Stratovarius - Elements Pt. 2 [2003]

Oh, my God! Can it be? Yes, apparently it can. For the first (and to this point, only) time in Stratovarius's career, they have fashioned two good releases in a row. Surely this is a trick and not reality! Elements Pt. 2 may not be the absolutely wonderful breath of fresh air that Pt. 1 was, but it's still quite enjoyable, and yes, good. I know I sound like a broken record here, but the following is unfortunately true: you can never trust Stratovarius. After all, the last time they put out a really good album, Dreamspace, they put out Fourth Dimension right after it. I can definitely ensure you that this album is nothing like Fourth Dimension. However, the strange thing is that it isn't a lot like Elements Pt. 1 either.

First of all, the orchestration and progressive elements of Pt. 1 are mostly gone. They still remain in small parts and interludes, but for the most part, this is a mostly typical power Stratovarius album. I'm sure many raging Stratofreaks were overjoyed at that news, but obviously I was a bit disappointed. Luckily, this is a really good typical power Stratovarius album, right on par with Episode and Polaris. Not including the other Elements release, I'd say that this has the most highlights out of any of them. Sure, there are a couple of mandatory skippers, but mostly, it's smooth sailing. The production is clear as usual and an unusually stunning cover clothes this thing, so those are just bonuses. It's also one of their heavier albums.

Alpha and Omega kicks this thing off, which is appropriate because it sounds the most like something from Pt.1. And let me tell you, the quality of the song is up to those levels as well. This stirring track is the only one on the album that truly reaches the realm of beauty the last one did. Wonderful lyrics, wonderful prechorus, wonderful song. I Walk to My Own Song is the video song of Elements Pt. 2, but this one is made better than usual with its memorable chorus. Awaken the Giant is Stratovarius's heaviest song across the board, and it's a just a really good one across the board, definitely reminding me of Metal Church's A Subtle War during the war-siren chorus. The final really outstanding track here is the epic Dreamweaver, a well woven tune with interlaced progressive elements.

Anything not named is probably a decent song, just not really exceptional enough to single out and discuss. There is, however, one song that's just Infinite-bad. For those of you who don't know Stratovarius very well (the lucky ones), that means "extremely terrible and abysmal". Luminous perfectly fits that decription; this one's pain. An instant-skip, that's for sure. Otherwise this is a solid album, definitely recomended for European power-heads. If you're not into this genre, Elements Pt. 2 certainly won't change your mind about it, as it still uses enough Helloween trademarks for flower metal haters to scoff at. I still much prefer Pt. 1, but you really can't go wrong either way. Now the self-titled... That's a different story.

   Overall: 7/10 (Good)