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Quid pro quo

Quid pro quo (Latin: "something for something" ) is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: "give and take", "tit for tat", "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours" "this for that," and "one hand washes the other". Other languages use other phrases for the same purpose.

Origins
The Latin phrase quid pro quo originally implied that something had been substituted, meaning "something for something" as in I gave you sugar for salt. Early usage by English speakers followed the original Latin meaning, with occurrences in the 1530s where the term referred to substituting one medicine for another, whether unintentionally or fraudulently. By the end of the same century, quid pro quo evolved into a more current use to describe equivalent exchanges.

In 1654, the expression quid pro quo was used to generally refer to something done for personal gain or with the expectation of reciprocity in the text The Reign of King Charles: An History Disposed into Annalls, with a somewhat positive connotation. It refers to the covenant with Christ as something "that prove not a nudum pactum, a naked contract, without quid pro quo." Believers in Christ have to do their part in return, namely "foresake the devil and all his works".''

Quid pro quo would go on to be used, by English speakers in legal and diplomatic contexts, as an exchange of equally valued goods or services and continues to be today.

The Latin phrase corresponding to the English usage of quid pro quo is do ut des (Latin for "I give, so that you may give"). Other languages continue to use do ut des for this purpose, while quid pro quo (or its equivalent qui pro quo, as widely used in Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese) still keeps its original meaning of something being unwittingly mistaken, or erroneously told or understood, instead of something else.

Common law
In common law, quid pro quo indicates that an item or a service has been traded in return for something of value, usually when the propriety or equity of the transaction is in question. A contract must involve consideration: that is, the exchange of something of value for something else of value. For example, when buying an item of clothing or a gallon of milk, a pre-determined amount of money is exchanged for the product the customer is purchasing; therefore, they have received something but have given up something of equal value in return.

United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the one-sidedness of a contract is covered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and various revisions and amendments to it; a clause can be held void or the entire contract void if it is deemed unfair (that is to say, one-sided and not a quid pro quo); however, this is a civil law and not a common law matter.

Political donors must be resident in the UK. There are fixed limits to how much they may donate (£5000 in any single donation), and it must be recorded in the House of Commons Register of Members' Interests or at the House of Commons Library; the quid pro quo is strictly not allowed, that a donor can by his donation have some personal gain. This is overseen by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. There are also prohibitions on donations being given in the six weeks before the election for which it is being campaigned. It is also illegal for donors to support party political broadcasts, which are tightly regulated, free to air, and scheduled and allotted to the various parties according to a formula agreed by Parliament and enacted with the Communications Act 2003.

United States
In the United States, if an exchange appears excessively one sided, courts in some jurisdictions may question whether a quid pro quo did actually exist and the contract may be held void. In cases of "quid pro quo" business contracts, the term takes on a negative connotation because major corporations may cross ethical boundaries in order to enter into these very valuable, mutually beneficial, agreements with other major big businesses. In these deals, large sums of money are often at play and can consequently lead to promises of exclusive partnerships indefinitely or promises of distortion of economic reports.

In the U.S., lobbyists are legally entitled to support candidates that hold positions with which the donors agree, or which will benefit the donors. Such conduct becomes bribery only when there is an identifiable exchange between the contribution and official acts, previous or subsequent, and the term quid pro quo denotes such an exchange.

In terms of criminal law, quid pro quo tends to get used as a euphemism for crimes such as extortion and bribery.

Sexual harassment
In United States labor law, workplace sexual harassment can take two forms; either "quid pro quo" harassment or hostile work environment harassment. "Quid pro quo" harassment takes place when a supervisor requires sex, sexual favors, or sexual contact from an employee/job candidate as a condition of their employment. Only supervisors who have the authority to make tangible employment actions (i.e. hire, fire, promote, etc.), can commit "quid pro quo" harassment. The supervising harasser must have "immediate (or successively higher) authority over the employee." The power dynamic between a supervisor and subordinate/job candidate is such that a supervisor could use their position of authority to extract sexual relations based on the subordinate/job candidate's need for employment. Co-workers and non-decision making supervisors cannot engage in "quid pro quo" harassment with other employees, but an employer could potentially be liable for the behavior of these employees under a hostile work environment claim. The harassing employee's status as a supervisor is significant because if the individual is found to be a supervisor then the employing company can be held vicariously liable for the actions of that supervisor. Under Agency law, the employer is held responsible for the actions of the supervisor because they were in a position of power within the company at the time of the harassment.

To establish a prima facie case of "quid pro quo" harassment, the plaintiff must prove that they were subjected to "unwelcome sexual conduct", that submission to such conduct was explicitly or implicitly a term of their employment, and submission to or rejection of this conduct was used as a basis for an employment decision, as follows:

 * Unwelcome Sexual Conduct: a court will look at the employee's conduct to determine whether the supervisor's sexual advances were unwelcome. In Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, the Court opined that voluntary sex between an employee and supervisor does not establish proof that a supervisor's sexual advances were welcome. The Court also stated that evidence of the subordinate employee's provocative dress and publicly expressed sexual fantasies can be introduced as evidence if relevant.
 * Term of Employment: a term or condition of employment means that the subordinate/job candidate must acquiesce to the sexual advances of the supervisor in order to maintain/be hired for the job. In essence, the sexual harassment becomes a part of their job. For example, a supervisor promises an employee a raise if they go out on a date with the supervisor, or tells an employee they will be fired if the employee doesn't sleep with them.
 * Tangible Employment Action: a tangible employment action must take place as a result of the employee's submission or refusal of supervisor's advances. In Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, the Court stated that tangible employment action amounted to "a significant change in employment status, such as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibilities, or a decision causing a significant change in benefits."  It is important to note that only supervisors can make tangible employment actions, since they have the company's authority to do so. The Court also held that unfulfilled threats by a supervisor of an adverse employment decision are not sufficient to establish a "Quid pro quo," but were relevant for the purposes of a hostile work environment claim. Additionally, the Supreme Court has held that constructive dismissal can count as a tangible employment action (thus allowing a quid pro quo sexual harassment claim) if the actions taken by a supervisor created a situation where a "reasonable person ... would have felt compelled to resign."

Once the plaintiff has established these three factors, the employer can not assert an affirmative defense (such as the employer had a sexual harassment policy in place to prevent and properly respond to issues of sexual harassment), but can only dispute whether the unwelcome conduct did not in fact take place, the employee was not a supervisor, and that there was no tangible employment action involved.

Although these terms are popular among lawyers and scholars, neither "hostile work environment" nor "quid pro quo" are found in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, and religion. The Supreme Court noted in Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth that these terms are useful in differentiating between cases where threats of harassment are "carried out and those where they are not or absent altogether," but otherwise these terms serve a limited purpose. Therefore, sexual harassment can take place by a supervisor, and an employer can be potentially liable, even if that supervisor's behavior does not fall within the criteria of a "Quid pro quo" harassment claim.

Donald Trump impeachment inquiry
Quid pro quo was frequently mentioned during the impeachment inquiry into U.S. president Donald Trump, in reference to the charge that his request for an investigation of Hunter Biden was a precondition for the delivery of congressionally authorized military aid during a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Other meanings
For languages that come from Latin, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French, quid pro quo is used to define a misunderstanding or blunder made by the substituting of one thing for another. The Oxford English Dictionary describes this alternative definition in English as "now rare". The Vocabolario Treccani (an authoritative dictionary published by the Encyclopedia Treccani), under the entry "qui pro quo", states that the latter expression probably derives from the Latin used in late medieval pharmaceutical compilations. This can be clearly seen from the work appearing precisely under this title, "Tractatus quid pro quo," (Treatise on what substitutes for what) in the medical collection headed up by Mesue cum expositione Mondini super Canones universales... (Venice: per Joannem & Gregorium de gregorijs fratres, 1497), folios 334r-335r. Some examples of what could be used in place of what in this list are: Pro uva passa dactili ('in place of raisins, [use] dates'); Pro mirto sumac ('in place of myrtle, [use] sumac'); Pro fenugreco semen lini ('in place of fenugreek, [use] flaxseed'), etc. This list was an essential resource in the medieval apothecary, especially for occasions when certain essential medicinal substances were not available.

Satirist Ambrose Bierce defined political influence as "a visionary quo given in exchange for a substantial quid", making a pun on quid as a form of currency.

