Stratovarius--Fright Night

Stratovarius--Fright Night (1989/Sony) Rating--7.9

The power/prog legend's debut, and for the band's first three albums guitarist Timo Tolkki also handles the vocal duties. He is nowhere near as talented as Timo Kotipelto (who will show up on 'Fourth Dimension'), but then again few are. Tolkki's voice is still very adequate--holding a bit of a rougher, deeper edge.
The band's music (here in its infant career stages) is crankier than present-day Strat. The distortion reminds a bit of early Maiden, and overall isn't as free-flowing as it soon will become. No real key use is incorporated yet.
Just about every song on here is good fare. "Black Night" has some rapid and rolling notes, "Darkness" has solid kick-in chords, and the title track is one of the disc's longer cuts. Again--all of the other tunes are good, as well.
TRACK LIST: Future Shock/False Messiah/Black Night/Witch-Hunt/Fire Dance/Fright Night/Night Screamer/Darkness/Goodbye

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