Stratovarius

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Stratovarius
Stratovarius live at Tuska 2013. From left to right: Matias Kupiainen, Timo Kotipelto, Lauri Porra, Rolf Pilve and Jens Johansson
Background information
Origin	Helsinki, Finland
Genres	Power metal neoclassical metal symphonic metal progressive metal
Years active	1984–present
Labels	earMUSIC Nuclear Blast Sanctuary Noise
Members	Timo Kotipelto Jens Johansson Lauri Porra Matias Kupiainen Rolf Pilve
Past members	Timo Tolkki Jörg Michael Jari Kainulainen Antti Ikonen Tuomo Lassila Staffan Stråhlman John Vihervä Mika Ervaskari Jyrki Lentonen Jari Behm
Website	stratovarius.com

Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band. Formed in 1984, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, with no founding member left since the departure of drummer Tuomo Lassila in 1995, and no member from their early recording days left following guitarist Timo Tolkki's departure in 2008.^[1] Currently, the longest standing member is singer Timo Kotipelto, who joined in 1994.

The band was founded in August 1984 as Black Water, consisting of Lassila as singer and drummer, guitarist Staffan Stråhlman, bassist John Vihervä, and, later, keyboardist Antti Ikonen. In Summer 1984, the band changed its name to Stratovarius, which was soon followed by line-up changes. Tolkki replaced Stråhlman in 1985, and with this line-up, the band released its first album Fright Night in 1989, with Tolkki as sole songwriter. While going through many bassists, the band released the albums Twilight Time in 1992 and Dreamspace in 1994. In 1994, Kotipelto replaced Tolkki as lead vocalist, and after the release of Fourth Dimension in 1995, Lassila and Ikonen and both left the band and were replaced by Jörg Michael and Jens Johansson respectively.

This line-up, sometimes identified as the "classic line-up" of Stratovarius, lasted ten years and saw the releases of eight albums, including most of their popular works, until Tolkki's departure in 2008; Tolkki had originally intended to disband Stratovarius, but allowed the rest of the band to continue Stratovarius without him at their request. The band's following albums were all positively received, and were acknowledged as a return to form for the band. The current line-up, which has remained the same since the arrival of drummer Rolf Pilve in 2012, is the longest in the band's history.