Stratovarius

Dragonforce · Bericht door **Dragonforce** » vr sep 09, 2005 11:22 pm

Kon om een of andere onduidelijk reden geen topic vinden over deze band en dan vooral over hun nieuwe album.

Heb m net binnen en hij staat nu al op 4 in mijn top 5 van dit jaar. En staat direct ook in m'n top 3 Stratovarius albums. Het is heavier dan normaal en is een stuk persoonlijker

We stand united!

Lennert · Bericht door **Lennert** » za sep 10, 2005 11:11 am

Nieuwe album heb ik nog niet gehoord, ik heb zelf alleen Infinite in mijn collectie, wat overigens een prima album is. Om de 1 of andere reden trekt Stratovarius me een stuk minder dan andere powermetalbands

Rene · Bericht door **Rene** » za sep 10, 2005 12:05 pm

http://www.metalfan.nl/forum/viewtopic. ... ght=pissig

Rene · Bericht door **Rene** » wo apr 02, 2008 9:09 pm

Hmm, ik kon geen echt volwaardig Stratovarius-topic vinden. Maakt niet uit, de band bestaat niet meer, Timo Tolki heeft er de stekker uitgetrokken:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe ... emID=94051

dako · Bericht door **dako** » wo apr 02, 2008 9:12 pm

Godverdomme.
Dacht ik net dat die Tolki na dat gezeik van twee jaar terug (en dat laatste album, wat bij vlagen érg goed was) de boel weer een beetje op de rails had, gaat ie zo beginnen.
En maar zeiken op de rest van de bandleden. Laplul.

Ernst-Jan · Bericht door **Ernst-Jan** » wo apr 02, 2008 9:20 pm

Ja jammer dit was toen best gaaf in 013 samen met Hammerfall.

Kaasmetgaten · Bericht door **Kaasmetgaten** » wo apr 02, 2008 9:59 pm

En weer een waar een dikke streep door kan.

Lennert · Bericht door **Lennert** » wo apr 02, 2008 11:01 pm

TIMO TOLKKI: 'STRATOVARIUS Is No More' - Apr. 2, 2008

STRATOVARIUS mainman Timo Tolkki has issued the following statement:

"It is time to stop the silence and announce what some of you have already been speculating. STRATOVARIUS is no more.

"Last October I told the guys that I am stopping the band and told them the reasons why.

"This letter is addressed to you, STRATOVARIUS fans, who have supported the band for so many years.

"I first thought that I would write just a very generelized, typical 'music business' statement that basically never says anything. Then I decided that you deserve to hear at least parts of the truth what has been going on behind the scenes so you will be able to understand my decision better.

"All the time, since Timo Kotipelto [vocals] and Jörg [Michael, drums] joined the band, there have been tensions and negativity flying around. This has been concentrating on me, Timo Kotipelto and Jörg.

"The reasons Jari Kainulainen [bass] was fired some years back were so absurd that I am not even try to explain them here. If I write a book one day, maybe then.

"Anyways, I think the seeds were planted already back then, something like 12 years ago. There were many confrontations, Jörg has been complaining to me about Timo Kotipelto and Timo Kotipelto complaining to me about Jörg. At a times it was a mess, although of course, it never would show outside to the fans.

"It is not my intention to disrespect Timo Kotipelto and Jörg here. They are both fundamentally good guys. Things just sometimes happen and relationships go to directions we don't want them to go. It's like a divorce, nobody wants it to happen but sometimes it is best for all so everyone can continue their own lives. Plus I want to tell how things have been behind the curtains. You always only see the good side anyway, you don't really know what is going on.

"We had amazing years, 14 records, 6 world tours with over a thousand shows all across the globe, 3 gold discs, a Finnish Grammy and almost 3 million records sold.

"I have arrived to my decision after careful, long and rational thinking of over a year and I know it is the right way for me. I just felt so bad being in STRATOVARIUS. Something was terribly wrong in there and nobody seemed to care.

"The countdown really started from the last STRATOVARIUS album in 2005. At that time the atmosphere in the band was extremely weird. I had spent most of 2004 recovering from my nervous breakdown in April 2004 when I was hospitalized. It was at this point when things started to change. Jens [Johansson, keyboards] supported me immensely during 2004 with his phone calls. We then did that 'Stratovarius' album, which I think is an awful album and went for the subsequent tour production. By that time it was apparent to me that things really were bad. Nobody seemed to care about anything. I had the idea to use projection screens and for that, you need to produce graphics. I planned those and basically the whole show. Nobody seemed to have any interest in it. It was more like, the less the better. The atmosphere at the rehearsals was awful. Lauri Porra [bass] who had just joined the band was wondering what is going on with this band. Jörg Michael came straight from SAXON to this tour wearing a SAXON shirt during most of the shows. His attitude for most of the tour was extremely arrogant, pretty much towards everybody. But especially towards me and Timo Kotipelto. And Timo Kotipelto's attitude towards me was lukewarm and polite, but I could sense the hostility. Of course, we as professionals put on very good shows but it was more craftmanship and rehearsed performance than a great united band playing emotionally from the heart.

