Visions of Europe: Live [Live]

Stratovarius | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 4, 1998)
• Original Release Date: August 4, 1998
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Live
• Label: Noise
• ASIN: B000009E88
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #456,371 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Forever Free

2. Kiss of Judas

3. Father Time

4. Distant Skies

5. Season of Change

6. Speed of Light

7. Twilight Symphony

8. Holy Solos

Disc: 2

1. Visions

2. Will the Sun Rise?

3. Forever

4. Black Diamond

5. Against the Wind

6. Paradise

7. Legions

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What does stratovarious sound like?, a good cd to find out, March 14, 2000

By 

Robert (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visions of Europe: Live (Audio CD)

Considering the price, this is a good cd to find out if you like Stratovarious.

I only urge you to listen to the whole cd (it gets better each time I play it)and not just snippets/sound clips because you can't judge this band that way.

This live cd is extremely well recorded.

Unlike some Power metal bands where you can use a drum machine for the drummer, the drums do shift their tempo and time

To me this is a fusion of power metal and progressive metal with terrific vocals

If I the rating was 10 stars, I would give it 8/10

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great live recording, high energy + clear sound quality, March 8, 2005

By 

Michael Pardi "mikeonis" (Los Angeles, Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visions of Europe: Live (Audio CD)

Pay no attention to that other reviewer... What backing-vocal tapes? That reviewer was smoking crack. OK, this CD features some of Stratovarius's best material, recorded on their Visions of Europe tour (in Italy and Greece). It has a surprisingly clear sound for a live recording, the drums in particular sound amazing! They are such a high energy live act, they prove on this recording they can keep up with Slayer, Destruction, or any of the more aggressive acts, without losing their trademark melodic sound. Normally I'm not a big fan of ballads, but when they play "Forever", the WHOLE crowd sings along, which is incredible. And don't listen to anybody who says they are "dull" in concert, on this CD you get a little of everything: fast songs, slow songs, solos, Timo Kotipelto working the crowd with his: "oh, oh-oh oh oh" bit (yeah, it's a little reminiscent of Queen, but so what!) - Stratovarius is an arena-level act, that's part of the gig.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good cd for Novice and Experienced listeners of Stratovaius, September 24, 2000

By 

S M - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visions of Europe: Live (Audio CD)

WHAT IS PLAYED: Of the 15 songs performed, 2/3rds are from the "Visions" (5 songs) and "Episode" (5 songs) cds with another 3 songs coming from the "Fourth Dimension" cd.

SOUND and PERFORMANCE: The production is superb and the performance is tight where band is playing together as a unit without getting in each others way, yet not rigid that the live songs are not just copies of the studio versions.

There is plenty of guitar and keyboard soloing not found in the studio versions of certain songs that add a dimension to them and avoid being a vehicle to showcase the 'chops' of the musicians.

RECOMMENDATION If you have both "Visions" and "Episode" cds, this cd will showcase many of such studio recordings being played live with the added dimension mentioned above

If you are unfamilar with Stratovarius's sound this is a good cd to investigate them.

If you like what you hear, I recommend you get the studio versions of "Visions" and "Destiny" where the other songs not played on this cd are just as well done.

This cd is a good representation of Stratovarius's overall sound, which does not change all that much throughout their recordings, BUT, why should they when they do something so well.

In other words, Stratovarius is Blues equivilant of Power/Progressive metal

To quote Frank Zappa: "While (Bluesman) Elmore James basically played the same slide guitar style in all his recordings, they were still great because when he did it you know he ment it"

For the value it offers plus the production and performance makes this cd a 9/10