Quid is slang for pounds, the British currency, originating on this expression as in: if you want the quo you'll need to give them some quid, which explains the plural without s, as in I gave them five hundred quid.

title: Quid pro quo


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Skiz Fernando

Sarath "Skiz" Fernando (born 1968) is a former music critic, who has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Source, Spin, and Vibe. Later, under the alias Spectre, he became a record producer, rapper, and electronica artist. He is the founder and the head of his own label WordSound, as well as the author of several books about hip hop music.

Early life
Sarath H. Fernando Jr. was born in 1968 in Texas. His parents are Sri Lankan immigrants, and he is the only person in his family to be born in the United States. Fernando was raised in Pikesville, Baltimore County, Maryland and attended St. Paul's School for Boys.

Throughout childhood, he was listening to music records his brother and sister would bring home. His siblings were "much older" than him and were listening to Parliament-Funkadelic, Bob Marley, and David Bowie. In 1979, when he was around 11 years old, he heard the song "Rapper's Delight" on the radio. "For me, that was it. I had no idea what hip-hop even was, but I was mesmerized. A few years later, when Soul Sonic Force released 'Planet Rock,' I knew I wanted to be a part of that music", recalls Fernando. He became friends with "the only three black guys" in his school and started listening to their favorite music, which included LL Cool J and Run-DMC, while continuing listening to rock bands like the Smiths. In the following years, Fernando would dedicate time to exploring record stores in search of new artists and genres.

After graduating from Harvard College, Fernando moved to Greece, where he worked as a school teacher. At that time, he was unsure about his future plans. Since he loved hip hop, a year later he decided to move to New York City, which he viewed as the central place for hip hop. To justify the decision to his parents, he enrolled in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, which he later graduated from.

Journalistic career
During his time in Harvard, Skiz Fernando would listen to the Street Beat show on WHRB, a student radio station. The show was hosted by two Harvard College students, David Mays and Jonathan Shecter, who would later create The Source. Started as a one-page newsletter, The Source quickly turned into what The New York Times described as "the leading magazine on hip-hop music, culture and politics". Around 1992, after returning from Greece and meeting with Shecter, Fernando started writing for The Source magazine. In the following years, he contributed to various other publications, including Vibe, Rolling Stone, Spin, and The New York Times.

1993–1994: Beginning of music career and launching WordSound
Working as a journalist allowed Skiz Fernando to make connections in the music industry, giving him an opportunity to launch his own music career. In 1993, while working on a review for Material's Hallucination Engine, Fernando contacted the band's bassist Bill Laswell to take an interview. The two immediately became friends, and afterwards, Fernando would frequently visit Laswell's studio. There he met other artists, including funk musician George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic and jazz drummer Tony Williams. With a $1000 loan from Laswell, Fernando launched his own record label. He called it WordSound, after a dub compilation album Word Sound 'ave Power: Dub Poets And Dub. A warehouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was used as the label's headquarters.

WordSound released its first albums in 1994: The Red Shift compilation album and Scarab by the band Scarab. The band initially consisted of Skiz Fernando and his friend Professor Shehab. During that time, Fernando was trying to capture the music of like-minded artists around himself. The resulting compilation Certified Dope, Vol. 1 was released on WordSound in 1995, under the name Crooklyn Dub Consortium. The collective, apart from Fernando, also included drummer Doug Scharin as HiM, Bill Laswell as Automaton, the duo Sub Dub, Dr. Israel, and the band We™. According to AllMusic's Rick Anderson, the album "heralded the emergence of a new sound in underground music". In 2015, Fact magazine placed it at number 13 on their list of the 50 best trip-hop albums of all time, describing it as an album that "blended the dusty boom bap that ruled the city at the time with the mixing desk mysticism of Jamaican dub".

1995–1996: Debut solo album and working with Prince Paul
While working on his 1994 book The New Beats, Fernando started learning music production, making music every night to relax. He took the pseudonym Spectre, which, according to the artist, represents his dark alter ego that is the exact opposite of himself, allowing him to "express his dark side". Later, he would use several other pseudonyms, including the Ill Saint, Slotek, and Wordsound I-Powa. Spectre's debut solo album, The Illness, was released through WordSound in 1995. Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! noted the "morbid shred of fear and decay" in the album's sound, while AllMusic's John Bush in his review called The Illness a fusion of "hip-hop mysticism more than worthy of Wu-Tang" with production techniques akin to those used by the Jamaican producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. The style of music, employed on this album, would later be called illbient.

The release of The Illness ultimately led to Skiz Fernando collaborating with the producer Prince Paul. The mid-1990s was a troubled period in Prince Paul's career. Known for his early 1990s work with De La Soul and Gravediggaz, he now faced financial difficulties due to low album sales and was frustrated with the music industry. Fernando contacted him about recording an album, offering to do a small release of 1000 physical copies. According to Prince Paul, he wanted to make "one of the craziest recordings ever", marking the end of his career. The album, titled Psychoanalysis: What Is It?, was released in 1996, through WordSound. It was one of the earliest instrumental hip hop albums, featuring almost no rapping, with the only vocals throughout the majority of the album being skits. The album consists of rappers' monologues, where they discuss their obscene thoughts and dreams with a psychoanalyst with a distinct Viennese accent, over jazz-inspired beats. Psychoanalysis: What Is It? performed commercially far better than both the label and the artist anticipated, and became one of the best selling albums of the label. That prompted Tommy Boy Records to buy the album rights and re-release an updated version a year later. Prince Paul has said that the album "catapulted [his] career". Fernando later introduced him to Dan the Automator, which resulted in the formation of the Handsome Boy Modeling School duo and the subsequent release of their critically acclaimed debut album So... How's Your Girl? (1999).

Several other albums were released by WordSound in 1996. One of them was the second Crooklyn Dub Consortium compilation, titled Certified Dope, Vol. 2. MTV music critic Kembrew McLeod praised the album's unique sound. He called Crooklyn Dub Consortium "some of the most innovative and cutting-edge sound sculptors", noting that despite Certified Dope, Vol. 2 being a compilation album it still sounds cohesive due to the artists' association with the label. The German magazine Spex placed Certified Dope, Vol. 2 at number 20 of their list of the 50 best albums of 1996. Among other albums Fernando released that year were Live from the Planet Crooklyn, released under the pseudonym Wordsound I-Powa through ROIR Records, Dread Western by Roots Control duo, a collaborative album with his former roommate Jeremy "Likkle Jer" Dawson, and a highly acclaimed Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 1 compilation. Described by AllMusic's John Bush as a mix of illbient and abstract hip hop, Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 1 featured a number of hip hop artists, including Rob Swift of X-Ecutioners, Scott Harding, Prince Paul, and Afrika Baby Bam of Jungle Brothers. In his review of the album, Tony Herrington of The Wire magazine categorized its tracks as "insulated studio odysseys" which require listeners to have "superhuman levels of concentration". According to Skiz Fernando, soon after the release he went to Fat Beats, one of the biggest hip hop record stores in New York City, asking them to sell copies of Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 1. But despite the album featuring numerous hip hop artists, the owner of the store refused to sell it, saying that "this isn't hip hop".

1997–1999: WordSound's peak period
Spectre released his second solo album, The Second Coming, through WordSound in 1997. Spin magazine's reviewer Richard Gehr described the album as a "vampire-movie soundtrack", commending the album's sound, but noting that Spectre's ideas "[run] out of steam" towards its second half. During that year Fernando also introduced a new pseudonym, releasing the album 7 as Slotek. AllMusic's John Bush called the album a "sample mayhem", praising its production.

1998 saw the release of Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 2. Like the first compilation, it featured Rob Swift, Afrika Baby Bam, Prince Paul and Scott Harding. The album received positive reviews from music critics. Tim Haslett of CMJ New Music Monthly called it a "mandatory [listen] for anyone even remotely interested in the future of electronic music with hip-hop sensibilities at its heart". The Wire Will Montgomery commended the album, noting its "broader set of sounds" and lyrics, that "expose just how dull your average raps are". The same year Spectre released Ruff Kutz, a 90-minutes mixtape that featured remixes and unreleased tracks from a number of label's artists, including Sensational, Mr Dead, Dubadelic, Techno Animal, Bill Laswell, and Jungle Brothers. Originally a limited WordSound cassette release, in 2015 Ruff Kutz was remastered and re-released on double vinyl and digitally, through PAN, an imprint label of Berlin-based artist Bill Kouligas. Fact magazine placed the re-release on their list of 25 best reissues of 2015, calling it a "freeform hotbox hit-parade of dirty Bowery beats, chopped and screwed breaks, and hefty helpings of echo-chamber dub mixology", that perfectly encapsulated the New York underground scene of the 1990s.