"I think Timo Kotipelto was always very bitter about that he could not get his songs and/or lyrics on STRATO records. I did not understand this really 'cause he had/has his solo band where he could do what he wanted. It took me many years to learn to simply tell him that I don't like his songwriting and lyrics and that the main difference between me and him is that I am writing songs that end up being STRATO songs while he is trying to write STRATO songs that end up being KOTIPELTO songs, which means they belong on a KOTIPELTO record.

"It is not easy to say to someone that you don't like his music. You guys and girls dont like all music, neither do I. Neither does Timo Kotipelto.

"I am not anyone to tell what is good and what is bad music, but I do can tell what kind of music I like. And Timo Kotipelto's stuff just doesn't do it for me.

"I do have to say that I think he has written many great songs as well during his solo career. Plus he probably would say the same things about my songwriting. We are just very different. He has a very different sense of humor than I have.

"Maybe the weirdest thing in STRATO was that we never really were friends in the band. I visited Timo Kotipelto in 12 years perhaps 5 times. To me Jens was the closest in the band and lately Lauri Porra, who is a wonderful guy. But none of use was really ever real friends. It might be surprising to you but that is the truth.

"The tour continued and Jörg's drum roadie told me drunk that Jörg is leaving the band after the tour but he is doing the tour 'cause 'he is a businessman.' I guess you could say that Jörg's attitude pretty much culminated what he said to me in Seattle on that tour. He told me that he thinks the band is over. We tried to record, third time, a live DVD in Sao Paulo but could not use the shootings because we played so badly. It was just plain awful. Although we rocked lot of crowds on that 120-date world tour, still the overall vibe was very much like 'going to work.' Not for me though. Not still at that point. But it felt to me that nobody's heart was in the band and it was just for the money.

"The tour came and went, we survived and Jörg didn't leave the band. But it was the weirdest tour I have ever done. Very successful, but still it felt like forcing something. It was not fun. It was sad.

"The next thing I had in mind was to write a really fresh good old fashioned power metal album in the vein of 'Visions'. I felt our fans deserved it and I felt it was the right thing to do. This was the infamous 'RR' album. The songwriting was flowing and the songs sounded really nice and melodic and very much like old STRATO. I was all the time on my toes because of the situation in the band and I was anticipating difficult recording sessions.

"Anyways in late 2006 we completed a demo tape containing 10 brand new songs. I wasn't too happy about the demo, but it did serve its purpose, to present the songs to the record company. I then booked 12 days from Sonic Pump studio in Helsinki for March 2007. This was the weirdest session I had ever had. Jörg was all the time talking about that we have to get the 'Visions hunger' back, although I don't think he himself had that hunger. Nobody had. The session was nothing like the recording sessions before. Nobody had rehearsed the songs really and everything sounded pretty awful. I tweaked the drum tracks for a week and gave up. It was around this point when I really was starting to think why am I keeping this alive when it's so difficult. I remember how much time, energy and money we put to 'Elements 1'. There was nowhere to go after that anymore without just repeating the past. I do know that Timo Kotipelto didn't like that album at all, which yet again shows the difference between him me. It doesn't mean that he has to like it of course, but to me 'Elements 1' represents the peak of the STRATO evolution and perhaps I should have stopped the band already then.

"Last year, 2007, was the turning point for me in many ways. I felt better, but regarding STRATO I felt worse. There were fights about everything, even about trivialities, which really annoyed me. A lot of fights. A lot. I had to use a lot of energy to try to get merch to Stratoshop, which was on the shoulders of Jörg and Timo Kotipelto, because there was no merch for people to order but still they were ordering cause the items were on the page. The SSL certificate that proves the site is secure was expired a year ago, I tried to get that fixed, could not do it because I wasn't authorized to do so. The most popular items from the shop were sold out and Jörg refused to print more. I could not understand any of the things that were going on. At the same time, I was having more fun than in years with my rock opera 'Saana'. When I was making that, I realized what was lacking in STRATO: the enthusiasm, creativity and fun. It wasn't like that in years. 'Saana' gave me hope that there still could be something new for me to learn at this age and it gave me a whole new world of things and a start for something new. Plus I knew I had some really cool new metal songs in the works.

