Metal Reviews

I've just seen it and it's not all that bad.More dark and brooding than ever for Stratovarius.Maniac Dance is probably the best song from the album.
The video was way too chaotic and my eyes couldn't follow everything but it was OK.

I totally agree with metalNESS.. this really sucks.. trying to do something mainstream.. Im not saying that everything mainstream is bad.. afterall stratovarius has been mainstream for years.. But i dont understand why kotipelto rejoined the band.. 10 % of his voice on maniac dance is his own, the rest is computereffects.. For me stratovarius died with the elements albums.. its really too bad.. since i love their style from episode to infinite.. but im gonna give the new album a chance... and probaly get dissapointed... and then angry.. because i spended money on it...

Edguy did it too with King of Fools, and nobody complained about Hellfire club!!!

King of Fools is pretty mainstream sounding

He still sings like Tobias Sammet on "King Of Fools." Plus Hellfire club was still Edguy.

This no high pitched vocals, no double bass, less keyboard crap, is what pisses me off about the new stratovarius.

NESS, Maniac Dance is the only track on the album which sounds completely different to what we know Stratovarius sounds like

I thought the album had less keys, NO double bass, and no or little high pitched vocals. B/c if that is ture, then how can it still sound the same as old strato?

It does and it doesn't. The double bass isn't as huge a loss as you'd think. If anything, it's quite refreshing. The keys aren't totally gone, but are totally stripped down compared to the more recent albums. Most of the songs sound as if they were written by Tolli though.

Stratiovarius was never my favorite power metal band, but if they were I'd totally hate this song. They definately pulled a Metallica here, this song is Enter Sandman with a Tolkki solo. Really this isn't so bad though, with all the power metal bands flooding the market I don't regard it as a big loss that one has turned to more mainstream hard rock. If you want catchy keyboard-heavy Finnish Power Metal, we've still got Sonata Arctica.

uhh.. I just saw the video now, after reading this thread.

Its a fairly average song, in general. Definatly not Stratovarius's best, nor worst. But nothing special. They seem to be changing their style a bit too much for my liking too, Im still a fan of their Dreamspace album and material from such era.

I will probably still remain a fan, but only for the memory of what they used to be.

Ok. Now I have heard the new stratovarius. There is absolutley nothing good about it. It may be a good Hard Rock release (if that), but definitly not worthy of the Stratovarius label.

This makes me a sad Panda :cry:

Why is Stratovarius so popular? I don't find them very good or interesting.

I think bands like Thunderstone and Sonata Arctica are much better.

Its all about personal taste. Some bands which you may find good and are popular, may not be with other people. Everyone is different

Recently i've been wondering just that.They were popular because they've released classic power metal albums from 1995 to 2000, but after that i agree with you that Thunderstone and Sonata Arctica are much better and have released better albums.I stopped paying much attention to Stratovarius when Elements 1 came out.

I think Elements 1 is still good Strato. It has its strong points and it has its "why the hell did they do that" points.

And even more "why the hell did they do that" points on their new album.

I'd agree that Stratovarius have declined somewhat since Elements, but are still a very good power metal band. I have no problems with Elements or with their latest album. And i'd also agree that newer bands such as Thunderstone, Sonata Arctica, Twilightning, etc are not far behind them or have taken over. But Stratovarius are still a very popular band, no one can deny that.

And getting more popular with the wrong audience.

what do you mean?

sellouts

What audience would that be? Are they getting played on MTV Hits? Get a grip.