Fourth Dimension (Stratovarius album)

Fourth Dimension is the fourth studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 11 April 1995 through Noise Records. 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, 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.

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.

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