Stratovarius was founded in Finland in 1984 from former members of the band Black Water. They went through a number of personnel and musical changes before the band found its own voice. In 1984, the name was changed to Stratovarius (a portmanteau of Stratocaster and Stradivarius), an idea of Stråhlman's. By 1984, Timo Tolkki entered the band, replacing Stråhlman in the guitar. He took up the vocal duties as well. Tolkki became the driving force and mastermind of the band assuming almost complete control of the song writing. He brought along not only strong rock influences but also a neo-classical tinge. The band released a demo to various record companies by 1987, finally being picked up by CBS Finland. In 1989, their debut album Fright Night was released followed by two singles.
After being dropped by CBS the band went through several member changes but they managed to release on another label and they also toured a bit. In 1994 they released their third album, Dreamspace, featuring new bass player Jari Kainulainen, (who joined the band when 70% of the new material was already recorded) which was a great success. Tolkki decided to stop singing for the band and they hired a new full-time singer, Timo Kotipelto. The release of Fourth Dimension in 1995 was a great success, but internal differences in the band particularly about the style the band was going for, prompted the departure of long-time drummer Tuomo Lassila and keyboardist Antti Ikonen. Two new non-Finnish members were recruited: Swedish keyboardist Jens Johansson of Yngwie Malmsteen fame; and German drummer Jörg Michael. With the fifth release Episode, Stratovarius had finally found its sound and had a strong, diverse line-up. Episode was a grand project featuring a large choir and a string orchestra. It spawned some of the all-time greatest Stratovarius hits, such as "Father Time" and "Will The Sun Rise".
This line-up released three hugely successful albums over the years: Visions in 1997, Destiny in 1998, and Infinite in 2000. With every album their fame and fan-base expanded and they started gaining a stronger following outside the Nordic countries particularly in Japan.
In 2003 the band released its most epic project yet, the two album suite named Elements. With these albums they reached a peak in their progressive and symphonic style of power-metal. The first album, Elements pt. 1, was released in early 2003 followed by a world tour. Elements pt. 1 was naturally followed by Elements pt. 2, also released on Nuclear Blast records in the same year with the hit single "I Walk To My Own Song".
In late 2003 the band broke up with Timo Kotipelto and Jörg Michael leaving after a very vaguely explained conflict. Tolkki hired a new singer, Katriina ''Miss K'' Wiiala, and Anders Johansson of Hammerfall (Jens's brother) temporarily on drums. Tolkki's behaviour rapidly began to become extremely strange. He published a long news article on the band's website, detailing how he had converted to Kabbalah after reading Madonna's autobiography and being contacted by Jesus himself. He wrote extensively on the principles of Kabbalah but according to some Jewish forum members, this has nothing to do with any actually practised form of it. The webmaster removed the news article from the site. Then Tolkki even stabbed himself in the shoulder first claiming that a crazy Spanish fan had done it because of band had broken up. Tolkki also phoned Anders Johansson, speaking nonsense about Adolf Hitler – Anders freaked out and left the band. Nobody really understood the situation and fans were worried about Timo's mental condition. In April 2004 he was hospitalised with chronic depression and a nervous breakdown and, after being released from the mental hospital, negotiations and attempts at reconciliation with the rest of the band began. The rest of 2004 was virtually complete silence from the band.
In January 2005 an announcement was released that Stratovarius had reunited with the old line-up. Tolkki seemed to have recovered from his strange illness. In June 2005 Timo Tolkki announced that the band's bassist, Jari Kainulainen, had left the band due to personal reasons. He was later replaced by Lauri Porra.
Stratovarius then released the self-titled album Stratovarius in September 2005 featuring the popular single "Maniac Dance". During this time Stratovarius began a world tour starting in Argentina. It also included a North American leg where they toured the United States and Canada for the first time in the band's history. They played at such events as Atlanta's "Prog Power", and in well-known venues such as "B.B. King's House Of Blues" in New York and Philadelphia's "Trocadero Theatre". The tour also included some European and Japanese cities.
On April 2 2008 Timo Tolkki announced on his official website that the band has officially stopped due to various issues between the band members.
Timo Tolkki has formed a new band, Revolution Renaissance. He released his first album on june 6, 2008 and it featured guest appearences by Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) and Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia)
The band has since made an announcement on the Stratovarius website stating that the band will continue without Timo Tolkki.
After the announcement, the band began to search for a new guitar player, making the announcement on the band's official forum and in soundi magazine that Matias Kupiainen would replace Timo Tolkki and that 15 songs had already been demoed for the new album.
