Je ne sais pas si la news a été abordé déjà ... alors voilà, et desole pour le doublon
STRATOVARIUS WOES CONTINUE!:
Things go from bad to worse or strange to stranger in the Stratovarius camp. It seems main man Timo Tolkki is in deep doo-doo with fans and now his record label.
In late 2003 the band signed a $3 million worldwide deal with Sanctuary Records. But then Timo lost the plot and members of the band, including the very popular vocalist Timo Kotipelto.
This week Timo has announced a new singer - a female! Certainly a change of direction and maybe an attempt to cash-in on the popularity of Evanescence and Nightwish. But seriously folks - could they have picked a worse photo to promote the new singer? [See picture...]
And even worse, due to the change in line-up and the uncertainty of how fans will respond, Sanctuary Records has now demanded repayment of 1 million Euro's (nearly $1 million US) from the advance!
Here's the update from the Stratovarius website:
"The vocal talents of this sultry Finnish lady vary from raunchy rock to classical operatic. Her voice range is over 3 octaves and she is capable of transforming Stratovarius sound to something unique, something that has never been heard in Metal before.
She is 30 years old and has a background in gymnastics, where she has twice become a Finnish Champion, and in acting. She has until now been singing in some local bands and has done over 200 gigs. Drummer for the next album will be Anders Johansson, the brother of Jens Johansson.
After selling over 1,500,000 copies of their previous records, Stratovarius is now ready to take the next step in their career. The band will enter the studio, a secret place, in May to record 11th studio album, which has a working title PopKiller.
The album is due February 2005 followed up by massive World Tour.
In legal news, Sanctuary Records is asking Timo Tolkki to pay back 1 Million Euros from the recording agreement advance. Tolkki refuses to pay it, and comments: "They have sent me a notification and are asking me to pay that amount back. Their position is that the agreement was for the old line up. My legal staff doesn't interpret the agreement this way, and have advised me not to agree to this demand. It means that we might be going to court in Berlin, but I am confident I will win this case and that justice will prevail."
Stay tuned for more!
Listen, smile, agree, and then do whatever the fuck you were gonna do anyway.