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Biography
distinguish|Stradivarius|Stratocasterrefimprove|date=August 2008Infobox musical artist| name = Stratovarius| image = STRATOVARIUS2011BYALEXKUHR.jpg| caption = Stratovarius, 2011 line-up.| image_size = 250| background = group_or_band| landscape = Yes| alias =| origin = Helsinki , Finland | genre = Power metal ,encite web|url= http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php? id=216 |title=Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives - Stratovarius |publisher=The Metal Archives |date= |accessdate=2011-07-15 neo-classical metal , symphonic metal | years_active = 1984–present| label = Edel Music|Ear Music , Nuclear Blast , Sanctuary Records|Sanctuary , Noise Records (Germany)|Noise | website = URL| http://www.stratovarius.com| current_members = Jens Johansson Timo Kotipelto Lauri Porra Matias Kupiainen | past_members = See: #Former members|Former members section Stratovarius is a Finland|Finnish power metal band that formed in 1984. Since their formation they have released 13 studio albums and one live album. Along with Helloween , Blind Guardian , Rhapsody of Fire and Gamma Ray (band)|Gamma Ray , Stratovarius are considered one of the leading groups of the power metal and symphonic metal genre.cite web|url= http://www.metalfromfinland.com/Stratovarius |title=Stratovarius at Metal from Finland |publisher=Metalfromfinland.com |date= |accessdate=2011-07-15cite web|url= http://www.search.com/reference/Stratovarius |title=Reference for Stratovarius |publisher=Search.com |date= |accessdate=2011-07-15cite web|url= http://www.idiomag.com/artist/stratovarius |title=Stratovarius Magazine - News, Reviews, Albums and Videos |publisher=Idiomag.com |date= |accessdate=2011-07-15
History
Early years and Fright Night
Stratovarius was founded in 1984 in Finland under the name Black Water. They went through a number of personnel, style and name changes before the band found its own voice. The founding members were Tuomo Lassila, Staffan Stråhlman, and John Vihervä. By 1985, the name had changed to Stratovarius (a combination of Stratocaster and Stradivarius), and guitarist/vocalist Timo Tolkki entered the band, replacing Stråhlman. In 1988 they released their first two singles, " Future Shock (song)|Future Shock " and " Black Night (Stratovarius song)|Black Night ". In 1989 their debut album Fright Night (album)|Fright Night was released, which would be accompanied by a small tour of Europe.
Twilight Time and Dreamspace
In 1991 the group released their second album, which was initially released under the name Stratovarius II but was later re-released in 1992 with the name Twilight Time (album)|Twilight Time . On this album Tolkki played bass as well as guitar on all tracks, despite Jari Behm receiving credit on the album. After Twilight Time was released, Behm was fired and replaced with Jari Kainulainen . In 1994 Dreamspace , their third album, was released. This album was the last album that followed the style of the initial releases, because when Tolkki abandoned his position as lead singer the group adopted the more neo-classical/symphonic style which they became famous for.
Arrival of Timo Kotipelto, Fourth Dimension
After releasing the album Dreamspace , Timo Tolkki decided to step down from lead singer of the band to concentrate on guitar and songwriting as well as to move Stratovarius in a new direction. The band started auditions for a new singer, eventually choosing Timo Kotipelto . In 1995, the band released their first album with Kotipelto on vocals Fourth Dimension (Stratovarius album)|Fourth Dimension , which was accompanied by a music video for the song "Against the Wind". This was the last album with a singing performance by Timo Tolkki, being featured as a backing vocalist on this album. This was the first album that showed signs of the new direction the band was heading, with tracks such as "Twilight Symphony" using an orchestra for the first time in their recordings.
Departure of Tuomo Lassila, Episode , Visions and Destiny
It was in this period that the last founding member left the band. Unhappy with the new direction the band was heading, Tuomo Lassila decided to leave the band along with Antti Ikonen, leaving Stratovarius searching for a new drummer and keyboardist to fill their places. Jörg Michael from Rage (band)|Rage was hired as their drummer and soon after Jens Johansson of Yngwie Malmsteen -fame was hired as keyboardist, a position he has held to this date. This new line-up released Episode (album)|Episode , an album that showcased their new symphonic direction with a full orchestra and choir utilised on tracks such as "Season of Change" and "Forever". The line-up on this album proved to be their most stable, remaining the same until the release of Polaris (Stratovarius album)|Polaris in 2009.
In 1997 the band released their sixth studio album titled Visions (Stratovarius album)|Visions . This album was released to a very positive reception, and featured notable songs "The Kiss of Judas", " Black Diamond (Stratovarius song)|Black Diamond " and the title track "Visions (Southern Cross)", a 10-minute epic that was their longest song at the time. "Black Diamond" has since become one of their most recognised songs, and has been included in almost all live setlists since its release. In the same year the band recorded the album Destiny (Stratovarius album)|Destiny which reached No.1 on the Finland chartsFact|date=September 2011. Destiny contained " S.O.S. (Stratovarius song)|S.O.S. " and "Rebel", as well as the 10-minute title track "Destiny".
Infinite and Intermission
In 2000, the album Infinite (Stratovarius album)|Infinite was released. Just like its predecessor, Infinite reached No.1 in the Finnish chart, the last time one of their albums would do so until the release of Elysium (Stratovarius album)|Elysium in 2011. Continuing the trend of featuring lengthy symphonic pieces, the title track "Infinity" is over 9 minutes long. Featured songs are " Hunting High And Low (song)|Hunting High And Low " and " A Million Light Years Away ". The following year saw the release of Intermission (Stratovarius album)|Intermission a compilation album of B-Sides, bonus tracks from previous albums and unreleased material. During this time, the band decided to take a break from working on new material for Stratovarius. It was in this time that Timo Tolkki released his second solo album Hymn to Life (album)|Hymn to Life and guest appeared on the Avantasia album The Metal Opera (Tolkki would later play guest guitar on the sequel album The Metal Opera Part II ). Timo Kotipelto also began his side project Kotipelto , with the first album Waiting for the Dawn (Kotipelto album)|Waiting for the Dawn getting released in 2002.
Elements , Pts. 1 & 2
In 2003 the band started work on their next project titled Elements . Initially conceived as a double album, the project was eventually split into two different releases, with Elements, Pt. 1 and Elements, Pt. 2 both being released the same year in 2003. This would contain some of the group's most ambitious work yet, with the title track "Elements" on Elements, Pt. 1 clocking in at 12 minutes, the longest song the band would write until the release of Elysium (Stratovarius album)|Elysium in 2011. Elements was also the first, and so far only, attempt at recording a double-album, and showed the band experimenting with their musical style.
Hiatus, Stratovarius and Tolkki's departure
During this period, tension was increasing in the band, and in 2004 Stratovarius temporarily disbanded after Timo Tolkki suffered a nervous breakdown. A couple of months after the breakdown Tolkki was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and went into rehabilitation for a period. During this time Timo Kotipelto released his second album with his side project Kotipelto titled Coldness (album)|Coldness . It was also during this time that Stratovarius orchestrated a series of publicity stunts, including Kotipelto being fired and replaced by a female singer named "Katrina K", as well as Tolkki being stabbed at a concert. Eventually the stunts were revealed to be a hoax, and Tolkki reunited the band to begin work on their next album. In 2005, the self-titled album Stratovarius (album)|Stratovarius was released to hostile reception by fans. Stratovarius featured a very different change in style compared to previous efforts, containing almost no symphonic or neo-classical elements in the music or soloing of Tolkki and Johansson that fans were used to, and did not feature any lengthy epics. Tolkki was highly critical of the album, and Stratovarius showed evidence of the band relationship at an all-time low. Seemingly against Tolkki's wishes, Jari Kainulainen was fired in 2005 following the release of the album for reasons Tolkki said were "so absurd that I am not even going to try and explain them here". Kainulainen was quickly replaced with Lauri Porra, and in 2006 the band began work on a new album that was tentatively titled R...R..., however as internal issues increased the project stalled. Eventually the band reached a divide, with Johansson and Porra supporting Tolkki on one side, and Kotipelto and Michael on the other. Finally, on March 4, 2008, Tolkki officially declared that he was disbanding Stratovarius:
"It is time to stop the silence and announce what some of you have already been speculating. Stratovarius is no more..."
As Tolkki held the rights to the name Stratovarius and all its royalties, it was his initial intention to completely disband Stratovarius. However, in May he agreed to sign over the rights to the name Stratovarius and all its royalties to Timo Kotipelto, Jens Johansson and Jörg Michael, allowing Stratovarius to continue on without him. Tolkki later took the songs he wrote for the R..R.. sessions and formed the band Revolution Rennaisance, using the R...R... to form the name for the band, instead of the album. Stratovarius eventually found a replacement guitarist with Matias Kupiainen , and soon after began work on their next album.
Polaris , Elysium and Michael's departure
In 2009 came the release of Polaris (Stratovarius album)|Polaris , which reached No. 2 in Finland . It was the first album after the departure of Timo Tolkki and Jari Kainulainen, and featured in their place new guitarist Matias Kupiainen and bassist Lauri Porra . The album yielded the two singles " Deep Unknown " and "Higher We Go". In 2010 the album was re-released along with different live material recorded during the Polaris Tour.
In September 2010, Stratovarius announced the start of recording of their second album with Matias Kupiainen on guitar. Before officially launching the album, the Darkest Hours EP was released with the new songs "Darkest Hours" and "Infernal Maze", plus two live recordings of older songs. To promote the new album, Stratovarius toured as guests on Helloween 's Seven Sinners Tour. As Stratovarius's drummer Jörg Michael was diagnosed with cancer, he was temporarily replaced by Alex Landenburg in the band.
In 2011 the band released their new album titled Elysium (Stratovarius album)|Elysium that quickly reached No. 1 in Finland , the first time one of their albums reached that since Destiny (Stratovarius album)|Destiny . Notable songs on the album include the singles " Darkest Hours ", " Under Flaming Skies ", and the 18-minute epic " Elysium (song)|Elysium ", the longest song that Stratovarius has ever recorded.
Jörg Michael has announced his plans to leave the band for personal reasons. Jörg will play all the remaining tour dates until January 31st in Guatemala City , and will celebrate with a special Finnish "Farewell Jörg" tour from November 18 to November 26.cite web|url= http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx? mode=Article& newsitemID=163318 |title=Blabbermouth at Roadrunner Records |date= |accessdate=2011-09-15
Band members
Current members
Name
Instrument(s)
Membership
Timo Kotipelto
Vocals
1994–present
Matias Kupiainen
Guitars
2008–present
Jens Johansson
Keyboards
1995–present
Lauri Porra
Bass
2005–present
Former members
Timo Tolkki – Guitar (1985–2008), lead vocals (1985–1994), backing vocals (1994–2008)
John Vihervä – Bass guitar (1984–1987)
Staffan Stråhlman – Guitar (1984–1985)
Tuomo Lassila – Drums (1984–1995), lead vocals (1984–1985)
