Customer Reviews

Fourth Dimension

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

im very impressed with this album, it has better drumming on it than the later ones coz jorg michael is far too repetative. some of stratovarius's greatest songs are on this album which include against the wind, winter, twilight symphony and nightfall. this is the first album with timo kotipelto on vocals and he does a fine job. definately a 5 star album :)

This album was right after Dreamspace and right before Episode. This is the first album that TK lead sang on. Their style is a little more open than Dreamspace, but much less commercial than Episode and what was to follow. TK certainly knows how to sing and it shows. Musically, there are good points on the album. They are as follows:

1. Against the Wind - very good melodic speed metal song. You can hear Strato playing very well here, but have no idea what is to come on following albums. There is a BIG difference.
2. Distant Skies - really does nothing for me.
3. Galaxies - I realyl like this song. Keyboard-wise, it is kind of sparse but a good song. As a keyboardist, I use many more layers in my music and so I gravitate toward that. This is good though too.
4. Winter - does nothing for me.
5. Stratovarius - instrumental song. Not bad and to me, the typical instrumental song.
6. Lord of the Wasterland - does nothing for mw.
7. 030366 - this song is neat and sounds very different than the other songs on the album. I like this one a lot.
8. Nightfall - I like this one too. It is slow and has a real Queensruche style to it and really works well.
9. We Hold the Key - I like this one too. It is slow, but has a great body to it.
10. Twilight Symphony - many people like this song, but to me, it is just okay. Lots of great musicianship in it though and certainly qualifying itself in the classical-metal genre.
11. Call of the Wilderness - does nothing for me.

Overall, I do like the album. As a musician, it is really neat to see where they were at the time. When I first heard them, I was already enjoying Episode and some newer material which is completely different than the first few albums. It is neat to hear them progress and mature as a band by listening to the albums in 'year-released' format. This is the last one they would sound like this. Episode is very power-metal in format and completely different than this one.

Fouth Dimension was recorded in 1995 and was the first Stratovarius
effort with Timo Kotipelto(vocals), but the last with the skilful Tuomo
Lassila(former drummer). I read in their official website that Tuomo wasn't prepared
to play the band's new material when he was fired, according to Timo Tolkki.
Oh! This thought has nothing to do with recruiting a poorer drummer.
He must have forgotten that Lassila was one of the band's founders.
The originality of this album surpasses the later ones.
Timo Tolkki's backing vocals here are so evident that sounds like
a duet with the talented Kotipelto (Kotipelto sings with some accent,
but no problem all in all).
I don't give it 5 stars because of 030366 and some chorus repetitions.
Track descriptions:

We hold the key - My all-time favourite Stratovarius song.
Tuomo does 7 different beats here (yes, I counted!). I wonder where on earth
Jorg Michael will do it. I love that piece between 4:19 and 5:23, fantastic.
Don't forget that chorus: "We hold the key to the door, of salvation
eternally, we hold the key to minds, to the future of mankind". I keep on thinking why Timo Tolkki didn?t instruct Jorg to do the same as him.

030366- The intro is the only good thing: a deep guitar with attractive keyboards.
We can hear Tolkki at lead vocals on chorus and Kotipelto with a computerised
voice. They wanted to put an electronic climate, but it turned into
a boring song, unhappily.

Twilight symphony - The intro is amazingly creative: a shift between Timo
Tolkki's guitar mixed with Jari Kainulainen's bass(in harmony,at the same
time) and Anti Ikkonen's Keyboard.
Other of best songs in the album.

Night fall- This is a ballad (but it doesn't run away from rock and roll)
I like the guitar,keyboard and drums played at the same time(other harmony)on chorus
before Kotipelto sings the next "Nightfall" , it gave an interesting effect.
Timo Tolkki's slow guitar solo in 2:30 is very beautiful.

Galaxies - It starts with a sweet keyboard. The melody is perfect besides
the repetiton of the chorus(great) in the end. The lyrics talk about
a normal battle that usually happens in outer space fiction films

Lord of the wasteland - I enjoy the sounds that Anti Ikkonen does here.
The drums are double-bass, but compare it to Jorg Michael's. 100 times better.
The riff in 0:29 is kinda cool (at the same note as Anti's intro)

Stratovarius - A nice instrumental. Tolkki knew how to use his dexterity in this
track. His best solo: 5:16

Distant skies - It has a good chorus and an distinct beat. The backing
vocals really helped a lot. Just like "Against the wind", which has videoclip.
In Against the wind, 1:53 mark, the guitar sounds like keyboard.
When Tolkki did what I described in the previous sentence (in the clip), my chin fell off because of the incredible fingers speed I saw on that blue guitar arm.

