Elements Pt. 2
Elements Pt. 2 is the tenth studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 4 November 2003 through Nuclear Blast. The album reached No. 4 on the Finnish albums chart and its single, "I Walk to My Own Song", reached No. 9 on the Finnish singles chart.
"Know the Difference" track refers to Serenity Prayer in its refrain.
This album brings elements of doom metal as seen in the first song on the album, "Alpha & Omega," shown as a reaction to the first part in which Tolkki suffered a Bipolar II disorder and manic depression that made him mentally ill and caused him to compose confusing lyrics.
Critical reception
James Christopher Monger at AllMusic gave Elements Pt. 2 three stars out of five, describing it as "borrowing liberally" from Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys series, and praising the album's "inspired moments" which "succeed with bombast and Queensrÿche-like melodrama." He noted "Alpha & Omega", "Awaken the Giant", "Season's of Faith's Perfection" and "Liberty" as highlights, but remarked that the album "may disappoint some fans with its lack of epics and torch-heavy balladry".Personnel
; Stratovarius- Timo Kotipelto – lead vocals, arrangement
- Timo Tolkki – guitar, arrangement, engineering, record producer
- Jens Johansson – keyboards, arrangement
- Jörg Michael – drums, arrangement
- Jari Kainulainen – bass guitar, arrangement
- Veijo Laine – orchestral arrangement, choir arrangement, production
- Riku Niemi – orchestral arrangement, choir arrangement, conducting, production
- Mikko Karmila – engineering, mixing
- Kuken Olsson – engineering
- Pauli Saastamoinen – mastering