Multiple projects were released in 1999. Among them was the second Slotek album, Hydrophonic. AllMusic's John Bush noted Slotek's move away from samples towards "raps reminiscent of KRS-One" and praised the production that fits the album well. Another album released by WordSound that year was Certified Dope, Vol. 3: Escape From New York compilation. For the third album in the series, Crooklyn Dub Consortium collective was renamed to Crooklyn Dub Outernational, which signified their expansion into other territories, such as Europe, the UK, Jamaica and Japan. The Wire magazine placed Certified Dope, Vol. 3 on their list of the best albums of 1999.

2000–present: WordSound's decline and later solo projects
Despite being an influential underground label and a pioneer of the illbient genre in the 1990s,  in the early 2000s WordSound started gradually fading away from the mainstream media. In 2004, XLR8R magazine reported the label's "disappearance". In a letter published by the magazine in one of the later issues, Skiz Fernando explained that he didn't receive a $38,000 payment from one of the distributors in 2001, and in 2004 their European distributor Energie für Alle closed, owing the label $80,000. The artist believed those factors ultimately led to the decline in visibility of an already underground label, which he was running from his living room. Fernando had also moved from Brooklyn to his hometown Baltimore due to "skyrocketing rents". Nevertheless, he continued releasing music through WordSound over the years, but kept it mostly to his solo projects.

The third album in Spectre's trilogy, The End, was released in January 2000 (the release date is sometimes reported as late 1999). In his review for Exclaim!, Thomas Quinlan highlighted the album's atmospheric nature and its blend of exotic Spectre's instrumentals with tracks featuring guest vocalists. The Wire magazine included The End in their list of the best albums of the year 2000. The Ill Saint's third compilation album, Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 3: The III School, was also released in 2000. Mike DaRonco of AllMusic thought the album featured "hard-hitting beats" combined with "street-smart wit", while Exclaim! Thomas Quinlan found the album "worth repeated listens", despite feeling that some of the tracks were disappointing.

While working on his follow-up solo album, Spectre released two albums through Belgian label Quatermass. 2002's Parts Unknown was based on previously unreleased material and was a collaborative album with the rapper Sensational. The second Quatermass album was Retrospectre (2004) compilation. Dusted magazine's Casey Rae-Hunter noted the album's "captivating freshness", despite it spanning more than a decade's worth of material.

Spectre's fourth album, Psychic Wars, was released in 2003. In her review for XLR8R, Selena Hsu called the album "considerably less sludgy and not as obscured by [Spectre's] trademark impenetrable haze", while Heinrich Deisl of the German magazine Skug (magazine) named it the most accessible release from Spectre. Rick Anderson of AllMusic commended "more energetic beats and lively interpolations of exotic foreign musical elements", but criticized the beginning of the album as being unnecessary. Dusted Mason Jones thought the music on the album was "melancholy and slow", as it featured "orchestral stabs and ultra-low synth bass dominating the doom-laden sonic environments". He also noted that some of the samples fit "rhythmically awkwardly", but he believed it enhances the mood of the album.

WordSound released the fourth Crooklyn Dub Outernational's compilation, Certified Dope, Vol. 4: Babylon's Burning, in 2004. AllMusic's Chris Nickson called it a "good summation of the state of global dub today from a label that stays permanently on the edge". XLR8R reviewer Daniel Siwek commended the collective for their ability to provide a diverse range of musical styles while striking a perfect balance between classic elements and a modern sound. Exclaim! David Dacks thought the album deviates from the traditional dub sound, instead "[continuing] this series with an assemblage of spine crushers and outward-bound riddims". The Wire named it one of the best albums of the year.

Spectre released his next solo album, Transcendent, in 2006 through digital distribution. It was followed by 2008's Internal Dynasty, released digitally through WordSound, with a limited vinyl release through Monkey Tool label. Mike Lupica of Dusted magazine noted that the album "[remains] systemically disquieting, off-kilter and reassuringly distanced from any current trend in hip hop". In 2010, the artist released the next album by Spectre, titled Death Before Dying.

In 2012, Spectre released his ninth solo album, The True & Living. The album was funded through Kickstarter, and released both digitally and on vinyl. Laurent Fintoni, writing for Fact magazine, highlighted the album's "crisp and snappy" beats, but warned younger readers that it may sound dated. Exclaim! reviewer Thomas Quinlan called The True & Living a "dark and brooding" album, noting the consistency of Spectre's style and his improvements to it. Spectre's next project, Brand New Second Hand, was released digitally in 2014.

The tenth solo album by Spectre, The Last Shall Be First, was released in 2016. It was funded through Kickstarter, and was asserted to be the final album released as Spectre. To promote the Kickstarter campaign, Skiz Fernando released Doom & Boom: The Spectre Chronicles (1995-2015), a free compilation album which included tracks from every album previously released. Philip Freeman, in his article for Bandcamp Daily, described the album's sound as "beats verging on industrial at times, and the bass as tar-like as ever". In 2021, Fernando released EP titled Èminence Grise. It was released digitally under the pseudonym Tha Ill Saint, with a limited vinyl release through a German label LOWHOP-Records.

Crooked
In 2000 while visiting family in Sri Lanka, Fernando wrote the script for a movie called Crooked. The film was shot in 25 days in April 2001 then edited and put through post production through the summer and winter of the same year. It was released on the Wordsound label as a soundtrack and a two disc DVD set in 2002.

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * The Illness (WordSound, 1995, as Spectre)
 * The Second Coming (WordSound, 1997, as Spectre)
 * 7 (WordSound, 1997, as Slotek)
 * Hydrophonic (WordSound, 1999, as Slotek)
 * The End (WordSound, 2000, as Spectre)
 * Psychic Wars (WordSound, 2003, as Spectre)
 * Transcendent (WordSound, 2006, as Spectre)
 * Internal Dynasty (WordSound, 2008, as Spectre)
 * Death Before Dying (WordSound, 2010, as Spectre)
 * The True & Living (WordSound, 2012, as Spectre)
 * Brand New Second Hand (WordSound, 2014, as Spectre)
 * The Last Shall Be First (WordSound, 2016, as Spectre)

 * Extended plays
 * Èminence Grise (LOWHOP, 2021, as Tha Ill Saint)

 * Mixtapes
 * Ruff Kutz (WordSound, 1998, as Spectre)

 * Collaborative albums
 * Scarab (WordSound, 1994, as The Mystic as part of Scarab)
 * Dread Western (WordSound, 1996, as part of Roots Control)
 * Parts Unknown (Quatermass, 2002, as Spectre Sensational)
 * Acid & Bass (WordSound, 2009, as Spectre feat. Sensational)

 * Compilation albums
 * Certified Dope, Vol. 1 (WordSound, 1995, as part of Crooklyn Dub Consortium)
 * Certified Dope, Vol. 2 (WordSound, 1996, as part of Crooklyn Dub Consortium)
 * Live from the Planet Crooklyn (ROIR, 1996, as Wordsound I-Powa)
 * Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 1 (WordSound, 1996, as The Ill Saint)
 * Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 2 (WordSound, 1998, as The Ill Saint)
 * Certified Dope, Vol. 3: Escape From New York (WordSound, 1999, as part of Crooklyn Dub Outernational)
 * Subterranean Hitz, Vol. 3: The Ill School (WordSound, 2000, as The Ill Saint)
 * Certified Dope, Vol. 4: Babylon's Burning (WordSound, 2004, as part of Crooklyn Dub Outernational)
 * Retrospectre (Quatermass, 2004, as Spectre)
 * Tunes from the Crypt (WordSound, 2006, as Spectre)

Publications

 * The New Beats: Exploring the Music, Culture, and Attitudes of Hip-Hop (1994, Payback Press; ISBN 038547119X)
 * Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking (2011, Hippocrene Books; ISBN 0781812739)
 * From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga (2021, Hachette Books; ISBN 9780306874444)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Skiz Fernando


text:
Théodore Simon Jouffroy

Théodore Simon Jouffroy (6 July 1796 – 4 February 1842), aka Simon Joseph Théodore Jouffroy, was a French philosopher.

