn't too happy about the demo, but it did serve its purpose, to present the songs to the record company. I then booked 12 days from Sonic Pump studio in Helsinki for March 2007. This was the weirdest session I had ever had. Jörg was all the time talking about that we have to get the "Visions hunger" back, although I don't think he himself had that hunger. Nobody had. The session was nothing like the recording sessions before. Nobody had rehearsed the songs really and everything sounded pretty awful. I tweaked the drum tracks for a week and gave up. It was around this point when I really was starting to think why am I keeping this alive when it's so difficult. I remember how much time, energy and money we put to Elements 1. There was nowhere to go after that anymore without just repeating the past. I do know that TK didn't like that album at all, which yet again shows the difference between him me. It doesn't mean that he has to like it of course, but to me Elements 1 represents the peak of the Strato evolution and perhaps I should have stopped the band already then.
Last year, 2007, was the turning point for me in many ways. I felt better, but regarding Strato I felt worse. There were fights about everything, even about trivialities, which really annoyed me. A lots of fights. A lot. I had to use a lot of energy to try to get merch to Stratoshop, which was on the shoulders of Jörg and TK, because there was no merch for people to order but still they were ordering cause the items were on the page. The SSL certificate that proves the site is secure was expired a year ago, I tried to get that fixed, could not do it because I wasn't authorized to do so. The most popular items from the shop were sold out and Jörg refused to print more. I could not understand any of the things that were going on. At the same time, I was having more fun than in years with my rock opera Saana. When I was making that, I realized what was lacking in Strato: the enthusiasm, creativity and fun. It wasn't like that in years. Saana gave me hope that there still could be something new for me to learn at this age and it gave me a whole new world of things and a start for something new. Plus I knew I had some really cool new Metal songs in the works.
We did have 8 festival shows during 2007 and it was then, when I was standing on stage in Wacken Germany before 45 000 metalheads , when I fully realized that this band is over. I remember clearly playing those same old songs we had played so many times before and a feeling came to me that told me: this band has no soul anymore. I looked around and I felt like I am part of a play that has a script or machine and that there is nothing fresh and exciting happening anymore. The band sounds awful. Nobody's heart was in it. It was just the same old song. Jörg worked at this point full time in artist production company doing tourmanaging and he was working at Wacken too. He literally came to play from production office and returned there after. Everybody was polite, on the surface, but there was no friendship, all I could sense were the underlying tensions of relatioships that had come to an end. I had felt during that year that the band existed only for one reason and that was the money. I had felt that this was the main motivation what kept Jörg and TK in the band still despite of the underlying tensions. While standing on Wacken stage to my absolute horror, I understood that also for me that had now become a reality. I was keeping this alive for money. It was then when I decided that I must stop the band.
So it was during this show, I decided that it's over. I was still thinking about everything but I felt that for my future, it was the only logical thing to do. I did not want to fire TK and Jörg because they are and have been as much part of Strato as I have been and it would not be fair to the fans. I then decided that it is best to lay rest what is already dead. I informed guys by email in October 2008 about my decision and explained in detail my reasons hoping they would see my points and agree what is real. Only Jens and Lauri answered. TK and Jörg did not even answer to that mail. Jens understood my decision, Lauri did not. I understand him, he got a taste of what it is to be in a succesful rock band touring the world. It is not easy to give that up. He did fail to see my side of the story. That TK and Jörg did not comment anything really speaks for itself. I did want to finish the Stratovarius saga with style and naive as I am, in February 2008 I wrote a mail to the band and proposed that we would say goodbye to our fans with style and do one more tour. I won't go into details here, but this time I did get a response from TK and Jörg. I wished them well and wrote back that I can see there cannot be any more tours with this band because of the hostile reactions.. So that was that. I felt good about my decision, but not good that out of legal reasons I have had to wait for this announcement for so long.
