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Editorial Reviews
In September 2008 Stratovarius found the freedom to go into seclusion for almost a month in a cottage by the sea in a Finnish forest to relax, laugh, write songs, be creative together, and record. And they found themselves being a band reborn. The result is a melodic, powerful, fresh, tight, and technically elaborate new album. Powerful melodies mingle with sophisticated arrangements; strong anthems stand alongside heavy songs. There are 11 songs full of energy, musicianship, and a positive outlook.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Since 1989 Stratovarious have been one of a select few groups that truly define what it is to be a progressive metal outfit. Their earlier works are considered by many to be the definitive of the fore mentioned style and should be respected by all fans of the genre. 2009 shows the guys simply solidifying the fact that they are still very much alive and kicking.
Polaris is a great album and the Sci-Fi theme is used well as merely back drop for the music rather then over powering and/or watering down the metallic side of the music. Timo's higher pitched vocals again shine through out the album and you'll find yourself singing along to the very well written lyrics, in which have an obvious Sci-Fi theme as well.
As on similiar Stratovarious albums the leads take a focal point and soar above the rest of the band. New comer Matias Kupiainen shreds out some intense riffs and several amazing solo's through out the course of the album, especially for someone whom just started playing guitar in 2005. The other focal point on Polaris would be Jens Johansson putting down some simply amazing (as usual) leads on Keyboards such as the epic and personal favorite "King Of Nothing".
The music ranges in tempo from mid to fast paced Power Metal such as the rip roaring opener "Deep Unknown". While songs such as "Winter Skies" slow things down with some very harmonic and beautiful melodies. All in all a wide range of emotions from the beginning to the end of Polaris and by far an extremely strong showing.
Many long time fans were probably fearful of the future of Stratovarious due to long time lead guitarist Timo Tolkki leaving the band in 2008 (I know I was). However as a fan whom has followed the bands career for quite some time I can honestly say the band sounds better then ever. As if the line up change and addition of two brand new members was a rejuvenation.
If you purchase the Limited Edition version you will get a so called bonus track but it is only a slightly different version of the opener. When it comes down to it I have to give this album five stars, it is amazing from beginning to end and in my eyes doesn't have one weak point. Fans of the Power and Progressive Metal scene need to get their hands on this immediately as it is by far the strongest release in the genre in 2009 so far.
If this line up stick it out for more albums I fore see a great future for the band and can count on many more great releases as well as the usual amazing live show that they always perform. Fans of Stratovarious and the style of music they helped shape will enjoy this as much as I have. I truly hope that you enjoyed my review and hope that it encouraged you to purchase the album. Thank you for reading and if the review did interest you please take another second out of your time and click 'Yes' below. Thanks again.
-A Loyal Stratovarian
Polaris is a great album and the Sci-Fi theme is used well as merely back drop for the music rather then over powering and/or watering down the metallic side of the music. Timo's higher pitched vocals again shine through out the album and you'll find yourself singing along to the very well written lyrics, in which have an obvious Sci-Fi theme as well.
As on similiar Stratovarious albums the leads take a focal point and soar above the rest of the band. New comer Matias Kupiainen shreds out some intense riffs and several amazing solo's through out the course of the album, especially for someone whom just started playing guitar in 2005. The other focal point on Polaris would be Jens Johansson putting down some simply amazing (as usual) leads on Keyboards such as the epic and personal favorite "King Of Nothing".
The music ranges in tempo from mid to fast paced Power Metal such as the rip roaring opener "Deep Unknown". While songs such as "Winter Skies" slow things down with some very harmonic and beautiful melodies. All in all a wide range of emotions from the beginning to the end of Polaris and by far an extremely strong showing.
Many long time fans were probably fearful of the future of Stratovarious due to long time lead guitarist Timo Tolkki leaving the band in 2008 (I know I was). However as a fan whom has followed the bands career for quite some time I can honestly say the band sounds better then ever. As if the line up change and addition of two brand new members was a rejuvenation.