Biography
He was born at Les Pontets, Franche-Comté, département of Doubs. In his tenth year, his father, a tax-gatherer, sent him to an uncle at Pontarlier, under whom he began his classical studies. At Dijon his compositions attracted the attention of an inspector, who had him placed (1814) in the normal school, Paris. There he came under the influence of Victor Cousin, and in 1817 he was appointed assistant professor of philosophy at the normal and Bourbon schools.

Three years later, being thrown upon his own resources, he began a course of lectures in his own house, and formed literary connexions with Le Courrier français, Le Globe, L'Encyclopédie moderne, and La Revue européenne. The variety of his pursuits at this time carried him over the whole field of ancient and modern literature. But he was chiefly attracted to the philosophical system represented by Thomas Reid and Dugald Stewart. The application of "common sense" to the problem of substance supplied a more satisfactory analytic for him than the scepticism of David Hume which reached him through a study of Kant.

He thus threw in his lot with the Scottish philosophy, and his first dissertations are adaptations from Reid's Inquiry. In 1826 he wrote a preface to a translation of Stewart's Moral Philosophy, demonstrating the possibility of a scientific statement of the laws of consciousness; in 1828 he began a translation of the works of Reid, and in his preface estimated the influence of Scottish criticism upon philosophy, giving a biographical account of the movement from Francis Hutcheson onwards. In the following year he was returned to parlement by the arrondissement of Pontarlier; but the work of legislation was ill-suited to him. Yet he attended to his duties conscientiously, and ultimately broke his health in their discharge. In 1833 he was appointed professor of Greek and Roman philosophy at the college of France and a member of the Academy of Sciences; he then published the Mélanges philosophiques (4th ed. 1866; Eng. trans. G Ripley, Boston, 1835 and 1838), a collection of fugitive papers in criticism and philosophy and history. In them is foreshadowed all that he afterwards worked out in metaphysics, psychology, ethics and aesthetics.

He had already demonstrated, in his prefaces, the possibility of a psychology apart from physiology, of a science of the phenomena of consciousness distinct from the perceptions of sense. He now classified the mental faculties, premising that they must not be confounded with capacities or properties of mind. They were, according to his analysis, personal will, primitive instincts, voluntary movement, natural and artificial signs, sensibility and the faculties of intellect; on this analytic he founded his scheme of the universe.

In 1835 he published Cours de droit naturel (4th ed. 1866), one of his most important works. From the conception of a universal order in the universe he reasons to a Supreme Being, who has created it and who has conferred upon every man in harmony with it the aim of his existence, leading to his highest good. Good, he says, is the fulfilment of man's destiny, evil the thwarting of it. Every man being organized in a particular way has, of necessity, an aim, the fulfilment of which is good; and he has faculties for accomplishing it, directed by reason. The aim is good, however, only when reason guides it for the benefit of the majority, but that is not absolute good. When reason rises to the conception of universal order, when actions are submitted, by the exercise of a sympathy working necessarily and intuitively to the idea of the universal order, the good has been reached, the true good, good in itself, absolute good. But he does not follow his idea into the details of human duty, though he passes in review fatalism, mysticism, pantheism, scepticism, egotism, sentimentalism and rationalism.

In 1835 Jouffroy's health failed and he went to Italy, where he continued to translate the Scottish philosophers. On his return he became librarian to the university, and took the chair of recent philosophy at the faculty of letters. He died in Paris. After his death were published Nouveaux mélanges philosophiques (3rd ed. 1872) and Cours d'esthetique (3rd ed. 1875). The former contributed nothing new to the system except a more emphatic statement of the distinction between psychology and physiology. The latter formulated his theory of beauty.

Jouffroy's claim to distinction rests mainly on his ability as an expositor of other men's ideas. His enthusiasm, and his command over the language of popular exposition, made him a great international medium for the transfusion of ideas. He stood between Scotland and France and Germany and France; and, though his expositions are vitiated by loose reading of the philosophers he interpreted, he did some memorable work.

title: Théodore Simon Jouffroy


text:
Plug

Plug, PLUG, plugs, or plugged may refer to:

 * Plug, an insertive closure or stopper (plug)
 * Core plug, used to fill the casting holes on engines
 * Butt plug, a sex toy that is inserted into the rectum
 * Earplug for ear protection
 * Plug (sanitation), a stopper for a drainage outlet
 * Plug (accounting), an unsupported adjustment to an accounting record
 * Plug (fishing), a family of fishing lures
 * Plug (horticulture), a planting technique
 * Plug (jewellery), a type of jewellery worn in stretched piercings
 * Fusible plug, a safety device in steam boilers
 * Hair plug, hair that has undergone hair transplantation
 * Mating plug, secretion used in the mating of some animal species
 * Plug, a step in the manufacturing process for parts made of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer
 * Plug, a type of chewing tobacco made by pressing tobacco with syrup
 * Plug, the central element of a Plug and feathers, a tool for splitting stone
 * Plug computer, a type of small-form-factor computer
 * Portland Linux/Unix Group (PLUG), a group of Linux enthusiasts in Portland, Oregon
 * Product plug, or product placement in marketing
 * Volcanic plug, a geological landform
 * Wall plug, a fastener that allows screws to be fitted into drywall or masonry walls
 * Plug (plumbing)
 * , a worthless horse

Electrical

 * Electrical connector, such as:
 * AC power plugs and sockets, for alternating current (mains electricity)
 * DC connector, for direct current (small equipment)
 * A semiconductor plug, typically tungsten, is used to fill a via and connect different wiring levels on wafers
 * Plug fuses, used in the United States until 1960

Media and entertainment

 * Plug (The Bash Street Kids), a character from The Bash Street Kids comic strip in The Beano
 * Plug (comics), a British comic that featured Plug from The Bash Street Kids
 * Plug Plug, a Peruvian post-hardcore band
 * Plugged!, a 1995 album by Vin Garbutt
 * Plugged, a 1995 album by The Bobs
 * Plugged, a film satirizing advertising, directed by Tim Russ
 * Plugged (novel), a 2011 novel by Eoin Colfer
 * Plugged (Starflyer 59 album), a 1996 album by Starflyer 59
 * Song plugging, the promotion of songs to induce sales
 * Plug (music), also called plugg, a subgenre of trap music

People

 * Ina Plug, South African archaeologist
 * Plug, an alias of Luke Vibert (born 1973), British electronic musician

title: Plug


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User talk:Chaswell

Hey Chas, welcome to Wikipedia! You can put anything you want on your user page. Many people use it for linking to the pages they have spent the most work on, but a lot of people also provide personal information, favorite links etc. It can also be useful as a scratchpad, to do list or reference. --Eloquence 19:20 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC)

title: User talk:Chaswell


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Public trust

The concept of public trust relates back to the origins of democratic government and its seminal idea that within the public lies the true power and future of a society; therefore, whatever trust citizens place in its officials must be respected. One of the reasons that bribery is regarded as a notorious evil is that it contributes to a culture of political corruption in which public trust is eroded. Other issues related to political corruption or betrayal of public trust are lobbying, special interest groups and the public cartel.

United States
In the United States "Public Trust" is a term of art referring to any public property which belongs to the whole of the people. Initially it was used within the formation of the government to refer to politicians who achieve power by election. In the United States Constitution, all members of Congress as well as the President, and Vice President are elected seats therein. The first state constitution drafted in the United States was the Maryland Constitution of 1776, which expressed that all persons vested with the legislative and executive powers of government are public trustees.

Members of the Legislature
In The Federalist Papers #57, Alexander Hamilton defended the concept of a House of Representatives within the new Constitution by referring to those elected representatives as holding a public trust, obtained through election, and held accountable to the people through term limits.

"THE THIRD charge against the House of Representatives is, that it will be taken from that class of citizens which will have least sympathy with the mass of the people.... Whilst the objection itself is levelled against a pretended oligarchy, the principle of it strikes at the very root of republican government. The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust. The elective mode of obtaining rulers is the characteristic policy of republican government. The means relied on in this form of government for preventing their degeneracy are numerous and various. The most effectual one, is such a limitation of the term of appointments as will maintain a proper responsibility to the people."

