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STRATOVARIUS – ELEMENTS, PART 1
2003 Nuclear Blast
Here's the new release by Finland's legendary Stratovarius. I'm a moderate Strato-fan, so let me start by saying this is a solid album. In my opinion, it's not as good as the band's last two albums, DESTINY and INFINITE, which I liked a lot. However, ELEMENTS is still good enough to recommend. INTERMISSION had a few unreleased tracks, but ELEMENTS is the band's first totally new album in over three years.

The album opens with "Eagleheart," a really cool uplifting song, followed by the mid-tempo epic "Soul of A Vagabond." The chorus is huge in this song and it really has a sense of urgency. One of the better songs on the album. The awesome Speed Metal of "Find Your Own Voice" follows. One of my favorites on the album. The epic "Fantasia," a song inspired by the movie of the same name, slows things down. "Learning To Fly" gets back to speed with precision drumming from Jorg Michael. Great song, with a great chorus. Another epic, "Papillon," follows, which is followed by an instrumental called "Stratofortress," featuring some of the band's strongest playing. Yet another epic follows, the title track "Elements." This song is over 12 minutes long. It should have been trimmed down to six or seven minutes at the most, but it's a good song. "A Drop In The Ocean" finishes the album rather weakly, as it is the token Stratovarius ballad with no percussion.

Complaints: Well, I had hoped that three years off would have seen the band's sound evolve a little. Instead, they are mainly giving us the same songs with different lyrics. Album opener "Eagleheart" is the same style as INFINITE's opener "Hunting High and Low." There are several other songs where you think, "I've heard this one before." Some of these songs are too long. Four of the nine tracks are over seven minutes long, two are over 10 minutes long. I tire quickly of songs like "Papillon," a song that has way too long an intro and features a somewhat grating vocal performance by singer Timo Koltipelto. "Papillon" is a rather boring track, I can't see it ever being played live. The album artwork (again by Derek Riggs) is not as strong as INFINITE, but it's still pretty good. (The 'Braveheart' face makeup is damn cheesy and unnecessary, however!)

Let me finish by saying the band redeems itself by having some of the best production in the realm of Metal. No other band sounds this good, especially the drums and guitars. They also keep their foot to the floor and keep the Speed Metal pumping strong on standout tracks like "Find Your Own Voice" and "Learning To Fly." A decent album, but I had hoped for better. Recommended for Strato-fans mainly.

DISCOGRAPHY:

FRIGHT NIGHT (1989) Noise
TWILIGHT TIME (1992) Noise
DREAMSPACE (1994) Noise
FOURTH DIMENSION (1995) Noise
EPISODE (1996) Noise
VISIONS (1997) Noise
VISIONS OF EUROPE (Live) (1998) Noise
DESTINY (1998) Noise
THE CHOSEN ONES (Compilation) (1999) Noise
INFINITE (2000) Nuclear Blast
INTERMISSION (2001) Nuclear Blast
ELEMENTS, PART 1 (2003) Nuclear Blast
Click here for the Official STRATOVARIUS Homepage.