If you purchase the Limited Edition version you will get a so called bonus track but it is only a slightly different version of the opener. When it comes down to it I have to give this album five stars, it is amazing from beginning to end and in my eyes doesn't have one weak point. Fans of the Power and Progressive Metal scene need to get their hands on this immediately as it is by far the strongest release in the genre in 2009 so far.
If this line up stick it out for more albums I fore see a great future for the band and can count on many more great releases as well as the usual amazing live show that they always perform. Fans of Stratovarious and the style of music they helped shape will enjoy this as much as I have. I truly hope that you enjoyed my review and hope that it encouraged you to purchase the album. Thank you for reading and if the review did interest you please take another second out of your time and click 'Yes' below. Thanks again.
-A Loyal Stratovarian
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Like many fans, I had no idea what to expect after the departure of Timo Tolkki. However I have to say this is a very good album. They do a good job of mixing up the pace of the album with fast and melodic tracks. Stand outs are Deep Unknown, Higher We Go, and what I think is one of their all time best releases, Forever is Today. Kotipelto is one of the true vocal gems of our time and he shines on this CD.
If you have doubts put them to rest and buy this album, you won't regret it!
2009 has had three major releases from Edguy, Hammerfall, and now Stratovarius, sending a resounding message to the world that the power of metal is truly unchained.
If you have doubts put them to rest and buy this album, you won't regret it!
2009 has had three major releases from Edguy, Hammerfall, and now Stratovarius, sending a resounding message to the world that the power of metal is truly unchained.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
... that Stratovarius made an album without Timo Tolki on six string strafing. So is it still Stratovarius? Well, I'll leave that debate to others and just plough into a review of the album;
# The album kicks off with Deep Unknown which is a fine tune totally in keeping with the Strats vision. In fact this album doesn't really seem to have taken any departures at all from their signature motifs of speedy riffs, lots of keys and a hammering drum attack all leavened with Timo Kotipeltos' highly strung vocal stylings. It's all somewhat highly strung mega-goth-speed-metal with goth twinges, the latter more by default than any real gothic leanings of the band itself. After a number of plays I think Deep Unknown is a good track to sample to see if you want to buy this album, ditto for Blind though for me this track has too much emphasis on the drums to the detriment of enjoyability.
# Production by the band and having keyboardist Jens Johansson involved in the engineering has made sure that what you are getting is the bands musical vision. The sound is quite clean as you'd expect and kudos to Jens for not beefing up the keyboard sound until it drowns out everything else.
# The album does contain a number of mellow tracks. But then the Strats have been doing that for quite some time, the lumbering Winter Skies being a good example of where the band are at with this tangent at present and King of Nothing being a bit too plodding for its own good.
# The stepping aside (or call it what you will) of Timo Tolki has meant that the other band members have had to come to the party in the songwriting department. Of course most Strat fans know that the majority of the past writing has been done by Tolki and Kotipelto and most of the bands fans knew that the latter could pen a decent enough tune himself. But perhaps less people have heard the other works of Jens Johansson - albums like Sonic Winter for instance - and so his contribution to this disc will perhaps surprise many. But as I alluded to earlier, the absence of the bands main writer on this release has produced negligible effect. If you liked Infinite then you'll like this. And as for the new guitarist - Matias Kupiainen - just check out some of the trade offs with Jens on tunes like Forever is Today. And at least this way the royalties might be shared a bit more evenly!
All up an album that stands alongside their earlier albums and is probably marginally better than the last, self titled, studio effort though it doesn't rise to the realms of Visions, which would appear to be an album the band will never quite be able to surpass. Ultimately this album is a victory of sorts as it could very easily not have ever gotten made and it would be a shame to no longer be able to hear these guys perform in a group which obviously means so much to them. Fans of the hard rock musings of Stratovarius should buy with confidence even if it's not their best work.
# The album kicks off with Deep Unknown which is a fine tune totally in keeping with the Strats vision. In fact this album doesn't really seem to have taken any departures at all from their signature motifs of speedy riffs, lots of keys and a hammering drum attack all leavened with Timo Kotipeltos' highly strung vocal stylings. It's all somewhat highly strung mega-goth-speed-metal with goth twinges, the latter more by default than any real gothic leanings of the band itself. After a number of plays I think Deep Unknown is a good track to sample to see if you want to buy this album, ditto for Blind though for me this track has too much emphasis on the drums to the detriment of enjoyability.
