Visions (Stratovarius album)

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]

Visions
Studio album by Stratovarius
Released	28 April 1997 (1997-04-28)[1]
Recorded	October 1996 – February 1997
Studio	Finnvox Studios, Helsinki
Genre	Power metal neoclassical metal progressive metal
Length	61:01[2]
Label	Noise
Producer	Timo Tolkki
Stratovarius chronology
Episode (1996) Visions (1997) The Past and Now (1997)
Singles from Visions
"The Kiss of Judas" Released: 1997[3] "Black Diamond" Released: 1997[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Rock Hard	9.5/10[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.	Title	Lyrics	Length
1.	"The Kiss of Judas"	Timo Kotipelto	5:49
2.	"Black Diamond"	Kotipelto	5:39
3.	"Forever Free"	Kotipelto	6:00
4.	"Before the Winter"	Tolkki	6:07
5.	"Legions"	Tolkki	5:43
6.	"The Abyss of Your Eyes"	Kotipelto	5:38
7.	"Holy Light"	(instrumental)	5:45
8.	"Paradise"	Tolkki	4:27
9.	"Coming Home"	Tolkki	5:36
10.	"Visions (Southern Cross)"	Tolkki	10:17
Total length:			61:01

Japanese edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
11.	"Black Diamond" (demo)	Kotipelto	5:07
12.	"Uncertainty" (live; music by Kotipelto)	Kotipelto	6:13

Japanese 2002 reissue bonus track[10][11]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
13.	"4th Reich" (live)	Tolkki	5:44

Personnel

• Timo Kotipelto – lead vocals
• Timo Tolkki – guitar, background vocals, mastering, production
• Jens Johansson – keyboards, harpsichord
• Jörg Michael – drums
• Jari Kainulainen – bass guitar
• Kimmo Blom – background vocals
• Marko Vaara – background vocals
• Richard Johnson – background vocals, lyrical consultation
• James M. Johnson – spoken vocals
• Mikko Karmila – engineering, mixing
• Pauli Saastamoinen – mastering

Chart performance

Year	Chart	Position
1997	Finnish albums chart	4[1]

Trivia

In the end of "Before the Winter", the Force Theme from the Star Wars franchise can be heard.

References

1. "Stratovarius - Visions (album)". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
2. Visions (CD release "TT 0031-2").
3. "Stratovarius - The Kiss Of Judas (song)". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
4. "Stratovarius - Black Diamond (song)". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
5. Huey, Steve. "Visions - Stratovarius | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
6. Albrecht, Frank. "Stratovarius - Visions". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved July 7, 2019.
7. [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 94. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
8. DiVita, Joe (July 5, 2017). "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
9. Lawson, Dom (October 19, 2016). "The 10 essential power metal albums". Metal Hammer. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
10. "Stratovarius/ヴィジョンズ +1＜初回生産限定盤＞". Tower Records Online. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
11. "Stratovarius - Visions". Discogs. Retrieved August 17, 2019.