"We did have 8 festival shows during 2007 and it was then, when I was standing on stage in Wacken, Germany before 45,000 metalheads when I fully realized that this band is over. I remember clearly playing those same old songs we had played so many times before and a feeling came to me that told me: this band has no soul anymore. I looked around and I felt like I am part of a play that has a script or machine and that there is nothing fresh and exciting happening anymore. The band sounds awful. Nobody's heart was in it. It was just the same old song. Jörg worked at this point full time in artist production company doing tour managing and he was working at Wacken too. He literally came to play from production office and returned there after. Everybody was polite, on the surface, but there was no friendship, all I could sense were the underlying tensions of relatioships that had come to an end. I had felt during that year that the band existed only for one reason and that was the money. I had felt that this was the main motivation what kept Jörg and Timo Kotipelto in the band still despite of the underlying tensions. While standing on Wacken stage to my absolute horror, I understood that also for me that had now become a reality. I was keeping this alive for money. It was then when I decided that I must stop the band.

"So it was during this show, I decided that it's over. I was still thinking about everything but I felt that for my future, it was the only logical thing to do. I did not want to fire Timo Kotipelto and Jörg because they are and have been as much part of STRATO as I have been and it would not be fair to the fans. I then decided that it is best to lay rest what is already dead. I informed guys by email in October 2008 about my decision and explained in detail my reasons hoping they would see my points and agree what is real. Only Jens and Lauri answered. Timo Kotipelto and Jörg did not even answer to that mail. Jens understood my decision, Lauri did not. I understand him, he got a taste of what it is to be in a succesful rock band touring the world. It is not easy to give that up. He did fail to see my side of the story. That Timo Kotipelto and Jörg did not comment anything really speaks for itself. I did want to finish the STRATOVARIUS saga with style and naive as I am, in February 2008 I wrote a mail to the band and proposed that we would say goodbye to our fans with style and do one more tour. I won't go into details here, but this time I did get a response from Timo Kotipelto and Jörg. I wished them well and wrote back that I can see there cannot be any more tours with this band because of the hostile reactions. So that was that. I felt good about my decision, but not good that out of legal reasons I have had to wait for this announcement for so long.

"Then I thought that since I have all these great songs in my hands, I wanna put these out somehow. So I contacted a few friends, we laid the basic tracks in the same place where the STRATO 'RR' session had taken place a year ago and it was just flowing. There was happiness. There was energy. The songs sounded great. My friends Michael Kiske and Tobias Sammet agreed to sing on the album. I decided to form a new band called 'REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE' which would continue the legacy of STRATOVARIUS. In this first album I just wanted to release these songs finally so I did not have time to search for a permanent line up. I am now, so if you are interested, drop me a mail!

"The album comes out 6.6.2008 through Frontiers Records.

"I am excited and happy…for the first time in years. I can hardly wait what the destiny has in store for me with my new band, projects, songwriting. I am living a very creative times. I have my production company and I am doing lots of different projects and not only metal but basically anything that moves me.

"First I would like to, despite of all, thank Jörg, Timo Kotipelto, Jens, Jari, Lauri, Tuomo, Antti and Jyrki for these 22 years. It was a quite a ride. I wish Jens, Timo Kotipelto, Jörg and Lauri the very best with whatever they decide to do in their life and success with it.

"Last but most importantly, I want to thank you STRATOVARIUS fans for your love and support and for the great life. We will be seeing each other in some ways, somewhere. You will always remain in my heart."

STRATOVARIUS debuted a brand new song, entitled "Last Night on Earth", during their appearance at the Wacken Open Air festival on August 4, 2007. Professionally filmed video footage of the track — which may or may not be one of the songs featured on the REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE debut — can be viewed below.

Bericht door **Took** » wo apr 02, 2008 11:21 pm

gelukkig.

Lennert · Bericht door **Lennert** » wo apr 02, 2008 11:29 pm

En Michael Kiske, de metalhater, schiet weer eens te hulp

Ik blijf bij mijn eerdere statement in dit topic: Stratovarius heeft me nooit veel gedaan.

Het laatste soloalbum van Kotipelto is overigens voor de Stratovariusfans waarschijnlijk erg goed te behappen.

Iron Maiden · Bericht door **Iron Maiden** » do apr 03, 2008 9:15 am

Ik vond de Elements albums leuke cd's, samen met de cd Infinite. De rest kon mij ook niet zo erg boeien, er zaten aardige nummers tussen.

enemy of reality · Bericht door **enemy of reality** » do apr 03, 2008 9:49 pm

Ernst-Jan schreef:Ja jammer dit was toen best gaaf in 013 samen met Hammerfall.