The Executive
In The Federalist Papers #70 Alexander Hamilton addresses the Presidency in a discussion over having more than one executive, referring to the "magistry" being an elective office, as a public trust:

But one of the weightiest objections to a plurality in the Executive, and which lies as much against the last as the first plan, is, that it tends to conceal faults and destroy responsibility. Responsibility is of two kinds to censure and to punishment. The first is the more important of the two, especially in an elective office. Man, in public trust, will much oftener act in such a manner as to render him unworthy of being any longer trusted, than in such a manner as to make him obnoxious to legal punishment.

George Washington opened his farewell address in 1796 inviting the people to elect a new executive to his "important trust:" The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust

The Constitution
A Public Trust is the term used when referring to elected officials in the United States Constitution, to differentiate them from civil officers. For example, the No Religious Test clause of Article VI includes both civil officers (commissioned either by the President or the Constitution) and elected officials directly: "...but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Founding Father Thomas Jefferson is popularly cited for his statement in a letter to Baron von Humboldt: "When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property." Public trust is different from an office of trust, which is an officer. The descriptive term public is referring to public ownership of the trust.

In 1892 the United States Supreme Court found in Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Illinois that states have public ownership of all submerged land in navigable waters, determining that states manage these lands in trust for the citizens and that no state legislature can abdicate its authority as the trustee of these resources. This added natural resources to the concept of public trust. Certain cultural resources were later also added as a public trust.

Use in the Philippines
In the Philippines, "betrayal of public trust" is one of the impeachable offenses. In Francisco, Jr. vs. Nagmamalasakit na mga Manananggol ng mga Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc., the Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled that the definition of "betrayal of public trust" is "a non-justiciable political question which is beyond the scope of its judicial power" under the Constitution. It did not prescribe which branch of government has the power to define it, but implies that Congress, which handles impeachment cases, has the power to do so.

title: Public trust


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Tree of the knowledge of good and evil

In Judaism and Christianity, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע, ; Lignum scientiae boni et mali) is one of two specific trees in the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2–3, along with the tree of life. Alternatively, some scholars have argued that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is just another name for the tree of life.

Narrative
Genesis 2 narrates that God places the man, Adam, in a garden with trees whose fruits he may eat, but forbids him to eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". God forms a woman, Eve, after this command is given. In Genesis 3, a serpent persuades Eve to eat from its forbidden fruit and she also lets Adam taste it. Consequently, God expels them from the garden.

Meaning of good and evil
The phrase in Hebrew, טוֹב וָרָע ("tov wa-raʿ") literally translates as "good and evil". This may be an example of the type of figure of speech known as merism, a literary device that pairs opposite terms together in order to create a general meaning, so that the phrase "good and evil" would simply imply "everything". This is seen in the Egyptian expression "evil-good", which is normally employed to mean "everything". However, if "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" is to be understood to mean a tree whose fruit imparts knowledge of everything, this phrase does not necessarily denote a moral concept. This view is held by several scholars.

Given the context of disobedience to God, other interpretations of the implications of this phrase also demand consideration. Robert Alter emphasizes the point that when God forbids the man to eat from that particular tree, he says that if he does so, he is "doomed to die." The Hebrew behind this is in a form regularly used in the Hebrew Bible for issuing death sentences.

However, there are myriad modern scholarly interpretations regarding the term הדעת טוב ורע(Hada'at tov wa-ra "the knowledge of good and evil") in Genesis 2–3, such as wisdom, omniscience, sexual knowledge, moral discrimination, maturity, and other qualities. According to scholar Nathan French, the term likely means "the knowledge for administering reward and punishment," suggesting that the knowledge forbidden by Yahweh and yet acquired by the humans in Genesis 2–3 is the wisdom for wielding ultimate power.

Judaism
Jewish sources suggest different possible identities for the tree: a fig tree (as fig leaves were used to clothe Adam and Eve after the sin), a grape vine (as "nothing brings wailing to the world like wine"), a stalk of wheat (as "a child does not know how to say Father and Mother until he tastes grain"), an etrog (as the description in matches the etrog fruit's beautiful appearance, or else the etrog tree's allegedly tasty bark ), or a nut tree.

In Jewish tradition, the Tree of Knowledge and the eating of its fruit represents the beginning of the mixture of good and evil together. Before that time, the two were separate, and evil had only a nebulous existence in potential. While free choice did exist before eating the fruit, evil existed as an entity separate from the human psyche, and it was not in human nature to desire it. Eating and internalizing the forbidden fruit changed this, and thus was born the yetzer hara, the evil inclination.

According to Rashi, the sin came about because Eve added an additional clause to the divine command: "Neither shall you touch it." By saying this, Eve added to YHWH's command, and thereby came to detract from it, as it is written: "Do not add to His Words". However, In Legends of the Jews, it was Adam who had devoutly forbidden Eve to touch the tree even though God had only mentioned the eating of the fruit.

According to one source, Eve also fed the fruit to the animals, leading to their mortality as well.

In the Kabbalah, the sin of the Tree of Knowledge (called Cheit Eitz HaDa'at) brought about the great task of beirurim, sifting through the mixture of good and evil in the world to extract and liberate the sparks of holiness trapped therein. Since evil no longer had independent existence, it henceforth depended on holiness to draw down the Divine life-force, on whose "leftovers" it then feeds and derives existence. Once evil is separated from holiness through beirurim, its source of life is cut off, causing the evil to disappear. This is accomplished through observance of the 613 commandments in the Torah, which deal primarily with physical objects wherein good and evil are mixed together. The sin of the Tree caused God's presence (Shechinah) to depart from earth; in kabbalah, the task of beirurim rectifies the sin of the Tree and causes the Shechinah to return.

Christianity
In Christian tradition, consuming the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the original sin committed by Adam and Eve that led to the fall of man in Genesis 3.

In Catholicism, Augustine of Hippo taught that the "tree" should be understood both symbolically and as a real tree – similarly to Jerusalem being both a real city and a figure of Heavenly Jerusalem. Augustine underlined that the fruits of that tree were not evil by themselves, because everything that God created "was good". It was disobedience of Adam and Eve, who had been told by God not to eat off the tree, that caused disorder in the creation, thus humanity inherited sin and guilt from Adam and Eve's sin.

In Western Christian art, the fruit of the tree is commonly depicted as the apple, which originated in central Asia. This depiction may have originated as a Latin pun: by eating the mālum (apple), Eve contracted malum (evil). According to the Bible, there is nothing to show the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge was necessarily an apple.

Gnosticism
Uniquely, the Gnostic religion held that the tree was entirely positive or even sacred. Per this saga, it was the archons who told Adam and Eve not to eat from its fruit, before lying to them by claiming they would die after tasting it. Later in the story, an instructor is sent from the Pleroma by the aeons to save humanity and reveal gnosis. This savior does so by telling Adam and Eve that eating the fruit is the way into salvation. Examples of the narrative can be found within the Gnostic manuscripts On the Origin of the World and the Secret Book of John.

Manichaeism, which has been considered a Gnostic sect, echoes these notions as well, presenting the primordial aspect of Jesus as the instructor.

Islam
The Quran never refers to the tree as the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" but rather typically refers to it as "the tree" or (in the words of Iblis) as the "tree of immortality." Muslims believe that when God created Adam and Eve, he told them that they could enjoy everything in the Garden except this tree and so Satan appeared to them, telling them the only reason God forbade them to eat from the tree was that they would become angels or immortal.

When they ate from this tree, their nakedness appeared to them, and they began to sew together leaves from the Garden for their covering. The Quran mentions the sin as being a 'slip'. Consequently, they repented to God and asked for his forgiveness, and were forgiven. In Islamic tradition, the forbidden fruit is considered wheat or barley, not an apple as within Western Christian tradition.

In Quran Al-A'raf 27, God states: "[O] Children of Adam! Let not Satan tempt you as he brought your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their garments to show them their shameful parts. Surely he [Satan] sees you, he and his tribe, from where you see them not. We have made the Satans the friends of those who do not believe."

