Any Stratovarius fan here? Personally it's my 2nd favorite metal band, after Sonata Arctica. The only time I didn't like them was when they released Elements Part II until Polaris. By the end of 2003 it seemed like they wanted to try a new style or ran out of ideas, and the quality seemed to be on a decline. On their 2005 album I like no song and on Elements Pt II from late 2003 I only like one song (although it's one of my favorites from them). Afterward they released no album until 2009, but afterward they went back to their good ol' style. The only disappointment is that their best songs are kinda short. In general I prefer the stuff from 1992 to 2000, although there are obviously exceptions.

Anyway here are some of my favorite songs from them. I'm mostly into their speedy stuff. I don't care about instruments being real or DragonForce style, I just like the sound and for their style I think it just fits well.

-Probably my favorite
-My favorite part is at 3:22. I think DragonForce kinda copied Stratovarius there







-Damnit, I lost...

There are many more I love, but this page will crash if I add too many lol.

Hmm, at first I thought you meant the trumpet maker.  I got excited.
I've never heard of them either.

I didn't really knew about them before you linked some of the songs on IRC, but they seems really awesome

Is the guitarist leaving why they had no new album between 2005 and 2009? I remember the guitarist was kinda good in some older albums, but their songs weren't as great in Elements part II. I mean, they usually always had some faster songs with choir pads and string pads in choruses like the I'M Still Alive or FOrever is Today song, then suddently, in Elements Part I, they started having fewer and fewer after track 5, and part II only had one of these. It was like if their style changed completely and personally I didn't like it. In 2009 they went back to their old style. I took a while to get used to the newer albums because my favorite songs on them always seemed too short, but then it grew in me and I like them as much as their older albums.

Here are my favorite albums in order from most favorite to least favorite (with songs liked in the second parenthesis):

Destiny (1998) (6)
Infinite (2000) (5)
Twilight Time (1992) (3)
Polaris (2009) (4)
Visions (1997) (5)
Episode (1996) (5)
Elysium (2011) (5)
Intermission (2001) (8. The reason why it's so low is because only 3 songs I like on it are exclusives. All others were available on previous albums in some ways.)
Elements Part I (2003) (3)
Dreamspace (1994) (4)
Fourth Dimension (1995) (2)
Fright Night (1989) (4)
Elements Part II (2003) (2)
Stratovarius (2005) (0)