Then I thought that since I have all these great songs in my hands, I wanna put these out somehow. So I contacted a few friends, we laid the basic tracks in the same place where the Strato RR session had taken place a year ago and it was just flowing. There was happiness. There was energy. The songs sounded great. My friends Michael Kiske and Tobias Sammet agreed to sing on the album. I decided to form a new band called "REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE" which would continue the legacy of Stratovarius. In this first album I just wanted to release these songs finally so I did not have time to search for a permanent line up. I am now, so if you are interested, drop me a mail! The album comes out 6.6.2008 through Frontiers Records.
I am excited and happy.for the first time in years. I can hardly wait what the destiny has in store for me with my new band, projects, songwriting. I am living a very creative times. I have my production company and I am doing lots of different projects and not only metal but basically anything that moves me.
First I would like to, despite of all, thank Jörg, TK, Jens, Jari, Lauri, Tuomo, Antti and Jyrki for these 22 years. It was a quite a ride. I wish Jens, TK, Jörg and Lauri the very best with whatever they decide to do in their life and success with it.
Last but most importantly, I want to thank you Stratovarius fans for your love and support and for the great life. We will be seeing each other in some ways, somewhere. You will always remain in my heart.
With Love, Timo
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| Monday, October 30, 2006 - Stratovarius news | News from Timo Tolkki of Stratovarius:
"I have written 11 new songs and we are first going to demo them. This will be completed by the end of the year and we will enter the studio to record that actual album around February. Timo Kotipelto is releasing his third solo album around that time (and what I have heard, it sounds really great) as well and he has naturally promotional activities and I think he is also doing a tour during Spring. Stratovarius production will be ready sometime in the summer 2007 and depending on various different things, the album, entitled R...... R.......:), will be released in October 2007 or in the beginning of 2008 followed by a massive world tour. So all okay here, everybody´s happy, the songs are great and we are looking forward to the new adventures."
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| Wednesday, September 13, 2006 - Stratovarius album update | Timo Tolkki has issued the following update on the progress of Stratovarius' forthcoming studio album:
"Everything has gone very smoothly and I have written seven songs by now. I expect to complete the songwriting by the Stratovarius tour that kicks off from Canada. After that we will record the demos and enter the studio somewhere around February. Release date should be either October 2007 or February 2008 followed by a world tour.
I already have the album title and for those who want to guess, it´s two separate words that both start with 'R'. The song material is more traditional Stratovarius; it is very melodic and quite reminiscent of Visions/Episode era. After the last album I wanted to write more traditional Stratovarius songs. There are double bassdrum songs as well.
I'll keep you updated about how things go and try to check in also from tour."
Cheers, Timo
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| Friday, July 8, 2005 - Stratovarius changes bass player | Long-time bass player Jari Kainulainen has left Stratovarius. There is no drama or bad blood. Jari just doesn't have it in his heart to tour this heavily anymore.
Jari is not dropping out of the scene, he will continue to play metal.
The new bass player is Lauri Porra. He is 27 years old and a native of Helsinki, Finland. He looks like this. He has previously played with Sinergy, Warmen and Kotipelto.
Says Lauri: "I'm very honored to be invited to play with Stratovarius and follow in the steps of such a great bass player as Jari. I'm really looking forward to going on the road with Stratovarius, to meet some old friends, and to hopefully make lot of new ones."
Here is a fresh picture of Timo Tolkki, Lauri Porra and Timo Kotipelto.
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| Monday, April 18, 2005 - Stratovarius news | Stratovarius will release their new album in late August or early September. The album is called simply Stratovarius and it has the following tracks:
01. Maniac Dance
02. Fight
03. Just Carry On
04. Back To Madness
05. Gypsy In Me
06. Götterdämmerung (Zenith Of Power)
07. The Land Of Ice And Snow
08. Leave The Tribe
09. United
The album will surely be a surprise for Stratovarius fans. For example, you won't hear any double bass songs, for the album is mainly in 4/4 and the songs are thoroughly produced mid-paced heavy rock songs. Especially the first part of the album is very "un-Stratovarius" (in proportion to previous albums) and some fans' faces may be worth seeing, when they hear the Atari-intro to the album single Maniac Dance.