Similar depictions in Akkadian seal
A cylinder seal, known as the Adam and Eve cylinder seal, from post-Akkadian periods in Mesopotamia (c. 23rd – 22nd century BCE) has been linked to the Adam and Eve story. Assyriologist George Smith (1840–1876) described the seal as having two facing figures (male and female) seated on each side of a tree, holding out their hands to the fruit, while between their backs is a serpent, giving evidence that the fall of man account was known in early times of Babylonia.

The British Museum disputes this interpretation, and holds that it is a common image from the period depicting a male deity being worshipped by a woman, with no reason to connect the scene with the Book of Genesis.

title: Tree of the knowledge of good and evil


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Luke Vibert

Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genres, including techno, drum and bass, and trip hop. He has recorded on labels such as Rephlex, Ninja Tune, Planet Mu, and Warp.

Early years: 1990s
Vibert's first musical output was in a variety of bands, including a punk act called Five Minute Fashion and later a Beastie Boys-esque group called the Hate Brothers, but he quickly moved into the low-cost environment of solo electronic composition.

Vibert grew up in Cornwall and attended the Wesleyan Methodist Truro School along with a number of key members of Aphex Twin's Rephlex Records crew. Luke and another school friend, Jeremy Simmonds, released an album on Rephlex under the name of Vibert/Simmonds which attracted attention from the Rising High music label. As a result of the popularity of the style in the early 1990s, Rising High commissioned an ambient music album from Vibert, who delivered Phat Lab Nightmare under the alias Wagon Christ in 1993.

Vibert pioneered the "drill 'n' bass" subgenre, which experimented with jungle and drum 'n' bass breakbeats, on his 1995 EPs under the name Plug. He would go on further over the next few years to produce more music under the Wagon Christ name for Rising High and Ninja Tune.

2000 and onwards
In late 1999 and 2000, Vibert began touring with BJ Cole to promote their fusion album Stop the Panic. In 2002, he would begin a series of live collaborations with Aphex Twin. Although Aphex Twin and Luke Vibert never released an album together, Aphex Twin used the song name "Analord", from Vibert's album Lover's Acid, for a series of EPs. Vibert's later releases varied in style as he released albums under various names, including Plug, Amen Andrews, Kerrier District and Spac Hand Luke. "Amen Andrews" is a word play on the name of Irish game show host Eamonn Andrews, referring to the fact that each Amen Andrews track uses the Amen break. In 2004, Vibert explored acid disco when he remixed a Black Devil song, which was released on Disco Club (Remix) and released his first album under the alias Kerrier District.

In 2006, Vibert's song "Shadows" was featured on the DJ mix album A Bugged Out Mix by Miss Kittin, which charted at number one-hundred seventy on the French Albums Chart.

In 2007 he founded a club night with Posthuman called "I Love Acid" after his track. In 2019 it won Best British Club Event in the DJ Mag awards. A vinyl-only record label of the same name was founded in 2014, with Luke contributing two EPs and an album "Valvable" written entirely on three pieces of Roland equipment: TB303, TR808, and JX3P.

In 2015, he participated in the musical transmedia Soundhunters broadcast on the Franco-German channel Arte. For this project, Vibert appeared in the film Speak the way you breathe directed by the American film director Antonino D'Ambrosio and composed an original music of the same name.

title: Luke Vibert


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HammerFall

HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak.

Early days (1993–1996)
HammerFall was formed when guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremonial Oath and invited Jesper Strömblad (from Ceremonial Oath and In Flames) to join him as a drummer in a new musical project he had been contemplating for some time. Dronjak had already composed the song "Steel Meets Steel," which was later included on HammerFall's debut album. Dronjak and Strömblad were later joined by lead guitarist Niklas Sundin, bassist Johan Larsson, and vocalist Mikael Stanne. When Niklas Sundin and Johan Larsson left HammerFall the following year, Glenn Ljungström (then guitarist of In Flames) and Fredrik Larsson (bassist of the former Swedish death metal band Dispatched), replaced them.

All five members played in other bands at the time. Dronjak and Larsson played in Crystal Age; Strömblad and Ljungström played in In Flames and Stanne sang for Dark Tranquillity. Both of these bands influenced Swedish melodic death metal. HammerFall was relegated to being a side project of them all for several years. Their concerts were limited mostly to a local music contest named Rockslaget. The band had few songs of their own and played mostly covers from bands such as Pretty Maids, Judas Priest and Alice Cooper.

In 1996, HammerFall reached the semi-finals of Rockslaget. When Mikael Stanne could not perform with the band in the semi-finals, they found Joacim Cans, who agreed to play with them for the night. The concert was a success although the judges disqualified HammerFall for the finals. By the end of that day, Joacim had already been made an official member of the band.

Glory to the Brave and Legacy of Kings (1997–1999)
To give more exposure to their work and try for a professional recording deal, a short live performance was recorded and sent to the Dutch label, Vic Records. The musicians soon received a deal and spent the whole of the following year writing the album Glory to the Brave. The album was initially released in the Netherlands and obtained positive feedback; it is also worthy of notice that the band's mascot, the paladin Hector, first appeared on the cover of this album.

As HammerFall grew in popularity, the time available for members of the band to dedicate to other projects became limited. Dronjak and Cans wanted to pursue the path of HammerFall (Dronjak's Crystal Age had ceased to exist some time ago), but Strömblad and Ljungström were committed to In Flames and Larsson was committed to the thrash metal band None. Thus, HammerFall's line-up soon underwent changes. Stefan Elmgren assumed the lead guitar and Patrik Räfling assumed the drums (they joined the band in the beginning of 1997 before the release of Glory to the Brave album) and Larsson decided to remain in the band until a suitable replacement for him was found. This happened in May 1997, when bassist Magnus Rosén joined the band. Stefan Elmgren played some of the guitars on the Glory to the Brave album (such as the acoustic guitars on "I Believe") and Patrik Räfling actually played the drums on all songs in place of Jesper. However, at the time they were considered as guest performers, not members of the band.

In early 1997, German label Nuclear Blast approached HammerFall with a contract for a European release deal, which included four albums. The deal was accepted and the band proceeded to record their first two music videos — "HammerFall" and "Glory to the Brave". After the release of a promotional single, Glory to the Brave was released throughout Europe. The results were quite unexpected, even after the intense marketing campaign made by Nuclear Blast. The album reached position number 38 on the German Music Chart on the week of its release, something which had never before been achieved by a debut heavy metal music album.

Siding with bands Gamma Ray, Jag Panzer, Lake of Tears and Raven, several tours through the European continent ensued. The concert on Wacken Open Air was performed to a crowd of over ten thousand people.

Towards the end of 1997, Glory to the Brave was released in Japan and the United States. Sales of the album reached one hundred thousand copies. HammerFall was also nominated for the Swedish Grammy award in the Best Hard Rock act category.

In February 1998 they did a small club tour (5 gigs) in Belgium and the Netherlands. Support was the Belgian band Double Diamond, who later became Fireforce

In February 1998, the recording of Legacy of Kings began. This album was once more written by Joacim, Oscar, and Jesper, who despite having quit the band still took part in the process in order to keep the same general mood of their first release. The album was produced by Fredrik Nordström (from Dream Evil) and Oscar, with the help of Joacim. The band spent a total of one and a half months in the studio recording this album.

HammerFall made some expressive concerts before the release of Legacy of Kings, playing in festivals together with bands such as Alice Cooper, Rammstein, Deep Purple, Dream Theater, Saxon and Stratovarius.

Their first world tour took place in October 1998. During the shows in Sweden, Joacim Cans caught a serious throat infection which made it impossible for him to sing. Shortly afterwards, Magnus Rosén was afflicted with the same disease, and after him the whole of HammerFall's support crew became sick. The members of the band played for as long as possible and then were forced to postpone or cancel a few dates. During their passage through South America, HammerFall took a short break to visit the Brazilian beaches, but they soon resumed their tour.

By the end of that tour, drummer Patrik Räfling left the band, and Anders Johansson, a friend of Magnus Rosén, joined as a touring musician. In the beginning of 1999 he was made a permanent member of the band. Anders had previously worked with guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen on Rising Force in the 80s and 90s and on a number of other projects; he is the brother of Jens Johansson from Stratovarius. He has been praised for his technical and polyrhythmical talent, in metal as well as other genres.

