Elements Part 1
| Elements Part 1 | ||||
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| Stratovarius studio album | ||||
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Publication |
2003 |
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| Label (s) | Goldenworks Ltd./ Nuclear Blast | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
9 |
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running time |
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Studio (s) |
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Elements Part 1 (abbreviated notation on the cover: Elements Pt. 1 ) is the tenth studio album by the Finnish power metal band Stratovarius . It was released on January 27, 2003 . The song "Eagleheart" was released in advance as a Shape single.
The album was created in late 2002 after a long break from the band. Musically it was the band's most ambitious work to date and was recorded with a symphony orchestra and a choir . Both were mainly used in the title song, but were also featured in the other songs.
Musically, the band showed another side of their work. In contrast to the consistently fast and compactly arranged numbers of the previous albums, numerous songs of greater length were now included, in addition, the arrangement by choir and orchestra was denser and left more space for dramatic embellishments of the compositions. Also outstanding is the virtuoso instrumental “Stratofortress”, which, musically and in terms of its name, ties in with the pieces “Stratosphere” (from the album “ Episode ”) and “Stratovarius” (from the album “ Fourth Dimension ”).
The cover was designed by Derek Riggs , best known for his work for Iron Maiden . The design of the artwork is based on two of the four elements of the title , namely water and fire , and shows a figure made of water, whose arms are on fire. The following album " Elements Part 2 ", which was released in October 2003, showed the same motif, this time with the elements air and earth .
The photographs in the CD booklet were created by Marc Villalonga.
Track listing
- Eagleheart (3:50)
- Soul of a Vagabond (7:22)
- Find your own voice (5:10)
- Fantasia (9:56)
- Learning to Fly (6:19)
- Papillon (7:01)
- Stratofortress (3:26)
- Elements (12:01)
- A Drop in the Ocean (6:49)
The album was also released with a bonus CD that contained demo recordings of the songs as well as the new title "Run away".