# Production by the band and having keyboardist Jens Johansson involved in the engineering has made sure that what you are getting is the bands musical vision. The sound is quite clean as you'd expect and kudos to Jens for not beefing up the keyboard sound until it drowns out everything else.
# The album does contain a number of mellow tracks. But then the Strats have been doing that for quite some time, the lumbering Winter Skies being a good example of where the band are at with this tangent at present and King of Nothing being a bit too plodding for its own good.
# The stepping aside (or call it what you will) of Timo Tolki has meant that the other band members have had to come to the party in the songwriting department. Of course most Strat fans know that the majority of the past writing has been done by Tolki and Kotipelto and most of the bands fans knew that the latter could pen a decent enough tune himself. But perhaps less people have heard the other works of Jens Johansson - albums like Sonic Winter for instance - and so his contribution to this disc will perhaps surprise many. But as I alluded to earlier, the absence of the bands main writer on this release has produced negligible effect. If you liked Infinite then you'll like this. And as for the new guitarist - Matias Kupiainen - just check out some of the trade offs with Jens on tunes like Forever is Today. And at least this way the royalties might be shared a bit more evenly!
All up an album that stands alongside their earlier albums and is probably marginally better than the last, self titled, studio effort though it doesn't rise to the realms of Visions, which would appear to be an album the band will never quite be able to surpass. Ultimately this album is a victory of sorts as it could very easily not have ever gotten made and it would be a shame to no longer be able to hear these guys perform in a group which obviously means so much to them. Fans of the hard rock musings of Stratovarius should buy with confidence even if it's not their best work.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Greatness
I made the leap from their Visions CD to this one so I wasn't too sure what to expect but I liked the samples and bought it. First off the production is great. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Paul J. Miszlay
kotipelto
this album is amazing! kotipelto definitely is the focal point here to me. there are very tight arrangements and amazing guitar/keyboard solos which are what stratovarius fans are... Read more
Published 19 months ago by steve
everything meshes together perfectly
on this album, Stratovarius runs like a well-oiled machine. the departure of Timo Tolkki did little to spoil the sound of this majestic band. Read more
Published 21 months ago by king beagley
Jens, the new Timo
For me, the news about this album is the proheminence of the keyboards over the guitar. This is quite enjoyable, since Jens Johansson is a master - and refreshing too, because... Read more
Published on March 15, 2010 by Edward Monk
Best album of 2009
After passing through 2009 here in the US without hearing music that really hit home (Three Days Grace is my favorite that gets airplay here), I started wandering the internet... Read more
Published on February 20, 2010 by C. B. WILSON
Soft but Good
This isn't the most epic release, but it's definitely got some good parts and is worth the buy.
Best songs for me are Deep Unknown, Winter Skies, Emancipation suite part 1,... Read more
Best songs for me are Deep Unknown, Winter Skies, Emancipation suite part 1,... Read more
Published on December 6, 2009 by nigelb
A Solid Progression from Tolkii's Stratovarius
So Timo Tolkii is gone. The band doesn't miss a beat. The musicianship is still there and the songwriting is still trademark Strato, but some of the epic bombast is dialed back... Read more
Published on December 5, 2009 by Andrew Hilton
Excellent Album
This is definitely a must have album if you are a fan of Stratovarius. Forever is Today might be their best song EVER.
Published on November 29, 2009 by M. Goss
Flawless
This was my first exposure to Stratovarius, and has made me fan. The songs are great, production excellent, musicianship very skilled. What more can you ask from a band. Read more
Published on September 29, 2009 by VikingMetalWarrior
Stratovarius At Their Best !!!
Forget Timo!
I personally thought the last three Stratovarius CD's were lacking something.
THIS CD ROCKS !!! Very talented group of artists. Read more
I personally thought the last three Stratovarius CD's were lacking something.
THIS CD ROCKS !!! Very talented group of artists. Read more
Published on August 7, 2009 by C. Cleveland
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