On May 13 2009 Stratovarius released their 12th studio album, Polaris, now with the new members Lauri Porra and Matias Kupiainen playing bass and guitar respectively.
Early 2011 saw the release of their new album, Elysium, containing the songs that were written during the Polaris tour. Also during 2012 saw the departure of long-time drummer Jörg Michael for personal reasons and his replacement Rolf Pilve.
2013 saw the release of their newest album "Nemesis".
Studio albums:
- Fright Night (1989)
- Twilight Time (1992)
- Dreamspace (1994)
- Fourth Dimension (1995)
- Episode (1996)
- Visions (1997)
- Destiny (1998)
- Infinite (2000)
- Intermission (2001)
- Elements, Pt. 1 (2003)
- Elements, Pt. 2 (2003)
- Stratovarius (2005)
- Polaris (2009)
- Elysium (2011)
- Nemesis (2013)
Witch Hunt
Stratovarius Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take both of them in and do a spin experimenting
With fingers spreading lips concealing the secrets of the joy
The witch-hunt is coming to town you better look around
The witch-hunt is coming to town they'll see that you will get found
The witch is clever
Two at the time Bell tolls inside Casting joy all over you
Oh boy
The witch-hunt...
The whip is ready Standing steady
In between the hands By your command
Do what you have to do And she's glad to
Take your little life And ride away
The lyrics of Stratovarius's Witch Hunt are cryptic and somewhat difficult to decipher, but they seem to depict a situation of sexual experimentation and power dynamics. The first verse seems to describe a sexual encounter where two partners experiment with various techniques and sensations. The use of the word "witch" suggests that this encounter might be taboo, or perhaps even forbidden. The second verse introduces the idea of a witch-hunt, which could be interpreted as a metaphor for the potential consequences of exploring one's sexuality and desires. The witch in the song is portrayed as clever and vengeful, perhaps suggesting that she represents a force of nature or a societal taboo that seeks to punish those who go against the norm.
Line by Line Meaning
The witch is worried
The witch is anxious and concerned
Which is bitch?
Which of the two is female dog (a curse word)?
Take both of them in and do a spin experimenting
Bring them both in and test them out
With fingers spreading lips concealing the secrets of the joy
Using fingers to spread joy while keeping the secrets concealed by lips
The witch-hunt is coming to town you better look around
The search for witches is approaching the town, so be vigilant
The witch-hunt is coming to town they'll see that you will get found
The hunt for witches is approaching the town, and they will find you
The witch is clever
The witch is intelligent and astute
Forgets never
The witch never forgets
She take her revenge All in the end
The witch will seek her revenge in the end
Two at the time Bell tolls inside Casting joy all over you
Two bells tolling inside, spreading happiness over you
Oh boy
Oh, boy!
The whip is ready Standing steady
The whip is prepared and standing securely
In between the hands By your command
Between the hands, ready to do as you command
Do what you have to do And she's glad to
She's willing and eager to do what needs to be done
Take your little life And ride away
Take your puny life and escape
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: TUOMO LASSILA, TIMO TOLKKI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
rockermetalhead1200
Man, the structure of the song is INSANE!!!!!! ALL HAIL STRATOVARIUS \m/
Leni
This song is insanely original, innovative! Love the rhythm and melody. Tolkki you are a genius, you know that.
Laura Peskin
This is such a mind blowing Euro work that it makes me question whether Koti was needed on Visions. Another masterpiece of Tolki's voice, such stellar songwriting skills and a wonderful punch of darkness that's so lacking in a lot of Euro.
spacechick Urantian
@Smartguy561 Gosh both are such good singers, just different.
Smartguy561
No they definitely needed Koltipelto. There's a re recorded version of Future Shock with Timo Koltipelto singing, and let me tell you that he blows Timo Tolkki out of the water. In my opinion they should re record this entire album with Koltipelto singing. Tolkki is a great guitaris, but it was the best decision they ever made was to replace him with Koltipelto on vocals, although this is still a good album as it is.
Matheus Galvão
in my opinion the best song of stratovarius!
GU1TARV1LLA1N
Stratovarius' debut album has a certain rawness to it that hasn't quite been equaled on any subsequent releases ( Not to say that later albums weren't good. They were just great in a different, more polished way). Tolkki has a great voice that fits the style so well. It really reminds me alot of the first two vastly underrated Maiden records with Paul DiAnno.
Andrea Rodriguez
tremenda cancion uff lo mejor es que casi nadie la conoce yo no se porque :(
Alexander Galván
in my opinon stratovarius is the best greetings from mexico
Bruno VallésMuñoz
Complejo y pesado
brillantez absoluta!!