Renegade and Crimson Thunder (2000–2003)
After a long series of concerts, the band returned to Sweden in order to spend time with their families and begin writing songs for their next album. HammerFall made arrangements for this album to be recorded by Michael Wagener, who had previously produced bands such as Accept, Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne. The recording took eight weeks, and the album was entitled Renegade. The switch from producer Fredrik Nordström to Wagener was met with skepticism from the media in general. However, after the release, critics were mostly positive, even though there was a consensus that the band's sound was remarkably different. A music video by director Roger Johansson was created for the song "Renegade" and reached the top of the Swedish parade; the same soon happened with the album itself, which reached gold status with over forty thousand copies sold. Oscar stated on www.metalrules.com just prior to the release of 'Renegade' that they were going for a more "commercial" sound in order to attract a broader audience that otherwise would have been lost to them and that future albums wouldn't follow in this mold.

The band's second world tour began in January 2001. Concerts from this tour counted with a replica version of the album's cover on stage. It was set up as a castle in ruins from which the musicians entered the stage. In total, the tour included almost sixty shows.

The band then released a DVD entitled The Templar Renegade Crusades, which included video footage from recording sessions, live concerts, tour backstages, and encounters with fans. The footage ranged from the recording sessions of Legacy of Kings to the gold album party which took place in November 2001.

HammerFall then proceeded to record their fourth album — Crimson Thunder. Arrangements were made for recording sessions to take place in both JM Studios: from Charlie Bauerfeind, in Wisseloord Studios — in the Netherlands, and studio Blind Guardian — in Germany, for the bass.

By the end of the recording sessions in 2002, a listening session for the press was held. Overall, the reactions were quite positive, and most seemed to perceive the album as a change for the better from Renegade. A single for the song "Hearts on Fire" was released six weeks prior to the album's launch and remained for weeks on the number one spot on the parades of some European countries. The song also attracted a number of new fans to the band due to its chorus-driven melody and simple riffs coupled with fast guitar solos.

The shooting of the music video "Hearts on Fire" by director Roger Johansson was scheduled for August of that year. The band's plans, however, had to be held back for a week due to an incident that occurred one night. While Joacim was drinking with his girlfriend in a rock club he had been frequenting for over a decade, he was attacked by an unidentified person who hit him in the head with a beer glass and hastily escaped. Joacim instantly lost consciousness and had to be taken to a hospital, in which he underwent plastic surgery and rested for a couple of days. As soon as it became medically possible, he joined the band to record the music video.

In order to promote the release of the band's album in North America, they toured with Dio during November and December 2002. Subsequently, the manager of the band disappeared, taking the entirety of the tour's revenue with him. Despite this the tour was very successful, and proceeded to Europe. Changes were made to the band's stage setting, and many investments were made on fireworks and on the presence of the mascot Hector on stage. The scenery on the cover of the single Hearts on Fire was also reproduced and added to the performances. The tour progressed to Japan and then to South America. HammerFall was present on festivals in Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic, playing with bands such as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Twisted Sister, U.D.O. and Stratovarius.

HammerFall's tour was brought to a sudden end when Oscar Dronjak suffered a motorcycle accident, breaking his left arm and sustaining several minor injuries.

They were then left with no choice but to take a break. Stefan dedicated himself to getting a pilot license, Magnus and Anders continued working on their side projects and Joacim began work on his solo album and had his first child. Oscar simply focused on recovering. Together with a group of specialists, he was able to recover to his full capacities. He then joined Anders, Joacim, Stefan again, with bands Helloween, Gamma Ray and Pretty Maids, amongst others, and played in the celebration of the 20 years of the German rock club Rockfabrik.

Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken and Threshold (2005–2008)
The live album and DVD One Crimson Night was released in February 2003. After two years of hiatus the band released Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken, which was followed by a European and South American tour. A video for the song "Bloodbound" was made by director Roger Johansson.

On 16 October, it was reported that HammerFall (along with the band Europe) would be part of the Eurovision song contest. This rumor was refuted by lead singer Joacim Cans only a couple weeks later. Joacim was quoted as saying "So there were no talks whatsoever to be part of this."

Their 6th album, titled Threshold, was released on 20 October 2006 and it went directly to a number 1 position on the Swedish charts.

On 6 March 2007, a statement was posted online at HammerFall's official website (and his own official website), that bassist Magnus Rosén would not be involved with the band anymore. The reason for his departure stated that he was unhappy in the band and wants to focus on other projects. On his own website (and therefore with his own official statement) it was announced that Magnus was tired of the simple bassplaying he was forced to play in HammerFall, and that he was unable to bring his own material to the band. He now wants to "be more creative in his career". On 10 April it was announced on the official HammerFall homepage that the replacement for Magnus is former member Fredrik Larsson, who played bass on the Glory to the Brave album. Three new songs were recorded for the band's first compilation album. These are "Last Man Standing", "Restless Soul", and "The Abyss". They also rerecorded the Glory To The Brave track "HammerFall". "Steel Meets Steel - Ten Years of Glory" was released on 12 October 2007.

On 2 April 2008, Stefan Elmgren announced his decision to leave HammerFall in order to pursue a career as a commercial pilot. His replacement is Pontus Norgren from The Poodles. On 27 June 2008, the band released the compilation album "Masterpieces". The album has on it a collection of every song the band has covered, plus three new cover songs previously unreleased. This was Stefan Elmgren's last release with the band.

No Sacrifice, No Victory and Infected (2009–2012)
HammerFall's album No Sacrifice, No Victory was released in February 2009. This album features a cover song My Sharona. The Album peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard heatseakers charts. A music video for the song "Any Means Necessary" was released some time before the actual release of the album. To kick off their new album, HammerFall toured all over the world with several support bands, such as fellow Swedish band Sabaton. In the summer 2010 the band played a couple of high-profile festivals throughout Europe, including Sonisphere Festival, High Voltage Festival, Metalcamp, Graspop Metal Meeting and many more. The summer tour was named "Any Festival Necessary".

HammerFall's 8th album was released on 18 May 2011 (Sweden), 20 May (Europe), and 7 June (North America), under the name Infected. After several months of recordings in Göteborg, Sweden and Nashville, TN, the new studio album was finally finished in February. The European tour followed, under the name "European Outbreak". Infected is also the first HammerFall album not to feature the mascot, the knight Hector, on the cover.

In 2012, HammerFall recorded a live DVD while performing a show in Dalhalla, Sweden, that featured some former band members as well as other special guests. The DVD celebrated 15 years of the band's existence, and was titled "Gates of Dalhalla".

In 2013, HammerFall took a break and some time to spend with their families or side-works. Oscar wrote a book about HammerFall, Legenden om HammerFall (Swedish: "The Legend of HammerFall), that was released on 24 October and tells of the band's events during the past 16 years, but it still exists only in Swedish.

(r)Evolution and Built to Last (2014–2017)
HammerFall once again reunited with producer Fredrik Nordström. The vocals were recorded by James Michael. For the mix, Fredrik Nordström spent 3 weeks in his own Studio.

(r)Evolution was released on 29 August 2014, and stormed the charts worldwide, debuting on #1 in Sweden and on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart, as well as reaching Top 5 in several other countries. The subsequent tour, dubbed the World Wide (r)Evolution 2014-15, will see HammerFall return to Latin America together with Edguy and Gotthard, followed by a full European assasult in the beginning of 2015. The band was somewhat distraught when drummer Anders Johansson left shortly after the release of (r)Evolution, but David Wallin (Pain) was brought in as a temporary replacement to ensure that the show would go on. Around the same time, it was also decided that Fredrik would be on parental leave from September 2014 through March 2015. Former guitar player Stefan Elmgren stepped in handled the 4-string duties during that period, making this line-up a unique experience during the Latin American and European tour. In March 2016, the band announced that they had signed with Napalm Records. Their tenth studio album, Built to Last, was released on 4 November 2016.

On 16 December 2016, David Wallin resigned from the band to focus on his family, and the same day the band introduced their new drummer Johan Koleberg.

On 2 September 2017, it was announced that David Wallin's family related issues had been resolved and that he was reinstated into the band.

