Blackoustic is a collaborative acoustic album by Stratovarius and Cain's Offering vocalist Timo Kotipelto and ex-Sonata Arctica and Cain's Offering guitarist Jani Liimatainen (credited as Kotipelto & Liimatainen). The album was released on October 19, 2012, and entered the Finnish charts at #13 the first week.[1] The album is self-financed. While initially only sold during performances, the album was eventually released through the Earmusic label, which had released the prior Stratovarius albums since Polaris.[1]
| Blackoustic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | October 10, 2012[1] |
| Recorded | 2012 |
| Genre | Acoustic rock |
| Label | Earmusic |
| Producer | Jani Liimatainen and Timo Kotipelto |
All songs from the album are covers, except for "Where My Rainbow Ends" written by Liimatainen. Regarding the song, Liimatainen commented, "I remembered a song I wrote last winter. Originally it was an instrumental track, but after listening back to it I thought that the melody would work very well with vocals. We rearranged the song into our acoustic format and as a slave of habit I wrote the lyrics for it the night before our last day of recording. It turned out surprisingly beautiful and delicate."[1]
After the release of the album the duo began touring, performing in shows taking place through November 23, 2012.[2]
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sleep Well" (from Kotipelto's solo album) | Timo Kotipelto/Tuomas Wäinölä | 3:35 |
| 2. | "Out in the Fields" (Gary Moore cover) | Gary Moore | 3:58 |
| 3. | "Black Diamond" (Stratovarius cover) | Kotipelto/Timo Tolkki | 4:05 |
| 4. | "My Selene" (Sonata Arctica cover) | Jani Liimatainen | 4:54 |
| 5. | "Behind Blue Eyes" (The Who cover) | Pete Townshend | 3:31 |
| 6. | "Hunting High and Low" (Stratovarius cover) | Kotipelto/Tolkki | 4:43 |
| 7. | "Where My Rainbow Ends" (Original song) | Liimatainen | 3:30 |
| 8. | "Speed of Light" (Stratovarius cover) | Kotipelto/Tolkki | 4:04 |
| 9. | "Perfect Strangers" (Deep Purple cover) | Ritchie Blackmore/Ian Gillan/Roger Glover | 4:28 |
| 10. | "Coming Home" (Stratovarius cover) | Tolkki | 4:02 |
| 11. | "Serenity" (from Kotipelto's solo album) | Kotipelto | 5:24 |
| 12. | "Rainbow Eyes" (Rainbow cover) | Ritchie Blackmore/Ronnie James Dio | 6:00 |
| 13. | "Karjalan kunnailla (On the Hills of Karjala)" (Finnish traditional) | Liimatainen (arrangements) | 2:37 |
| 14. | ""Beauty Has Come" (from Kotipelto's solo album) (Japanese bonus track)" | 4:31 |
Personnel edit
- Timo Kotipelto – lead vocals, additional acoustic guitar
- Jani Liimatainen – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- Matias Kupiainen – mixing, mastering
References edit
- ^ a b c d "STRATOVARIUS Singer, Ex-SONATA ARCTICA Guitarist: 'Blackoustic' Lands On Finnish Chart". Blabbermouth.Net. Retrieved 2012-10-30.
- ^ "KOTIPELTO & LIIMATAINEN 'BLACKOUSTIC' - OUT OCTOBER 19TH 2012". earMUSIC. 2012-09-23. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-10-30.