It appears as though no matter what the "flavor of the month" may be on radio or MTV, there will always be a die-hard cult fan base for progressive metal.
Popularized by the likes of Dream Theater, the style incorporates the tricky bits of such groups as Yes along with the metallic muscle of Iron Maiden.
The top Finnish export is Stratovarius.
2005 saw the release of a self-titled studio album, which shows that the group is still following their original musical path.
While the album will undoubtedly please those already converted, to others outside the group's fanatical circle, you can't help but smirk a bit at such Spinal Tap-worthy song titles as "Maniac Dance," "Fight!!!," and "The Land of Ice and Snow," or singer Timo Kotipelto's equal parts Bruce Dickinson and Sebastian Bach vocals.
That said, Stratovarius is one of the few prog metal acts that actually puts songwriting ahead of mere shredding and noodling, as evidenced by quite a few tracks on Stratovarius -- including "Just Carry On.".
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maniac DanceTimo Tolkki | Stratovarius | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 2 | Fight!!!Timo Tolkki | Stratovarius | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | Just Carry OnTimo Tolkki | Stratovarius | Play | 05:28 | 12 MB | 39 MB |
| 4 | Back To MadnessTimo Tolkki | Stratovarius | Play | 07:42 | 17 MB | 49 MB |
| 5 | The Land of Ice and SnowTimo Tolkki | Stratovarius | Play | 03:04 | 7 MB | 17 MB |
| 6 | Leave the TribeTimo Tolkki | Stratovarius | Play | 05:42 | 13 MB | 40 MB |
| 7 | UnitedTimo Tolkki | Stratovarius | Play | 07:04 | 16 MB | 51 MB |
| 8 | Gypsy in Me | Stratovarius | Play | 04:27 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 9 | Götterdämmerung (Zenith of Power) | Stratovarius | Play | 07:12 | 16 MB | 51 MB |
| 49 mins | 112 MB | |||||
| 49 mins | 347 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petri Bäckström | Tenor (Vocal) |
| 2 | Kimmo Blom | Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | Svante Forsbäck | Mastering |
| 4 | Jens Johansson | Keyboard Arrangements, Keyboards, Member of Attributed Artist, Orchestral Arrangements |
| 5 | Jari Pedersen Kainulainen | Bass, Guitar (Bass), Member of Attributed Artist |
| 6 | Timo Kotipelto | Member of Attributed Artist, Vocals |
| 7 | Alex Kuehr | Photography |
| 8 | Max Lilja | Cello |
| 9 | Jörg Michael | Drums, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 10 | Mattias Norén | Cover Art |
| 11 | Mikko Oinonen | Drum Engineering |
| 12 | Pasi Rantanen | Vocals (Background) |
| 13 | Anssi Stenberg | Vocals (Background) |
| 14 | Stratovarius | Primary Artist |
| 15 | Timo Tolkki | Audio Engineer, Audio Production, Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist, Mixing, Producer |
| 16 | Mari Vaalasranta | Make-Up |
| 17 | Marko Vaara | Vocals (Background) |
| 18 | Claudia Vaihinger | Assistant |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |