Early STRATOVARIUS Lineup Returns

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They started it all 34 years ago…The Dreamspace lineup of Stratovarius has reformed, returning under the moniker TIMO TOLKKI’S STRATO. Featuring Timo Tolkki (vocals & guitar), Tuomo Lassila (drums), and Antti Ikonen (keyboards), these members recorded the classic Fright Night, Twilight Time, Dreamspace and Fourth Dimension albums. Released in 1994, Dreamspace was the last Stratovarius album to have Timo Tolkki on lead vocals and includes such fan favorites as “Chasing Shadows”, “Hold On To Your Dream”, “We Are The Future” and “Wings Of Tomorrow”. Tolkki recorded his vocals for the Fourth Dimension album demos before deciding to focus on guitar only and recruited Timo Kotipelto as vocalist. Fourth Dimension included a number of standout tracks including “Against The Wind”, “Distant Skies”, “Galaxies” and “Twilight Symphony”.
 
In the summer 2022 Timo Tolkki, Tuomo Lassila and Antti Ikonen met to discuss ideas to reform the original line up, deciding to call themselves “Timo Tolkki’s Strato”. In all secrecy, they have rehearsed in Tuomo’s garage (real back to the roots!) since January 2023.This reconstituted lineup has signed a deal with Warner Music Japan, and is currently recording their debut album titled Return To Dreamspace to be released on 27.10.2023, preceded by the single “(Is this the) Brave New World?”. A Japanese Tour is planned for spring 2024, and Timo Tolkki will visit Japan in November 2023 to promote the album — his first time there since 2007. Tours of Latin America and Europe are also in the works. In concert the band will be performing songs from Return To Dreamspace, as well as from the Stratovarius albums, Fright Night,Twilight Time, and Dreamspace.

Eric Cerda, the manager of Timo Tolkki, describes the music as “sounding like the classic Dreamspace era but updated for the 2020’s. Fans of melodic Power Metal — a genre that these guys pretty much defined — will love the new songs of Timo Tolkki’s Strato, with fans of early Stratovarius being especially pleased.”

Tuomo Lassila formed Stratovarius in Helsinki 1984, and is responsible together with the original guitar player Staffan Stråhlman for the band’s name Stratovarius. One year later Timo Tolkki joined the band. Stratovarius released their debut album Fright Night (1989) through CBS Finland. From that started one of the biggest success stories in the history of melodic metal. They defined what is currently known as “Power Metal” with albums like Fright Night (1989), Twilight Time (1993), Dreamspace (1994) and Fourth Dimension (1995).

Timo Tolkki wrote more than 100 songs for the band before leaving the group to embark on a successful solo career back in 2008, and is responsible for writing such Power Metal anthems like “Black Diamond”, “Hunting High and Low”, “Speed of Light”, “Paradise”, “Forever” and “Destiny”. More than 4 million copies of Tolkki-era Stratovarius  albums have been sold.

For more information visit:
Web site: Stratoworld.fi
Facebook: https://facebook.com/timotolkkistrato
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/official_timo_tolkkis_strato

 

TIMO TOLKKI To Release Acoustic Album, Reissue Solo Albums

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Power metal legend Timo Tolkki has issued the following statement regarding his future activities, which include releasing an acoustic album with acclaimed vocalist Alessandro Conti (Twilight Force/Trick Or Treat), a tour in support of this album, and reissuing his three solo albums.

MY ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
I have gone away from all the record companies and music publishers and also bypassed a lot of concert promoters as well. I am not in any connection to any of those anymore and I am proud to say that today I own all rights to my three Solo albums: Classical Variations and Other Themes, Hymn To Life, and Saana-Warrior of Light pt1. I have taken these out from the streaming services, and in the upcoming months I will release them again as remastered 24 bit versions with some cool bonus stuff.

All this only from my website www.tolkki.art

After completing a very successful Latin America Tour in October 2022, I really started to think about things very carefully. The friendship and camaraderie with Alessandro Conti, Alex Landenburg and Jari Kainulainen was something very special for me. We became really close and I don’t remember ever having so much fun and laughs than on that tour.

All this positivity gained, I made a plan for the years 2023-2025. I am now heading for an Acoustic Tour in Latin America with Alessandro Conti starting in Mexico City on 1st of March 2023. I hope to see you all there! We have an amazing musical set of songs for you! 

With this in mind, I am about to release a new acoustic album called “Renaissance Acoustica”. It is a collection of songs I composed for Stratovarius. The versions are not always following the originals, we have in fact, created something quite new. It will also have some bonus tracks from Hymn To Lifeand Classical Variations and Other Themes.

I have self-financed this album from the money I made from the last tour. I have worked very hard to make it an enjoyable experience and I do hope you all like it as much as we do. The album is available from my website exclusively and the release date is 13 February 2023. It is available as high quality 24 bit wav files that you can download to your devices (phones, laptops, and computers).

To be able to listen to this album, I am utilizing a system called “Pay What You Want”. It really is exactly what it says: you decide what you want to pay for this and then you complete your purchase and you will be taken to a special place to download the album including the artwork and bonus material.

I do want to say that all the income from this goes directly to me. There is no record company in between. What you want to pay is entirely up to you. I hope you will able to support me and my music in the years to come in this way. All your help is greatly appreciated.

I am very proud of my independence and I am looking forward to the future very much. Thank you for all your amazing support in the last 30 years and I hope many more years to come.

Yours Sincerely, Timo Tolkki

For more information, visit: