History Music / Stratovarius

In 1985, guitarist Stråhlman left and was replaced by Timo Tolkki, who also took up vocal duties from Lassila. The band was renamed to its current moniker at Tolkki's suggestion--it's a combination of "[[AllGuitarsAreStratocasters Stratocaster]]" and "Stradivarius", a reference to Tolkki's neo-classical metal sensibilities. They recorded a demo, sent to various companies until CBS Finland picked them up in 1987.

* AIIsACrapshoot: The song "030366" seems to be about this.
* ArcWords: "The times are changing" (or a variation of that) appears in a lot of their lyrics, like "The Kiss of Judas", "Destiny", and "Under Flaming Skies".
** "The things will be alright" appears a few times as well.
* AudienceParticipationSong:
** "Distant Skies" is the best example.
--->'''Kotipelto:''' Destination unknown...\\
'''Audience:''' Distant skies!
** Also, "Forever" from ''Episode'' and "Forever Free" from ''Visions''.

* CallBack: In some of their album art. The pelican that's on the ''Elysium'' cover also appeared on the ''Infinite'' cover in the background.
* ChronologicalAlbumTitle: ''Stratovarius II'', ''Fourth Dimension''. ''Infinite'' could also count, since it's the eighth album and the infinity symbol represents a sideways 8.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Some scenes on the ''Infinite Visions'' DVD indicate that Jens is one.
* ConceptAlbum: ''Visions'' and ''Destiny'' are usually cited as a two-part concept album, though there's nothing that suggests any form of concept in the songs themselves...
* CoverVersion: Included on the ''Intermission'' album are covers of "Bloodstone" by Music/JudasPriest and "Kill the King" by Music/{{Rainbow}}, as well as a live cover of "I Surrender" by Music/{{Rainbow}}. Also, the ''S.O.S.'' single has a cover of "Blackout" by Music/{{Scorpions|Band}}.
* DistinctDoubleAlbum: ''Elements Pt. 1'' and ''2'', conceptualized together but released several months apart.
* DreamWeaver: The name of one of their songs.
* EpicRocking:
** Not so much as other bands, but some songs like "Visions (Southern Cross)" and "Fantasia" could qualify. The two-part "Emancipation Suite" on ''Polaris'' is also a good example.
** The title track of ''Elysium'' is a record-smashing 18 minutes, broken down into 3 movements (all in the same song, though).
** And now there's "The Lost Saga" off of ''Eternal'', a 10-minute epic all about HornyVikings.

* GreenAesop: "We Are the Future".
** Ditto "Paradise."
* HeavyMithril: "Visions (Southern Cross)", based on Nostradamus's prediction that the world would end in 2000. Also "Fantasia", based on the movie ''Film/TheNeverendingStory''.
** If new (at the time of writing) album ''Polaris'' is any indication, the post-Tolkki Stratovarius are heading in this direction. Songs like "King of Nothing" and the two-part "Emancipation Suite" are the best examples.
** Many of the tracks in ''Nemesis'' also seem to be going this route.
* HumansAreBastards: Invoked in some of their songs, notably "We Are the Future" and "Infinity".
** ''definitely'' popped up a lot in ''Eternal''.
* KillItWithFire: The Japanese bonus track on ''Nemesis'' is actually called this.

* PepTalkSong: "Hold Onto Your Dreams", "Season of Faith's Perfection", "Until the End of Days"

** At! The! Speed! Of! Light!
** Zero! Three! Zero! Three! Six! Six!
** And the wisdom to know! The! Difference!
** "Legions" has the best one. "Raise! Your! Hands! For! US!!"

* TruckDriversGearChange: In "Somehow Precious," "Darkest Hours," "Hunting High and Low" and a few other songs.
* UnfortunateNames: Lauri Porra's surname in Portuguese is a crude slang for semen. On a concert in Brazil Timo Kotipelto, fully aware of this, started calling him Mr. Sperm.
* AWorldHalfFull: "We Hold The Key" and "Infinity," among others.

* CoverVersion: Included on the ''Intermission'' album are covers of "Bloodstone" by Music/JudasPriest and "Kill the King" by Music/{{Rainbow}}, as well as a live cover of "I Surrender" by Music/{{Rainbow}}. Also, the ''S.O.S.'' single has a cover of "Blackout" by Music/{{Scorpions}}.

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: The Trance[=/=]{{Dubstep}}-esque C-part in ''Halcyon Days''.

* FakeShemp: All the bass parts in ''Stratovarius II'' were performed by Timo Tolkki, as despite appearing in band photos and being credited as the bassist on the album, Jari Behm had already left the band before recording.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: The band's name is pronounced Strato-vah-ree-us. Not Strato-various.

