Stratovarius: Gone

[Nightmare1z]

Originally Posted by AMBR

Can you post a link to that? I don't see that in the comments.

Weird. I just checked and that comment is gone now...

Hmm

[SkiBumMSP]

Originally Posted by TheGraveDigger

This is indeed sad news to me. Stratovarius is one of my all time favorite bands. During the year 2000 I was just getting into heavy metal. Iron Maiden was the band that got me into the genre. I was into Judas Priest, Ozzy, Pantera, King Diamond, Motley Crue, KISS, Ratt, all that kind of good stuff that the average 80's metal fan listened to. One day my friend Rich played me Stratovarius when we were in his car going to the mall and I was blown away. 'Twilight Time' was the album and I loved what I was hearing. This opened the doors to Blind Guardian, Helloween, Edguy, Brainstorm, Iced Earth and all the great power metal bands that I currently love. Stratovarius to me have created some of the greatest music in the history of metal. I am glad to say that I have seen them peform live in America 3 times (twice at BB Kings in NYC and once at the Trocadero in Philly). They were great shows to me and I am sad to hear that the band was not really getting a long especially during the last one. I will surely miss them but I respect what Timo Tolkki did here. Sure he aired some dirty laundry but I feel it is better that we know the story like this so we know what really went on rather than have maybe false hope that this is temporary and they will be back again. I will forever love this band I am definitely going to bust out Twilight Time tomorrow to bring me back to when I first heard them and listen to all their albums this week.

This is nearly the same thing for me! It was around 2000 for me, but in my case, I was playing around with the Music Choice channels that used to be on my DirecTV service (have since now using XM for the music channels). I remember hearing "A Million Light Years Away" on there and was thinking, "Holy Shit! That is AWESOME! Now, THATS the kind of music that I want to listen to! Not the typical shit that was being played on the radio at the time!". Like you, it lead me to Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica (whom I still hope they continue to put out kick-ass albums!), Nocturnal Rights, Kamelot, and many others. Stratovarious was becoming one of my most favorite bands (behind Rush and Styx). Not only that, I thought how cool it would be to get to meet these guys in person. Well, never thought my dreams would actually come true - having seen these guys THREE times - once at ProgPower (which was the reason I went to ProgPower in the first place!) and twice at Jaxx! These are from that Monday show right after getting back from ProgPower in 2005. I thought these guys were really cool and was great to hang out with and chat for a bit. To bad there was so much tension in the band at the time. I thought things were beginning to look good for them. Especially sorry for Luara Porra, having just started with them at the time. He really was a cool guy that loved what he was doing. Hope he get in with another good outfit.





Say what you want about these guys, and yes, I do agree that the "magic" seemed to be lost, which is shame. I had hopes that this band would be back producing the kind of music that got me started with this whole genre in the first place. Maybe, in the end, Timo Tolki did the right thing and simply let things go - I guess it is all water under the bridge now. I am actually looking forward to what he ends up doing with that RR thing now. At the same time, I really do like what Kotipelto did with his albums (I have all of his albums, and still listen to them fairly regularly). Also, I personally really liked the Elements albums, especially the first one. Like what has been said - it is indeed an end of an era. Long live Statovarious.

[St Enigma]

Originally Posted by Nightmare1z

Yeah, my only issue with this is what about the whole Sanctuary record deal. They still have 2 albums they have to do according to that contract I thought.

On Blabbermouth, one of the posters said she was the girlfriend of one the members and that it was a major legal issue now and Tolkki screwed them. However, since its BM, it could be anyone posting that.

However the point still stands. I'm interested to know the legal side of this. Especially since I thought they received that huge amount of money for signing to the label already (in the millions) and that they now have failed to perform their contract fully.

During 2005-2006 Sanctuary went close but didn't quite go bankrupt. Most times there is a dedicated clause regarding the possible cases of acute disbanding or label going bankrupt before the contract is fufilled and how the financial risk and burdens will be carried in these cases. Obviously there was no exact clause for a case of the label becoming overtaken by a big corporate.

TT had the songs for a the second CD through Sanctuary done in early 2006 already and recording sessions started, but same time Sanctuary ceased releasing new CDs at all. Which left Strato hands tied hanging on thin air ever since. Negotiations were carried on without results for two years, until Oct 2007 there was nobody to negotiate with.

