In the latest issue of Finland's Soundi magazine, STRATOVARIUS mainman Timo Tolkki reveals that he has formed a new band called REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE, which is believed to have been the working title of the now apparently aborted new STRATOVARIUS album. The group's debut CD — which will feature guest appearances by Michael Kiske, Pasi Rantanen (vocals; THUNDERSTONE), Mirka Rantanen (drums; THUNDERSTONE), Pasi Heikkilä (bass; 45 DEGREE WOMAN) and Tobias Sammet (vocals; EDGUY) — is tentatively due this summer via Frontiers Records.

Michael Kiske indeed confirmed his participation on this CD saying that the songs and the lyrics are quite good. Michi recorded his lead-vocals for five complete songs, including the title-track Revolution Renaissance.

MICHAEL KISKE

Frontiers Records is pleased to announce all the details for the release of
MICHAEL KISKE new album entitled "Past In Different Ways" on May 9th 2008.

This much talked about album includes the reworking in a new fully acoustic
and stripped back mood of some of Helloween's classics that Kiske wrote and
recorded in his early days with the legendary German Heavy Metal band. "When
Serafino Perugino brought up the idea to do this record" says Michael, "my
first reaction was: "No way! I don't want to be dealing with my past all the
time anymore!". But after a few days my thinking changed and I thought:
maybe it's not such a bad idea at all? Because on one hand it shows that I
don't reject my past just because I'm a different person today and on the
other hand it can maybe give people who were part of that past a different
view at those songs. It's my music, I can still identify myself with its
spirit, so why should I not do this?".

Working in a creatively free environment helped Michael to look at his past
with different eyes and brought the idea of working again on the songs that
Michael wrote for Helloween during his years with the band. The result is
"Past In a Different Ways", a record which includes brand new recordings of
Kiske's songs taken off the two "Keeper" albums, "Chameleon" and "Pink
Bubbles Go Ape", plus the brand new song "Different Ways".

The unconventional arrangements of many of the tracks will surprise and
delight many of his fans and more surprising is to see how well these songs
sound with a basic acoustic arrangement, without the "useless weight" and
with new keys. "Songs like 'In The Night' or 'When The Sinner' which where
never favourites of mine are much cooler and much more convincing now for my
ears", says Michael.

The album was recorded and mixed in Hamburg under Michael Kiske's direction
and features long time collaborators such as Sandro Giampietro on guitar,
Fontaine Burnett on bass and Karsten Nagel on drums.

Kiske concludes: "It was not always easy for me emotionally to deal with
this material. Music somehow seems to preserve emotional memories and I
connect big human disappointments with the last years of that time. There's
also something very unsatisfying about re-recording old songs; it's always
MUCH better to write new stuff, but I wanted to make those songs mine again.
And in spite of the fact that I strongly felt for the last couple of years
that I rather have to build myself a new base of friends, it's always good
to make peace with your past".

Final tracklisting of "Past In Different Ways" include the following tracks: 

• You Always Walk Alone 
•  We Got The Right
• I Believe
• Longing
• Your Turn
• Kids Of The Century
• In The Night
• Going Home
• A Little Time
• When The Sinner
• Different Ways (brand new song).
  
  "Past In Different Ways" will see the light in Europe on May 9th 2008 on
  Frontiers Records.
  

 It's not a secret that in our time free creativity almost became a ''moral-crime'' within certain music-scenes. Markets and sales generally dominate our so called ''art'' and modern musicians worry far more about pleasing critics then about writing a true song. We also know how certain mentalities will react to anything I do that is not following their (art-enemy) ''pontifical-dogmas''; but musicians must never listen to these types of philistines ever. When Serafino Perugino brought up the idea to do this record, my first reaction was: "No way! I don't want to be dealing with my past all the time anymore! etc." But after a few days my thinking changed and I thought: Maybe it's not such a bad idea at all? Because on one hand it shows that I don't reject my past just because I'm a different person today, and on the other hand it can maybe give people who were part of that past a different view at those songs. It's my music, I can still identify myself with its spirit, so why should I not do this? My songwriting today is different. I wrote some of the songs on this album when I was 17 years old, so the lyrics are often blue-eyed and naive, but I didn't want to change them completely again. The basic epic sound of the better ones and the sort of uplifting-idealistic attitude still suits me very well. Also the unconventional arrangements of some those earlier tracks I was getting a bit excited about, I must admit. I generally brought each song down to its basics, threw out useless weight and sometimes changed the key to make them sound better as acoustics; and I was surprised how well they worked like that. Songs like >In The Night< or >When The Sinner< which where never favorites of mine are much cooler and much more convincing now, at least for my ears. It was not always easy for me emotionally to deal with this material. Music somehow seems to preserve emotional-memories and I connect big human-disappointments with the last years of that time. There's also something very unsatisfying about re-recording old songs; it's always MUCH better to write new stuff, but I wanted to make those songs mine again. And in spite of the fact that I strongly felt for the last couple of years that I rather have to build myself a new base of friends, it's always good to make peace with your past. So I am glad that I did it, - but it's also good that it's finally done! -- 

Main musicians:

Karsten Nagel: Drums
Sandro Giampietro: Guitars
Fontaine Burnett: Bass
Michael Kiske: Vocals, Guitars etc. 

Guest musicians:

Hanmari Spiegel: Violins, also Piano on >When The Sinner<
Georg Spiegel: Trombones and Accordeon
Benny Brown: Trumpet on >We Got The Right<

As a record-producer I generally don't like MP3. So I am not a friend of download-music at all (including legally downloaded music). That's because MP3 simply sounds horrible! It still sounds impressive looking at the mp3-data-reduction, but compared to the original the overtones are gone, high-ends are distorted and all openness disappears. We should have moved on to the SACD (5.1) instead of going backwards in quality to MP3. With the internet-download-ages we have also lost other beautiful elements of our modern music-culture. I'm thinking about CD-Cover-Artwork, lyrics, song running orders, concept albums etc. I remember when I was younger and bought a record, that there sometimes was a song on there that I didn't understand (didn't like) right away. But after a while it turned out to be a real pearl. And if people today only download what they like (understand) right away, the cultivating element of learning something new in music is completely disappearing. That's how Mammon slowly corrupts all truth and values of our culture…