* ChronologicalAlbumTitle: ''Stratovarius II'', ''Fourth Dimension''

* Timo Tolkki - Guitar (Left the band in 2008 due to tension between the band members), also vocals until 1994 (though he continued to sing backing vocals after that)

* Sami Kuoppamäki - Drums from 1994-1995

The lineup as of 2013 is:

Former members:

Studio albums to date:

* ''Twilight Time'' (1992)[[note]]Japanese reissue of ''Stratovarius II''; both are counted in the band's discography.[[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''I've left my past behind, I'm reaching for the light\\
I'm not afraid to live my life\\
I'll take what is mine!''[[note]]Left to right: Jens Johansson, Timo Kotipelto, Lauri Porra, Rolf Pilve and Matias Kupiainen[[/note]]]]

Unfortunately, what followed touring for ''Elements'' was a grueling CreatorBreakdown for Timo Tolkki coupled with a series of absurd publicity stunts (such as inexplicably replacing Kotipelto and Jörg and "converting" to Kabbalah); he was diagnosed with chronic depression and confined to a mental hospital.

Band issues were resolved by January 2005, with Kotipelto and Jörg back in the fray. By June, Jari Kainulainen amicably left the band, burned out from the constant touring at the time, and passed his spot on Lauri Porra. With him, they recorded a self-titled album that spawned the single "Maniac Dance" and did a world tour in 2005 and 2006, where they visited the USA and Canada for the first time.

!! This band provides examples of:

* AIIsACrapshoot - The song "030366" seems to be about this.

* AudienceParticipationSong - "Distant Skies" is the best example.
-->'''Kotipelto''': Destination unknown...
-->'''Audience''': Distant skies!

* ChronologicalAlbumTitle - ''Stratovarius II'', ''Fourth Dimension''
* CloudCuckoolander - Some scenes on the ''Infinite Visions'' DVD indicate that Jens is one.
* ConceptAlbum - ''Visions'' and ''Destiny'' are usually cited as a two-part concept album, though there's nothing that suggests any form of concept in the songs themselves...
* CoverVersion - Included on the ''Intermission'' album are covers of "Bloodstone" by Music/JudasPriest and "Kill the King" by Music/{{Rainbow}}, as well as a live cover of "I Surrender" by Music/{{Rainbow}}. Also, the ''S.O.S.'' single has a cover of "Blackout" by Music/{{Scorpions}}.
* DistinctDoubleAlbum - ''Elements Pt. 1'' and ''2'', conceptualized together but released several months apart.
* DreamWeaver - The name of one of their songs.
* EpicRocking - Not so much as other bands, but some songs like "Visions (Southern Cross)" and "Fantasia" could qualify. The two-part "Emancipation Suite" on ''Polaris'' is also a good example.
** That's nothing. The title track of ''Elysium'' is a record-smashing 18 minutes, broken down into 3 movements (all in the same song, though).

* GreenAesop - "We Are the Future".

* HeavyMithril - "Visions (Southern Cross)", based on Nostradamus's prediction that the world would end in 2000. Also "Fantasia", based on the movie ''Film/TheNeverendingStory''.

* HumansAreBastards - Invoked in some of their songs, notably "We Are the Future" and "Infinity".
* [[{{ItIsPronouncedTro-PAY}} It Is Pronounced Tro-PAY]] - The band's name is pronounced Strato-vah-ree-us. Not Strato-various.
* KillItWithFire - The Japanese bonus track on ''Nemesis'' is actually called this.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis - In a few of their songs. Kotipelto also seems to be fond of doing this live. "The song is called... S! O! S!" "Tokyo, tonight, you! Hold! The! KEY!"

* TalkyBookends - "Event Horizon" combines this trope with LastNoteNightmare: alarms and an automated voice warning about approaching a black hole.
* TruckDriversGearChange - In "Somehow Precious," "Darkest Hours," "Hunting High and Low" and a few other songs.
* AWorldHalfFull - "We Hold The Key" and "Infinity," among others.

That summer, 23-year-old Rolf Pilve was taken on as the new fifth man of Stratovarius, and soon after the upcoming single "Unbreakable" was announced. Stratovarius's fourteenth and newest album, ''Nemesis'', was released in February 2013.

In 2012, 23-year-old Rolf Pilve joined as their new drummer and has stayed ever since; with him, the band has released ''Nemesis'' in 2013, ''Eternal'' in 2015 and ''[[GreatestHitsAlbum Best Of]]'' in 2016, with one new song called "Until the End of Days".

** Also, "Forever" from Episode and "Forever Free" from Visions.

* ChronologicalAlbumTitle - ''Fourth Dimension''

* GreenAesop - The song "We Are the Future".

Their first album, ''Fright Night'', was released in 1989. Their second album, ''Twilight Time'', was released three years later, but the band was dropped by CBS Finland. Jari Kainulainen became the new bassist in 1994, halfway through recording of their third album ''Dreamspace''. Around this time, Tolkki's voice began to fail, and auditions for a new vocalist landed Lappajärvi native Timo Kotipelto. ''Fourth Dimension'' was recorded with him and released in 1995, to much success.

* ''Twilight Time'' (1992)