I think disbanding was the only legitimate way left for TT to get released of the contract and carry on with his musical career. The contract was originally signed bona fide between Strato and Sanctuary, but it ended up as a transferable object of trade in the hands of big corporates who really do not care wether a single (metal)band will live or die. Not really a situation anyone wishes to get stuck in.

...sometimes life just... sucks

Originally Posted by Nightmare1z

Weird. I just checked and that comment is gone now...

Hmm

I read it on BM the other day and whoever wrote it seemed to have at least a slight clue about the situation, even she did heavily accuse TT screwing the other members financially by disbanding Strato. But like you said, the post was censored already for whatever reason.

Anyway, obviously TT is galloping on full speed with his new band Revolution Renaissace on Frontiers Records' roster --> *click*

.

[AMBR]

Originally Posted by St Enigma

I think disbanding was the only legitimate way left for TT to get released of the contract and carry on with his musical career. The contract was originally signed bona fide between Strato and Sanctuary, but it ended up as a transferable object of trade in the hands of big corporates who really do not care wether a single (metal)band will live or die. Not really a situation anyone wishes to get stuck in.

...sometimes life just... sucks

.

That's the read I have on this as well. I think disbanding was the only way out of that messed up contract. Hopefully, this new TT project will pick up where Strato left off, and the "outside" former members will find new projects as well.

BTW, I would suggest you ignore the poster who was deleted on BM. Only trust news coming directly from the band or label.

[7thSaviour]

In light of the recent posts in this thread, I am inclined to give TT one last break. Good luck to him and all the ex-Strato boys on their new musical lives!

[Diamond45]

Though this news is not a shock to me, I'm still saddened by it.

SkiBumMSP (Steve) had a great post above on this. He is the one who got me in to power and prog metal music. He found it through Stratovarius. In turn, he introduced me to a new world of music that I never knew existed.

The whole reason why I'm here today on this forum and been to the last three ProgPower USAs is because of Statrovarius. Steve and I went to Atlanta for ProgPower VI to see Strato live in 2005. After one PP, we became hooked and have been ever since - and have tickets for the upcoming one! (they're in the drawer below this keyboard... shhhh!!!)

We had the pleasure of seeing Strato live at Jaxx in 2006. Here's a picture of Timo Koltipelto and I after the show.



Wish I wasn't squinting so much... damn flash was too bright!

I wish the best of luck to all involved.. hope that they all land on their feet soon!

[7thSaviour]

Originally Posted by Diamond45

Though this news is not a shock to me, I'm still saddened by it.

SkiBumMSP (Steve) had a great post above on this. He is the one who got me in to power and prog metal music. He found it through Stratovarius. In turn, he introduced me to a new world of music that I never knew existed.

The whole reason why I'm here today on this forum and been to the last three ProgPower USAs is because of Statrovarius. Steve and I went to Atlanta for ProgPower VI to see Strato live in 2005. After one PP, we became hooked and have been ever since - and have tickets for the upcoming one! (they're in the drawer below this keyboard... shhhh!!!)

We had the pleasure of seeing Strato live at Jaxx in 2006. Here's a picture of Timo Koltipelto and I after the show.



Wish I wasn't squinting so much... damn flash was too bright!

I wish the best of luck to all involved.. hope that they all land on their feet soon!

Right on! Major Timo K fan here. How do you like his solo discs?

[Diamond45]

Originally Posted by 7thSaviour

Right on! Major Timo K fan here. How do you like his solo discs?

I have his third solo disc Serenity. It is pretty good from a musical standpoint, but it isn't power metal by any means. I find it to be more of a rock album, but not metal.

Edit: Thanks AMBR for the correction.

[AMBR]

Originally Posted by Diamond45

I have his second solo disc Serenity. It is pretty good from a musical standpoint, but it isn't power metal by any means. I find it to be more of a rock album, but not metal.

It's actually his 3rd. You're assessment is pretty fair. It's hard rock with a metal edge. Very listenable, but not for those metal fans who are looking for Strato-style power metal. He's made considerably progress with this CD and was able to add some dimension by enlisting some composing help from Tuomas Wäinölä. Sometimes fresh ideas and interesting new directions can be made when musicians collaborate, but not everyone figures that out.

[Prog_Muse]

Awww...that sucks.