Stratovarius - Episode (1996)

Stratovarius' fifth album was the first with keyboardist Jens Johansson and drummer Jorg Michael, and this line-up would stay together for a number of years afterwards. Unfortunately, despite many saying this is when the 'real' Stratovarius arrived, I find Episode a bit disappointing.
It starts off great with "Father Time", a true, flying, power metal classic, but it becomes a bit cumbersome in places afterwards - only "Tomorrow" shows a similar, freewheeling spirit. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying every song has to be super fast with soaring choruses - it would get boring if that was the case. But the different styles they do try here just don't work all that well.  Songs like "Babylon" are interesting, but not good enough for me to enthuse over.
A shame, but I certainly hope for better still to come from this Finnish group.

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