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Rating:
Oh yes... there's nothing to be done, even the great ones fall. After 12 albums of unquestionable quality, the "Stratovarius," the undisputed masters of symphonic metal made in North Europe, release an album ("Stratovarius") that, to put it kindly, borders on the scandalous. Lacking in ideas, the album presents itself as much heavier than the others, losing much of the elements that over the years have made Mr. Tolkki & co. successful. This wouldn't be a negative thing, if only the loss of good elements coincided with the acquisition of equally positive new ideas.
The album opens with "Maniac Dance" which, after an intro reminiscent of Nintendo, kicks off with guitar riffs trapped between poorly conceived industrial and 80s heavy. The end result is at the very least annoying: 4 minutes and 34 seconds of a song that feels overly familiar and rehashed. "Fight!!!" is probably one of the very few successful tracks of the album, where we find slight hints of the glorious past poorly ruined by very annoying keyboards. A positive point is the very high and engaging vocal lines, in the best tradition of a great singer such as Timo Kotipelto. Track number 3 "Just Carry On," brings us back to the shores of the first song, presenting itself as an at the very least useless and poor song. The structure is also elementary and boring. We then move on to "Back To Madness," a song that could even be nice, if it wasn't ruined by a terrible pseudo-operatic male voice. But aside from this "small" problem and the drum and bass session that could have been better utilized, the song flows decently, characterized by quite decadent atmospheres and with a nice solo in the middle by Tolkki. "Gypsy In Me" begins once again with effects à la Nintendo 64 (the truly scandalous ones from games like Super Mario, to be clear), followed by a riff of predictable, shocking and annoying nature. The only saving grace is the voice of the talented Kotipelto. The next track "Gotterammerung (Zaenith Of Power)" gives us hope in the intro, but then due to a rather terrible chorus, it ruins itself in a scandalous way. "The Land Of Ice And Snow" presents itself as a very dull and ugly ballad, moving entirely on sappy and sad coordinates, which surely will not impress the listener.
The last two tracks are completely opposite; indeed, while track number 8 "Leave The Tribe" can be considered the best track of the bunch because it is well played and elegantly led by Tolkki's guitars, "United" falls once again into the most shocking and annoying anonymity. Ultimately, this represents everything I never wanted to hear from a band like Strato. The production is excellent, but this is not enough to lift the fate of an album that, unfortunately, can only be considered as the lowest point in the discography of Stratovarius. Failed under (almost) every aspect.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Fight!!! (04:03)
Climbing mountains
Big stone on my back
Hopeless feeling
Everything is black
What am I Fighting for?
What am I living for?
That is the part that I don't know
You gotta fight
Fight for your life
Until you die
Fight for your life
Endless searching
In the cyberspace
All is turning
Into a disgrace
What am I searching for?
What am I running for?
That is the part I don't know
You gotta fight
Fight for your life
Until you die
Fight for your life
03 Just Carry On (05:28)
Time goes by
But you can't rest
Too many things
And you're obsessed
Trying to find
Some sense to it all
No-one knows what you've been through
Like no-one cares
But it's not true
Turn the pages
And make a fresh start
When you are low
You should known
You are not the only lonely soul
And you will find
The strength inside
There is no more need to hide
Just carry on
Fullfill your dreams
Don't let them try to pull you down
So carry on
Don't give up
March on till the end
The road is long but you'll reach the final bend
05 Gypsy in Me (04:27)
I was sent out
To the world
From the mission
I just returned
The dust has not settled down yet
Still I am needed more fame to be earned
I thought I could have some rest
But I feel like I am possessed
I shouldn't be complaining coz I am blessed
Must have been the Gypsy
The Gypsy in me
All the pressure
On my shoulder
I can feel
It makes me older
I've given everything tonight
It is enough I still have to fight
My heart is beating so fast
If this breath would be my last
Would I die happy or would I regret my past
Must have been the Gypsy
The Gypsy in me
Must have been a mistake
But I agreed
06 Götterdämmerung (Zenith of Power) (07:12)
A failed painter, born to change the world
Beaten up kid swore his revenge
Whirlwind of chaos and destruction man has never seen before
Blind masses led like a flock of lams
Deception, blinded by the lie
Another “saviour” of mankind showed the way
Gargantuan monster
Spread terror, food for the guns
Obsession turned to hate
It was their final fate
Projecting, persecuting, murdering and conquering the world
A diabolical plan was created
Armageddon and the apocalypse
Six million people vanished in the air
For the cause of the one man
Gargantuan monster
Spread terror, food for the guns
Zenith of power
Zenith of power -He changes the course of history
The final hour
Madness reigns
Zenith of power
Zenith of power -remains forever a mystery
The final hour
Madness reigns
08 Leave the Tribe (05:42)
Listen to what I have to say
We could get out of here today
I'll take you with me if you want to go
New kid of place, just let me know
I am a man, I'm not a child
And I am free, 'cause I can feel
We just have to get away
We have nowhere left to stay
We can run and we can hide
We just have to leave the tribe
Doing things in our own way
We'll just let the others stay
Those who fought and those who lied
We just have to leave the tribe
Leave the tribe!
Everything is always the same
They try to make you play their game
“This is the way”, you're being told
Bet hear me out, you can't be sold
And still they roll like pigs in the mud
While you have the fire burning inside
We just have to get away
We have nowhere left to stay
We can run and we can hide
We just have to leave the tribe
Doing things in our own way
We'll just let the others stay
Those who fought and those who lied
We just have to leave the tribe
Leave the tribe!
You have to leave the tribe
You have to leave the tribe
There's no where left to stayy
I have to leave the tribe
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Other reviews
By Stratocontact
Stratovarius, after a truly dark period... are reuniting, they are more energized than ever.
Fight!!, which is somewhat the keyword of this album, a highly energetic track... denotes a remarkable effort by the Finnish band to seek simplicity and naturalness.
By thetrooper
"The album itself might have deserved a higher rating, but an album of Maiden-style heavy metal with splashes of hard rock is not what we expect from Stratovarius."
"Stratovarius is a prestigious and important band, but I don’t feel like giving more than a 3."