A video has already been filmed of the forthcoming single, which was directed by Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki's old schoolmate and the director of Celine Dion's, Eminem's and Nightwish's music videos, Antti Jokinen. Maniac Dance's lyrics leave little to be guessed, they tell about the twister gone around Timo Tolkki during the last few years
In the second part of the Stratovarius-disc the band moves to more familiar sounds and for example the song The Land Of Ice And Snow is a clear sequel to Forever. As the title suggests, The Land Of Ice And Snow is a salute to Finland and Finns. And a known alcohol drink is also mentioned in the song!
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| Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - Stratovarius news | Here is an update from Stratovarius:
"After a lot of listening and editing, the basic structure of our 11th album is getting together slowly but surely. After the turbulence of the last year, none of us has known what to expect when going into the studio.
We have used the drums Jörg recorded alone at Soundtrack Studio about a year ago. There was about 70 gigabytes of drums, so that took a while to listen to. And bit of tough decisions, and editing, cutting and pasting. New lyrics and vocal melodies have been written, and also some new songs.
Guitarist Timo Tolkki: 'I recorded all my rhythm guitars during one evening. God, my fingers still hurt!! There is a construction project going on under my studio. They are building a parking hall and are exploding huge bombs twice a day. Also there is lots of drilling. I am sure that this is the first time in the history of metal that an album has been recorded under circumstances like these.'
It has indeed been very hard to record vocals and acoustic instruments. But we are finally getting there, slowly but surely. It's flowing and the feeling is really good. The vocals will for sure be finished before Timo Kotipelto's solo tour embarks. Then of course, the mixing... the mixing... the mixing. Stratovarius has never made a compromise when it comes to the sound and this time with TT in his own studio.. my God, anything under two months of mixing and we'll be lucky. Anyway we would like to thank you, the fans, for your patience and hope that you enjoy this progress report and some new pictures."
Check the official website for the pictures.
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| Friday, January 14, 2005 - Stratovarius has reunited | After all the turmoil of 2004, we are happy to announce that Stratovarius has reunited with the classic line-up: Timo Tolkki, Timo Kotipelto, Jörg Michael, Jari Kainulainen and Jens Johansson.
Since his breakdown in April, we have patiently been waiting for Timo Tolkki's health to improve. It has, and since about 6 weeks he has been strong enough to go back to work.
Also during the past months, after much talk, soul-searching and reflection most of the damage within the band has been repaired. The rest of us now understand Timo's condition, and have slowly come to terms with it. There has been forgiveness, and everyone has a good relationship again.
Many of the immense problems we were facing have now found concrete solutions.
Lastly, we can announce that work is already in progress on completely new material.
Stratovarius
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| Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - Stratovarius replace Running Wild at the Gates of Metal festival | Stratovarius will replace Running Wild at the Gates of Metal festival. The Finnish Power Metal band have oddly enough decided to play at the festival, though their future is still uncertain. After numourous troubles, singer Timo Kotipelto and drummer Jörg Michael left Stratovarius, and the band has been in a severe crisis for a long period. The band still has some shows to play, which were booked before the departure of the two members, and now they add this festival to what may be the last shows, featuring the line up, they have kept for years untill now. For more info, go to www.gatesofmetal.nu
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| Monday, March 1, 2004 - Timo Tolkki of Stratovarius stabbed in Spain | Timo Tolkki was assaulted in the centrum of Granada on Sunday as he was having a walk. According to Stratovarius keyboard player Jens Johansson, who witnessed the attack, the man was extremely agitated and had "a Hispanic looking appearance". As he attacked, he shouted "Tolkki". He was armed with what seemed to be a box cutter.
Tolkki was taken to a nearby hospital, where Dr. Fernandez treated him. He was admitted to emergency care. He had two stab wounds on his left arm and a facial contusion. His wounds were cleaned and bandaged and he was released from hospital care.
Read the whole story here, as well as a review of the Stratovarius performance at this weekend's Piorno Rock.