Call of wilderness - Another instrumental featuring an acoustic guitar-like sound.

Winter - The keyboards really fits with winter. It's a ballad like Night fall.
Kotipleto's performance calls attention.

Even if you don't like this cd at first, listen it several times and it
will grow on you. Believe me. There was a time when I had Infinite and Intermission together with it. I used to consider Forth Dimension the worse, but now the growth ,as time passed, made me change my opinion completely. Buy it and discover its value. Feel what is to have Tuomo Lassila at the drum kit.

The is definetly Stratovarious' best album. Episode is the only other album that I can think of that comes close. Overall this album has a more epic feel to it then their other stuff (better use of guitar harmonys as well). Just check out the song Distant Skies, which is easily their best song.

Melodic metal is one thing I like. See Helloween (the Keeper albuns), Gamma Ray, and Stratovarius themselves. But on this CD, Stratovarius is too cheesy, the guitar is too "clean", the voice performing is trying to be so "perfect" that lost all characteristics of real rock / metal. It's disturbing for the listener, and it's boring, very boring.

Clear that this album isn't a complete melodic work like episode or visions.. but recreate your mind to tell you how stratovarius become what it is. (remember that always first metal albums are the real fans's favorite.
In this album appears Twilight Simphony which one to me is the best ever stratovarius song.
The voice of Kotipelto is clearly different to the nexts albums and made it a special piece.
To be honest this is not the most easy strato work, but i think it is the (equals as Vision) a essential Album for who feels a really stratovarius Fans. (Like me that assisted to 3 concerts en Chile.. including farewell tour last year)

This album always strikes me as similar to Episode. Both have great tracks and yet both rarely get a spin at my place due to the inclusion of so many naff tracks. An example of the former from this album would be Distant Skies. Not the first time that a band has shown it's mortality and human fear of flying and it won't be the last. The inherent humour in the subject (excepting Saxons 747 - Strangers in the Night) is always fun.

As for the rest, well - just go straight to Visions. And if you despair at the constant restraint shown by this band get a copy of Visions live.

Fourth Dimension was the first album I heard from Stratovarius and I was immediately blown away. Many of the all time favourite Strato songs come from this album, like "Against the Wind" which is very positive and powerful opener (I love the guitar rumble in the end with Kotipelto screaming "Gooo-ooooone!"), "Distant Skies" with nice guitars and chorus, "Galaxies" has nice opening but the chorus isn't as good as in the previous two songs, "Nightfall" is emotional ballad with nice guitars, and finally "We Hold the Key" absolutely stunning epic (hope the guitars would be a little louder in this one, in the end when the sound is fading you can barely hear a nice piece of solo!). "Winter" is a little boring BUT that's what winter really is like up here in the north, looong and boooring, solo is nice though. "030366" is the most experimental song included. At first I didn't like it at all but now it's mainly OK with the exception of a real headbanger solo in the middle. It alone makes this song worthwile. Where are these heavy metal solos today, Timo? Where? I want more of these! The same goes with "Stratovarius" which is quite annoying in the beginning but soon after it turns into a mosh pit with powerful riff and drumming.

Fourth Dimension and Dreamspace have quite a different sound compared to other albums: cold and metallic yet this time also crystal clear (especially the solos sound nice this way), making this the second most experimental/progressive album with few peculiar tracks. Kotipelto does very convincing job as a new found vocalist. Many seem to ignore this album, that's too bad and I feel sorry for them really. Though it's not the best still among the great ones and has a special place in my heart being the very first impression of Stratovarius, and what an impression it had: Made me an instant fan of the band! I'll give it 4.5 stars.

This album is great and definitely doesn't deserve such a low rating.

Although Visions and Father Time are more "catchy," I would say that 4D is definitely their best album. It sounds the most progressive; the music is the most interesting; and, with all apologies to Jorg Michael, the drumming on this album is more appealing and less repetitive. "Twilight Symphony," the second to last song, is an absolute masterpiece.