Ik heb ze tijdens deze tour gezien in Hof Ter Loo...het viel mij enorm op hoeveel mensen er na Hammerfall (die vóór Stratovarius speelde) de zaal verlieten. Persoonlijk vond ik dit een prachtig optreden i.t.t. Wacken vorige zomer.

Het viel op dat ze op Wacken geen enkel nummer van hun laatste album speelden, wat imo een vrij goed album was...verre van hun beste werk ( voor mij persoonlijk zijn het Destiny en Infinite), maar toch nog goed.

Jammer dat ze stoppen...

Jeroen · Bericht door **Jeroen** » do apr 03, 2008 10:24 pm

ach ja, een band die z´n beste tijd gehad had.
De laatste plaat had wat mij betreft niet uitgebracht hoeven worden, aangezien die niet echt wat toevoegt aan het euvre.

Destiny, Infinity en Elements pt. 1 vind ik nog altijd sterke melodische power metal platen.

metalmachine · Bericht door **metalmachine** » za apr 05, 2008 12:52 pm

Destiny vind ik wel leuk klinken, infinity is ook wel een geslaagd album, de rest is gewoon niet goed meer. ik denk dat het maar goed is dat deze band het veld ruimt. Opent ook weer de weg voor nieuwe power metal bands, zoals saint deamon bijvoorbeeld die ik laatst hoorde.

dako · Bericht door **dako** » za apr 05, 2008 1:28 pm

Tssk.
Is er dan niemand die Fright Night en Fourth Dimension gewoon de beste platen vind? Nah.
Overigens is die laatste plaat ook hard de moeite waard.

Firetail · Bericht door **Firetail** » za apr 05, 2008 4:08 pm

Sucks dat ze er mee kappen. Visions is het echt briljant. Alles is goed aan die plaat tot en met het hoesje. En geen een slecht nummer.

Suzanna · Bericht door **Suzanna** » za apr 05, 2008 5:29 pm

He verdorie. Heel jammer dit. Vond ze ook erg goed in 013 toen. Nou ja goed, is niet anders. Gelukkig kunnen we het nog draaien zolang we willen, alleen concerten zitten er dan niet meer in helaas.

Bob · Bericht door **Bob** » za apr 05, 2008 8:13 pm

René heeft tijdens een interview voor het laatste album een foto voor me laten signeren door Timo Kotipelto. Daarop bespot 'ie de kaballah en daarmee dus eigenlijk ook Timo Tolkki.

Dat Kotipelto evengoed die foto signeerde gaf eigenlijk al wel een beetje aan dat de problemen nog niet helemaal opgelost waren.

innuendo · Bericht door **innuendo** » za apr 05, 2008 8:47 pm

hehe, kun je die posten?

Benne · Bericht door **Benne** » zo apr 06, 2008 2:07 pm

waar voor een jammer...
'Infinity' war een mooie album maar de rest...nit mijn fall

Agent Orange · Bericht door **Agent Orange** » zo apr 20, 2008 7:35 pm

Rene schreef:Hmm, ik kon geen echt volwaardig Stratovarius-topic vinden. Maakt niet uit, de band bestaat niet meer, Timo Tolki heeft er de stekker uitgetrokken:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe ... emID=94051

Da's jammer, was toch een van mijn meest favoriete bands.

Maar ik vraag me af, als Tolkki zoveel problemen met Kotipelto and Michael had, waarom gooide hij ze er dan gewoon niet uit en nam andere bandleden in dienst? Twaalf jaar met ruzie op het toneel staan lijkt mij toch niet erg gezond.

Bob · Bericht door **Bob** » ma apr 21, 2008 4:48 am

Dat heeft 'ie geprobeerd in 2003. Je weet wat de fans daar van vonden?

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe ... emID=19808

Damien, son of Lucifer · Bericht door **Damien, son of Lucifer** » ma apr 21, 2008 10:49 am

Dat was nog eens een fatsoenlijke soap. Kunnen die flutserietjes die hier 's avonds op de tv verschijnen nog steeds niet aan tippen.

Bericht door **Took** » do mei 08, 2008 8:58 am

de soap gaat door!

Former STRATOVARIUS members Timo Kotipelto (vocals), Jens Johansson (keyboards), Lauri Porra (bass) and Jörg Michael (drums) have issued the following joint statement:

"Timo Tolkki published a statement on April 2 this year. The other members of STRATOVARIUS would now like to set the record straight. You can't argue with someone's perception of things, you can just explain how you see things differently.

"The confrontations, fights, incompetence, tensions, negativity, bitterness, hostility, disinterest, bad musicianship, and unfriendliness that Timo described were never there. He constructed this alternate reality around these simple and for him painful facts:

1) The band's momentum has been slowing since 2004.