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| Friday, December 12, 2003 - The Stratovarius fistfight | Here are the latest news on the Stratovarius split from Blabbermouth:
Guitarist Timo Tolkki has spoken to the Finnish daily newspaper Ilta-Sanomat about the circumstances behind the group's recently announced split with vocalist Timo Kotipelto and drummer Jörg Michael.
According to Tolkki, he and Kotipelto got into a physical altercation three weeks ago. Originally, Tolkki had stepped in to break up a fight between drummer Michael and Kotipelto, but after the latest episode, both he and Kotipelto realized that they would not be able to carry on working together. Tolkki says that the fight was due to Kotipelto wanting to have more involvement in the songwriting process as well as more say in the band's business affairs.
The members of the most recent Stratovarius lineup will be forced to work together one more time as they prepare to play all of the previously announced summer festivals in order to avoid paying out huge cancellation fees. Tolkki has admitted that he doesn't know if they will be able to get along with each other long enough to do the upcoming shows and had made it clear that he would prefer to call off the dates altogether.
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| Monday, December 8, 2003 - Stratovarius news | Timo Kotipelto and Jörg Michael are out of Stratovarius.
Here is the full press release:
After several emergency meetings, this move finds acceptance within the band. "Due to irrevocable and massive difficulties between the band leader Timo Tolkki and me, it has been agreed that this is the best thing to do to preserve at least some of the integrity the band used to have", says singer
Kotipelto.
"I will now fully concentrate on my solo album and I am convinced that this is the best way for me." Jörg Michael says that his priorities lie elsewhere at the moment, but that the suddenly escalating trouble in the band is one of the main reasons he doesn't want to play in Stratovarius anymore. Jens Johansson states that he thinks this situation is very unfortunate, but that he is ok with it nevertheless, given the tension and turmoil of the last couple of months.
Jari Kainulainen was not available for comment. "I think this is the beginning of new era for Stratovarius and that the future looks bright and promising. I have composed some of my best songs during the last month", Timo Tolkki says from his writing mansion next to the gulf of Finland. He promises that Stratovarius fans will be both surprised and amazed by the next album.
"If anything good comes out of this, then I guess it will be the emotions I have managed to channel into new songs about this situation, which has been very heavy for all of us." he continued. "I have been having quite bad mental problems lately, but I feel better now due to anti-depressive medication my therapist has prescribed me." Also, according to the booking agent Continental Concerts, the current line-up is "100% certain" to fulfill all its obligations regarding festival dates next year even though there is a lot of simmering hate still, waiting to boil over.
According to Tolkki, he is currently talking to a German singer and a Finnish drummer about replacing Kotipelto and Michael, but he stresses that absolutely nothing is confirmed at this point. He adds that he is actively looking for replacements.
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| Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - Stratovarius begin mixing 'Elements Pt. 2' | Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki entered Finnvox studios Tuesday (Feb. 11) in Helsinki with Mikko Karmila to begin mixing the songs for the group's next full-length album, titled "Elements Pt. 2". Some vocal overdubs will also be recorded during the sessions. "Elements Pt. 2" is tentatively due for release in October and will include the following cuts, among others:
01. Alpha & Omega
02. I Walk to My Own Song
03. Awaken the Giant
04. Liberty
05. Season of Faith's Perfection
06. I'm Still Alive
07. Dreamweaver
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Other information
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Information like history, special memories and other things will be added when we get the time.
It will be possible to add comments when we have added more information. | Articles on this site
Album Review - Infinite
(Tommy)
Album Review - Elements Part 2
(Hashman)
Album Review - Visions
(Tommy)
Album Review - Stratovarius
(Nina)
Album Review - Polaris
(Alanna)
Album Review - Dreamspace
(Steen)
Album Review - Elements Part 1 (Reissue)
(Brian)
Album Review - Elements Part 2 (Reissue)
(Brian)
Album Review - Elysium
(Alanna)
If you like this band then try- Sonata Arctica
- Helloween
- Freedom Call
- Nightwish
- Angra
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