Visions (Stratovarius album)

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Visions
Visions - Stratovarius2.jpg
Studio album by
Stratovarius
Released28 April 1997 (1997-04-28)[1]
RecordedOctober 1996 – February 1997
StudioFinnvox Studios, Helsinki
Genre
Length61:01[2]
LabelNoise
ProducerTimo Tolkki
Stratovarius chronology
Episode
(1996) 		Visions
(1997) 		Destiny
(1998)
Singles from Visions
  1. "The Kiss of Judas"
    Released: 1997[3]
  2. "Black Diamond"
    Released: 1997[4]

Visions is the sixth studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 28 April 1997 through Noise Records. The album reached No. 4 on the Finnish albums chart and remained on that chart for 23 weeks.[1] It is a concept album about Nostradamus.[5]

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[5]
Rock Hard9.5/10[6]

Steve Huey at AllMusic gave Visions four stars out of five, calling it "as ambitious as neoclassical metal gets" and saying "there are some fine moments on the record", but also remarking that "too much of the material sinks under its own weight, particularly the ten-minute title track."[5]

In 2005, the album was ranked No. 297 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[7]

Loudwire named the album at sixth in their list "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time."[8] Metal Hammer also named the album in their list "The 10 essential power metal albums."[9]

Track listing[]

All music is composed by Timo Tolkki, except where noted.

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."The Kiss of Judas"Timo Kotipelto5:49
2."Black Diamond"Kotipelto5:39
3."Forever Free"Kotipelto6:00
4."Before the Winter"Tolkki6:07
5."Legions"Tolkki5:43
6."The Abyss of Your Eyes"Kotipelto5:38
7."Holy Light"(instrumental)5:45
8."Paradise"Tolkki4:27
9."Coming Home"Tolkki5:36
10."Visions (Southern Cross)"Tolkki10:17
Total length:61:01
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsLength
11."Black Diamond" (demo)Kotipelto5:07
12."Uncertainty" (live; music by Kotipelto)Kotipelto6:13
Japanese 2002 reissue bonus track[10][11]
No.TitleLyricsLength
13."4th Reich" (live)Tolkki5:44

Personnel[]

Chart performance[]

Year Chart Position
1997 Finnish albums chart 4[1]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Stratovarius - Visions (album)". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  2. ^ Visions (CD release "TT 0031-2").
  3. ^ "Stratovarius - The Kiss Of Judas (song)". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Stratovarius - Black Diamond (song)". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Huey, Steve. "Visions - Stratovarius | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  6. ^ Albrecht, Frank. "Stratovarius - Visions". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  7. ^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 94. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
  8. ^ DiVita, Joe (5 July 2017). "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  9. ^ Lawson, Dom (19 October 2016). "The 10 essential power metal albums". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Stratovarius/ヴィジョンズ +1＜初回生産限定盤＞". Tower Records Online. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Stratovarius - Visions". Discogs. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
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