2) The media chaos of 2004 made him lose a lot of trust and respect both within and outside the band.

3) STRATOVARIUS' label Sanctuary had severe financial problems from 2005 on. It forced us to start a legal process at the beginning of 2007.

"If you live your life through other people's eyes, declining sales or a perceived loss of power are matters of deep, stinging personal humiliation.

"Other sad facts remain. The legal fight left us without a way to make a new album, and financially strapped. Timo's main motivation for what he did was greed, not issues of friendship or art.

"In the summer of 2007, he presented the STRATOVARIUS/REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE demos we had all financed and recorded to Frontiers Records, and signed a recording agreement for a solo project. Unbelievably, he promised Frontiers that he alone could (and would) stop STRATOVARIUS from being active for the duration of the R.R. project, for marketing reasons. In exchange for this, Timo alone was paid 154,000 US dollars. He did this behind our backs, as we were deep in pursuit of Sanctuary legally with a large legal bill. He still hasn't had the guts to tell us what he did. We pieced it together from various press releases of his and scattered email correspondence.

"In October he sent us a mail saying he didn't want to continue, a quite impersonal way after having been in the same band for 12 years. He explained that he was tired of STRATOVARIUS, and would concentrate on things like his opera. We had known for some time he really hated playing live. He did not mention anything about his Frontiers deal, which placed the rest of us at great financial risk. He very clearly asked that we wouldn't contact him and try to talk him out of it, which we all respected. He would later make much of the fact that nobody tried to talk him out of it.

"This year, Sanctuary agreed to settle, but Timo's announcement and Timo's announcement alone ruined that, leaving us with a debt of 54,000 US dollars. The total loss is around 346,000 US dollars. There was no reason for the timing of his announcement other than some foolish belief it would make the promotion of Timo's project record a bit easier. What he did to the rest of us was stupid, selfish and more than disappointing to us since we all stood shoulder to shoulder with him financially in 2004.

"Then late January, surprisingly, he proposed us playing as hired guns on R.R. (turning it into a STRATOVARIUS record), and doing a tour with Jari on bass. Apparently he again had financial problems due to his failed opera project. He then quickly dismissed the idea himself.

"In short it's not so much a story of simmering discontent leading to a wise and respectable decision. It's definitely not a story of naiveté. It's the story of Faust, the story of madness, of a band's natural and slow decline, but in the end something mundane: the story of a supreme narcissist going broke and betraying friends of 12 years who helped save him a few years earlier.

"Hopefully this explains the situation a little bit. Sorry if it is long on business crap, and short on humor or music. This was a terrible, disaapointing blow to us.

"We would like to thank our fans who make it all worth it, and despite it all, we would like to thank Timo for the past, the nice music and the good moments.

"The rest of us want to make clear that we are doing great and that we will continue making music together, because we care about each other and we care about our fans. We have grand plans indeed, and we will have some very interesting news in the months ahead!"

Bericht door **Took** » do mei 08, 2008 9:01 am

En Tolkki's antwoord:

Ex-STRATOVARIUS leader and current REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE mastermind Timo Tolkki has issued the following statement in response to comments released earlier today by his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates regarding the cirumstances surrounding the group's break-up:

"I am very surprised about this. But my original statement in www.tolkki.com is still all I have to say about this. There are several outright lies in the STRATO statement and it is also clearly written by Jens [Johansson, keyboards] alone. I will make some comments about these here:

"[Quoting statement from his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates] 'If you live your life through other people's eyes, declining sales or a perceived loss of power are matters of deep, stinging personal humiliation.' [end of quote]

"Well, I don't really live my life through anybody else's eyes. Neither I felt 'stinging personal humiliation.' I felt sad.

"[Quoting statement from his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates] 'Other sad facts remain. The legal fight left us without a way to make a new album, and financially strapped. Timo's main motivation for what he did was greed, not issues of friendship or art.' [end of quote]

"My main motivation was not greed, it was what you can read in my statement. It's true of course that my decision was a hard one and left others on their own. But sometimes in life you have to make decisions based on your own well being and what you want to do.

"All the guys have a stable income from other sources, Jörg [Michael, drums] is running a booking agency, [Timo] Kotipelto [vocals] has his own band and record label, Jens has a record label with his brother and Lauri [Porra, bass] has loads of work as a bassist. By the way, just yesterday Lauri sent me an SMS where he was inetersted in joining REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE and he was asking questions about who will be playing in it.

