|
Stratovarius-"Elements
Part I" Nuclear Blast 2003 |
Finally the latest Stratovarius album is among us. The pause
they took, let them re-think on their music and trademark style that made them famous in
the first place. We don't find "u turns" here, it's pretty much what we're used
to hear from this finnish band. But at least this one is more varied that their previous
album Infinite. Songs like "Eagleheart" (the first track of the album),
"Find your own way" or "Learning to Fly" are the classic Stratovarius
tunes with restless doble bass drum rythms and catchy power metal choruses wich will
please die hard stratofans. But not everything is "regular"power metal,
"Soul of a Vagabond" shows a heavier Stratovarius like in "Fright
Night" without loosing their well known "epic" sound. "Fantasia"
is another great track filled with tempo changes and technical display of skills, all of
this mixed with Timo Kotipelto's fantastic voice. "Papilon" is a slow one,
loaded with emotion and "grandeur". I really liked this one, maybe a new
classic. The instrumental track is titled"Stratofortress" wich could have been
"Stratosphere 2" 'cause it's structure is very much like it. Althought is great
and flawlesly performed, it may be too much the same we've always heard of this guys. This
tracks might sound exciting for the new fans, but for anyone who has heard their previous
3 releases it starts to be boring. The best song of this album in my opinion is the title
track "Elements". The good thing about this song is that it has the Stratovarius
vibe but with a new way of performing it. It doesn't sound like "deja vu" after
listenning to it. Instead it has an unusual structure for the common speed metal song,
with a heavy metal base riff. This may be the long awaited Stratovarius evolution. "A
drop in the Ocean" is the last track of the Cd, it wouldn't be a Tolki album without
a ballad. In brief a nice album with some surprises and more "worked" than
it's predecessor. We thank that both Timos sat down and wrote a REAL album and not just
new lyrics. |
|
