Fourth Dimension is the fourth studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 11 March 1995 through Noise Records."Stratovarius - Fourth Dimension (album)". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2021. The album is the band's first to feature vocalist Timo Kotipelto as well as the last with keyboardist Antti Ikonen and drummer Tuomo Lassila, thus being the last Stratovarius album to date featuring an all-Finnish line-up.
Founding member and guitarist Timo Tolkki, who had served as the band's vocalist for their first three albums, made the decision to leave the vocals to Timo Kotipelto who the band had already known some time before. Tolkki still provided background vocals on Fourth Dimension before handing over lead singing duties to Kotipelto for all subsequent albums. The track "030366" is likely a reference to Tolkki's birthday of 3 March 1966. The album seen Stratovarius take off both commercially and artistically. As they redefined its style, with a mix between melody, speed and technical guitar passages.
For a couple of months, the recording sessions for this album ran parallel and in the same studio as Tolkki's then-upcoming solo studio album Classical Variations and Themes. In said album, Lassila and Ikonen also provided drums and keyboards, respectively.
Critical reception
Steve Huey at AllMusic described Fourth Dimension as "melodic Euro-metal" and picking up where Dreamspace (1994) left off. He recommended it for fans of Judas Priest, Scorpions and other similar heavy metal bands.Huey, Steve. "Fourth Dimension - Stratovarius". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
Track listing
Personnel Timo Kotipelto – lead vocals, background vocals Timo Tolkki – guitar, background vocals, engineering, mixing, record producer Antti Ikonen – keyboards Tuomo Lassila – drums, arrangement (track 10) Jari Kainulainen – bass guitar Marko Vaara – background vocals Kimmo Blom – background vocals Kimmo Tullila – strings (track 10) Marika Bister – strings (track 10) Petteri Poljärvi – strings (track 10) Antero Manninen – strings (track 10) Mika Jussila – mastering
Charts Chart (1995) Peakposition Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) 33Japanese Albums (Oricon) 26
References
External links Fourth Dimension at stratovarius.com