"[Quoting statement from his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates] 'In the summer of 2007, he presented the STRATOVARIUS/REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE demos we had all financed and recorded to Frontiers Records, and signed a recording agreement for a solo project. Unbelievably, he promised Frontiers that he alone could (and would) stop STRATOVARIUS from being active for the duration of the R.R. project, for marketing reasons. In exchange for this, Timo alone was paid 154,000 US dollars.' [end of quote]

"I didn't present any STRATOVARIUS demos to Frontiers at that point. By the way, I paid for those demos and I mixed them without any fee in Sonic Pump studio, which alone would cost 1000€. The contract was signed after I broke STRATO.

"There were two contracts: One for 'Saana', my solo album, and one for RR. I, of course, felt no obligation to tell anything about my personal life/business to people whom I have left behind.

"Why should I do that?

"Frontiers demanded the STRATOVARIUS clause because they probably thought that I might put STRATO back again. It simply says that as long as RR contract is valid and active, there cannot be any STRATO records, which was totally okay for me since the band was already broken up. Why should that be a problem? The money I don't comment other than that's a blatant lie.

"So to make is clear: First I broke up STRATO and finished my opera and then I started thinking about forming a new band.

"[Quoting statement from his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates] 'He did this behind our backs, as we were deep in pursuit of Sanctuary legally with a large legal bill. He still hasn't had the guts to tell us what he did. We pieced it together from various press releases of his and scattered email correspondence.' [end of quote]

"Again, these were my personal business things after the STRATOVARIUS was already broken up. So nothing behind anybody's back.

"[Quoting statement from his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates] 'In October he sent us a mail saying he didn't want to continue, a quite impersonal way after having been in the same band for 12 years. He explained that he was tired of STRATOVARIUS, and would concentrate on things like his opera. We had known for some time he really hated playing live.' [end of quote]

"Another lie. The mail was extremely long and I asked them to come back to me after reading it.

"At that point I did and was concentrating in my opera. There was no plans of RR at this point. I was fully in the production of my 'Saana' opera. I told in the mail the same reasons I am telling in my www.tolkki.com statement.

"[Quoting statement from his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates] 'He did not mention anything about his Frontiers deal, which placed the rest of us at great financial risk. He very clearly asked that we wouldn't contact him and try to talk him out of it, which we all respected. He would later make much of the fact that nobody tried to talk him out of it.' [end of quote]

"I could not mention anything about the Frontiers deal because there was no Frontiers deal at this point. I for sure didn't want 'anybody to talk me out of it.' Why would I want to do that after I just broke up the band. And Jens has all the time been sending me emails and we have been talking on the phone with very friendly terms. Now I see that this all has been just a big lie.

"[Quoting statement from his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates] 'This year, Sanctuary agreed to settle, but Timo's announcement and Timo's announcement alone ruined that, leaving us with a debt of 54,000 US dollars. The total loss is around 346,000 US dollars. There was no reason for the timing of his announcement other than some foolish belief it would make the promotion of Timo's project record a bit easier.' [end of quote]

"Yes, this is very unfortunate, but Jens is making a mistake by assuming that RR is a project. It is a band, as everyone can see: I am looking for musicians.

"I waited as long as I possibly could in announcing the RR band, but the reason why the legal case did not succeed was that STRATO management and lawyer could not get us out of the deal although they had ONE AND A HALF years time to do that. That is a very bad peformance for a simple case if the record company takes the option or not. I was not informed about anything at this point about the legal case although I was asking constantly. And I knew that if I would release RR without telling about STRATOVARIUS breakup, everybody would just take it as a project, which it is not. So these are the reasons for announcing the split before the RR release.

"[Quoting statement from his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates] 'Then late January, surprisingly, he proposed us playing as hired guns on R.R. (turning it into a STRATOVARIUS record), and doing a tour with Jari on bass. Apparently he again had financial problems due to his failed opera project. He then quickly dismissed the idea himself.' [end of quote]

"This is a lie. I asked them if they would like to do a farewell tour of STRATOVARIUS, as I have explained in my statement. It was nothing to do with financials, but as a respect towards STRATOVARIUS fans. My opera wasn't even out yet, so how could it have failed at that point?

"It is now taking off nicely and I am happy. I dismissed the idea of farewell tour, that Jens was happy about, but Kotipelto and Jörg in a very hostile way rejected.

"[Quoting statement from his former STRATOVARIUS bandmates] 'In short it's not so much a story of simmering discontent leading to a wise and respectable decision. It's definitely not a story of naiveté. It's the story of Faust, the story of madness, of a band's natural and slow decline, but in the end something mundane: the story of a supreme narcissist going broke and betraying friends of 12 years who helped save him a few years earlier.' [end of quote]

"Well, I've never been called a Faust before, so at least that's a new one. I don't consider that I have betrayed anyone, but that I have stayed true to myself and my beliefs. Also from the very beginning I shared all the income from every source equally between all the band members. That doesnt sound like greed to me. Bitter it does sound.

"It is not a story of Faust, it is a story of a rock band and this statement verifies all those things I am writing in my statement. There is hate. There is tension. All those things were and are still there.

"The statement ends 'the remaining members of STRATOVARIUS.' Although I own the name and all the rights to that, I have no problem if the guys want to continue the band without me.

"I am very happy with RR getting interesting fresh musicians and doing loads of creative stuff in my life. Too bad it had to end this way."

Johan · Bericht door **Johan** » do mei 08, 2008 2:29 pm

Zo, dat heeft m'n baas weer centen gekost, deze soap.

Wat een boekwerk.

Kwibus · Bericht door **Kwibus** » do mei 08, 2008 2:33 pm

wat een gezeik!!

innuendo · Bericht door **innuendo** » ma mei 12, 2008 1:39 am

Ik ben eigenlijk wel blij dat het zo afgelopen is. Timo is gewoon een zak stront, helemaal sinds bekend is geworden dat, dat 'incident' met de fan in scene was gezet. Laten we hopen dat de oude stratovariusleden samen doorgaan. Jens Johansson is een goede songwriter en ik heb er flink wat vertrouwen in dat, dat goed gaat komen.

Ernst-Jan · Bericht door **Ernst-Jan** » ma mei 12, 2008 10:25 am

Wat was dat incident dan?

Johan · Bericht door **Johan** » ma mei 12, 2008 2:38 pm

Was die geflipte fan die Tolkki neerstak in Spanje in scene gezet??

innuendo · Bericht door **innuendo** » ma mei 12, 2008 5:25 pm

yep. In scene gezet, het was.

En de toenmalige zangeres heeft toen een drol opgestuurd gekregen.

Bericht door **Took** » za aug 23, 2008 12:31 am

Eerder dit jaar leek het er op dat Stratovarius gestopt was, nadat gitarist/bandleider Timo Tolkki eruit gestapt was. Nu hebben de overgebleven bandleden, zanger Timo Kotipeltoo, bassist Lauri Porra, toetsenist Jens Johansson en drummer Jörg Michael, bekend gemaakt dat ze een nieuwe gitarist gevonden hebben, en al ruim vijftien nummers geschreven hebben. De nieuwe gitarist heet Matias Kupiainen, en met hem gaan ze de komende weken de studio in om te oefenen en opnames te maken.

http://www.metalfan.nl/article.php?sid=7692

Rene · Bericht door **Rene** » za aug 23, 2008 12:51 am

Ze moeten alleen nog bekijken of ze de naam Stratovarius wel of niet gaan gebruiken.

IROn · Bericht door **IROn** » za aug 23, 2008 12:37 pm

Zat er dik in natuurlijk. Goede zaak, en dat die dwarsligger maar fijn wegblijft.

innuendo · Bericht door **innuendo** » za aug 23, 2008 2:54 pm

inderdaad. jens heeft in het verleden wel laten zien gave nummers te kunnen schrijven. Ik zie hun toekomst positief tegemoet.

dako · Bericht door **dako** » za aug 23, 2008 5:23 pm

Gaaf.
Erg gaaf.

Rene · Bericht door **Rene** » za feb 21, 2009 10:40 am

Nieuwe cd van Stratovarius komt eraan:

Finnish melodic metallers STRATOVARIUS will release their brand new studio album, "Polaris", in May. The CD — the group's first since the departure of guitar player and main composer Timo Tolkki — will be made available via the band's new label partner Edel under the new imprint earMUSIC outside of Asia and the band's longtime record company in Asia, JVC.

Commented keyboardist Jens Johansson: "We are very happy to have found strong label partners for the new era of STRATOVARIUS who truly believe in the band and are as enthusiastic as we are. I can't wait to hit the road again and meet all fans who supported us through all our good and bad times."

Rene · Bericht door **Rene** » wo feb 25, 2009 8:08 pm

Timo Tolkki gaat een cd opnemen met enkele ex-leden van Stratovarius (die niemand zich meer herinnerd). Het leuke is dat zijn fans de bandnaam mogen verzinnen. En als er gekozen wordt voor Stratovarius, dan wordt het Stratovarius. Ja, Timo houd het interessant voor de roddelpers

Timo Tolkki (REVOLUTION RENAISANCE, STRATOVARIUS) has announced that he will record another album with former STRATOVARIUS members Tuomo Lassila (drums) and Anti Ikonen (keyboards). Tentatively titled "Return To Dremspace", the CD is slated for a September 2009 release. The fans will decide the name of the project in some sort of contest. Tolkki says, "If the fans decide that it should be called STRATOVARIUS, then it will. Then I will face the consequences, but that will be one interesting trial, I tell you that."

Regarding the musical direction of the CD, Tolkki said, "It has been 15 years from [STRATOVARIUS' 'Dreamspace'] album, so it will be interesting, for sure... It's not a 'remake,' but a brand new album. A closure for [what] I consider to be the end of STRATOVARIUS. It completes the cycle and returns to the beginning."

Iron Maiden · Bericht door **Iron Maiden** » do feb 26, 2009 1:07 pm

Hij is er gewoon op uit om een rechtzaak te krijgen over de naam Stratovarius. Maar zolang hij de naam Stratovarius niet 'bezit' , kan hij die naam toch niet gebruiken en kan hij toch niet eisen dat de andere leden van Stratovarius een andere naam verzinnen?

innuendo · Bericht door **innuendo** » do feb 26, 2009 1:16 pm

Ik dacht dat Timo Tolkki al de rechten had op de naam Stratovarius, maar dat hij een punt achter de band had gezet en zijn eigen weg gegaan is. Volgens mij maakt het hem geen reet uit wat zijn ex-collega's doen met Stratovarius.

Bericht door **Took** » do feb 26, 2009 1:16 pm

Iron Maiden schreef:Hij is er gewoon op uit om een rechtzaak te krijgen over de naam Stratovarius. Maar zolang hij de naam Stratovarius niet 'bezit' , kan hij die naam toch niet gebruiken en kan hij toch niet eisen dat de andere leden van Stratovarius een andere naam verzinnen?

het lijkt me ook erg lastig, inderdaad. Hij is zelf uit Stratovarius gestapt, en de rest van die toen in de band zat zit er nog in geloof ik. Ik neem aan dat een rechter dat ook zal zien en dus de naam niet aan Tolkki zal toekennen.

Gilbert · Bericht door **Gilbert** » do feb 26, 2009 2:28 pm

Op de website van Stratovarius staat een door Tolkki ondertekende brief waarin hij voor altijd afstand doet van alle rechten op de naam en royalties, en deze overdraagt aan drie huidige leden van de band. Zie hier. Als die brief geldig is, dan heeft Tolkki volgens mij geen poot om op te staan. Maar ik weet natuurlijk niet of dat echt zijn handtekening is en onder welke omstandigheden hij die brief eventueel getekend heeft. Misschien wil hij in een rechtszaak wel beweren dat hij op dat moment niet bij zijn volle verstand en ontoerekeningsvatbaar was. Het zou me namelijk niets verbazen als hij psychisch niet helemaal in orde is.

Agent Orange · Bericht door **Agent Orange** » zo mar 01, 2009 12:34 am

"If the fans decide that it should be called STRATOVARIUS, then it will. Then I will face the consequences, but that will be one interesting trial, I tell you that."

Is iemand anders het met mij eens dat Tolkki meer pijlen op z'n boog schijnt te hebben dan wij denken? Zou me niet verbazen als hij de rechtsgeldigheid van die brief in twijfel wilt en kan (laten) trekken. Gezien zijn roerige verleden met de andere bandleden en het feit dat hij manisch depressief is, zie ik hem daar wel voor aan.

Ik mag hopen dat men hem massaal links laat liggen met zijn nieuwe project(en).

dako · Bericht door **dako** » zo mar 01, 2009 12:44 am

Mwah, ik denk vooral dat die kerel nog steeds knettergek is.

Gilbert · Bericht door **Gilbert** » vr mar 13, 2009 1:49 pm

De cover van het nieuwe Stratovarius album bevalt me wel:

Afbeelding

Iron Maiden · Bericht door **Iron Maiden** » vr mar 13, 2009 3:31 pm

Dat ziet er wel gaaf uit ja. Hopelijk ligt de cd een beetje in de lijn van Elements Pt.1 en Pt.2. Dat blijf ik de beste cd's vinden van ze, al is Infinite ook niet slecht.

arnibes · Bericht door **arnibes** » za mar 14, 2009 3:58 am

Yay erkenning dat infinite ook gaaf is.

Bob · Bericht door **Bob** » zo mar 15, 2009 1:24 am

En in dit filmpje vind je alvast wat samples: http://www.stratovarius.com/index.php?s ... topic=9038

Ik denk niet dat we bang moeten zijn voor een 'nieuw' Stratovarius.

Iron Maiden · Bericht door **Iron Maiden** » zo mar 15, 2009 11:24 am

Nee, inderdaad. Het klinkt trouwens niet slecht, die kleine fragmentjes.

Lennert · Bericht door **Lennert** » zo mar 15, 2009 3:14 pm

Komt volgens mij helemaal goed inderdaad!