Dominion, Hammer of Dawn and Avenge the Fallen (2018–present)
On 18 December 2018, HammerFall announced their eleventh studio album Dominion. It was released on 16 August 2019.

Following a major tour in support of the album throughout Europe, and North America as a special guest of the band Sabaton, the band later announced their live album ''Live! Against the World'' which was released on October 23, 2020.

On 19 March 2021, HammerFall announced that they will join Helloween on a big European tour in 2022 and '23 called United Forces. Latin American tour dates as well as North American dates were added later on. The tour saw the band supporting their twelfth studio album, Hammer of Dawn, which was released on 25 February 2022. They released the single "Brotherhood" a day before the album's release.

On 26 April 2024, the band released the first single "Hail to the King" and its corresponding music video. At the same time, they announced that their upcoming thirteenth studio album, Avenge the Fallen, is set for release on 9 August 2024 whilst also revealing the album cover and the track list.

Current members

 * Oscar Dronjak – guitars, backing vocals (1993–present)
 * Joacim Cans – lead vocals (1996–present)
 * Fredrik Larsson – bass (1994–1997, 2007–present)
 * Pontus Norgren – guitars, backing vocals (2008–present)
 * David Wallin – drums (2014–present)

Former members

 * Jesper Strömblad – drums (1993–1996)
 * Mikael Stanne – lead vocals (1993–1996)
 * Niklas Sundin – guitars (1993–1995)
 * Johan Larsson – bass (1993–1994)
 * Glenn Ljungström – guitars (1995–1997)
 * Stefan Elmgren – guitars (1997–2008)
 * Magnus Rosén – bass (1997–2007)
 * Patrik Räfling – drums (1996–1999)
 * Anders Johansson – drums (1999–2014)

Touring and substitute members

 * Pontus Egberg – bass (2012)
 * Stefan Elmgren – bass (2014)
 * Johan Koleberg - drums (2016-2017)

Discography
Studio albums
 * Glory to the Brave (1997)
 * Legacy of Kings (1998)
 * Renegade (2000)
 * Crimson Thunder (2002)
 * Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken (2005)
 * Threshold (2006)
 * No Sacrifice, No Victory (2009)
 * Infected (2011)
 * (r)Evolution (2014)
 * Built to Last (2016)
 * Dominion (2019)
 * Hammer of Dawn (2022)
 * Avenge the Fallen (2024)

Awards and nominations
Metal Hammer Awards (GER)

 * 2015 || HammerFall || Maximum Metal || Won
 * 2015 || HammerFall || Maximum Metal || Won

title: HammerFall


text:
Root name server

A root name server is a name server for the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. It directly answers requests for records in the root zone and answers other requests by returning a list of the authoritative name servers for the appropriate top-level domain (TLD). The root name servers are a critical part of the Internet infrastructure because they are the first step in resolving human-readable host names into IP addresses that are used in communication between Internet hosts.

A combination of limits in the DNS and certain protocols, namely the practical size of unfragmented User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets, resulted in a decision to limit the number of root servers to thirteen server addresses. The use of anycast addressing permits the actual number of root server instances to be much larger, and is 1,733.

Root domain
The DNS is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource participating in the Internet. The top of that hierarchy is the root domain. The root domain does not have a formal name and its label in the DNS hierarchy is an empty string. All fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) on the Internet can be regarded as ending with this empty string for the root domain, and therefore ending in a full stop character (the label delimiter), e.g., "www.example.com.". This is generally implied rather than explicit, as modern DNS software does not actually require that the terminating dot be included when attempting to translate a domain name to an IP address.

The root domain contains all top-level domains of the Internet. , it contained 1058 TLDs, including 730 generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and 301 country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) in the root domain. In addition, the ARPA domain is used for technical name spaces in the management of Internet addressing and other resources. A TEST domain is used for testing internationalized domain names.

Resolver operation
When a computer on the Internet needs to resolve a domain name, it uses resolver software to perform the lookup. A resolver breaks the name up into its labels from right to left. The first component (TLD) is queried using a root server to obtain the responsible authoritative server. Queries for each label return more specific name servers until a name server returns the answer of the original query.

In practice, most of this information does not change very often over a period of hours and therefore it is cached by intermediate name servers or by a name cache built into the user's application. DNS lookups to the root name servers may therefore be relatively infrequent. A survey in 2003 reported that only 2% of all queries to the root servers were legitimate. Incorrect or non-existent caching was responsible for 75% of the queries, 12.5% were for unknown TLDs, 7% were for lookups using IP addresses as if they were domain names, etc. Some misconfigured desktop computers even tried to update the root server records for the TLDs. A similar list of observed problems and recommended fixes has been published in RFC 4697.

Although any local implementation of DNS can implement its own private root name servers, the term "root name server" is generally used to describe the thirteen well-known root name servers that implement the root name space domain for the Internet's official global implementation of the Domain Name System. Resolvers use a small 3 KB root.hints file published by Internic to bootstrap this initial list of root server addresses; in other words, root.hints is necessary to break the circular dependency of needing to know the addresses of a root name server to lookup the same address.

Root server addresses
There are 13 logical root name servers specified, with logical names in the form letter.root-servers.net, where letter ranges from a to m. The choice of thirteen name servers was made because of limitations in the original DNS specification, which specifies a maximum packet size of 512 bytes when using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). Technically however, fourteen name servers fit into an IPv4 packet. The addition of IPv6 addresses for the root name servers requires more than 512 bytes, which is facilitated by the EDNS0 extension to the DNS standard.

This does not mean that there are only 13 physical servers; each operator uses redundant computer equipment to provide reliable service even if failure of hardware or software occurs. Additionally, all operate in multiple geographical locations using a routing technique called anycast addressing, providing increased performance and even more fault tolerance. An informational homepage exists for every logical server (except G-Root) under the Root Server Technical Operations Association domain with web address in the form http://letter.root-servers.org/, where letter ranges from a to m.

Ten servers were originally in the United States; all are now operated using anycast addressing. Three servers were originally located in Stockholm (I-Root), Amsterdam (K-Root), and Tokyo (M-Root) respectively. Older servers had their own name before the policy of using similar names was established. With anycast, most of the physical root servers are now outside the United States, allowing for high performance worldwide.

There are also several alternative namespace systems with an alternative DNS root using their own set of root name servers that exist in parallel to the mainstream name servers. The first, AlterNIC, generated a substantial amount of press.

The function of a root name server may also be implemented locally, or on a provider network. Such servers are synchronized with the official root zone file as published by ICANN, and do not constitute an alternate root.

As the root name servers are an important part of the Internet, they have come under attack several times, although none of the attacks have ever been serious enough to severely affect the performance of the Internet.

Root server supervision
The DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee is an ICANN committee. ICANN's bylaws say the committee provides advice to ICANN but the committee claims no authority over the servers or server operators.

Root zone file
The root zone file is a small (about 2 MB) data set whose publication is the primary purpose of root name servers. This is not to be confused with the root.hints file used to bootstrap a resolver.

The root zone file is at the apex of a hierarchical distributed database called the Domain Name System (DNS). This database is used by almost all Internet applications to translate worldwide unique names such as www.wikipedia.org into other identifiers such as IP addresses.

The contents of the root zone file is a list of names and numeric IP addresses of the root domain authoritative DNS servers for all top-level domains (TLDs) such as com, org, edu, and the country code top-level domains (it also includes that info for root domain, the dot). On 12 December 2004, 773 different authoritative servers for the TLDs were listed. Later the number of TLDs increased greatly. , the root zone consisted of 1511 useful TLDs (excluded are: 55 domains that are not assigned, 8 that are retired, and 11 test domains). Other name servers forward queries for which they do not have any information about authoritative servers to a root name server. The root name server, using its root zone file, answers with a referral to the authoritative servers for the appropriate TLD or with an indication that no such TLD exists.

title: Root name server


text:
Stratovarius

Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band. Formed in 1984, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, and after guitarist Timo Tolkki's departure in 2008, no founding members remain. Currently, the longest standing member is singer Timo Kotipelto, who joined in 1994.

The first incarnation of the band had the name Black Water, founded in August 1984 by singer and drummer Tuomo Lassila, guitarist Staffan Stråhlman and bassist John Vihervä. In the summer of 1984, Tuomo and Staffan changed their name to Stratovarius and the band was formalized.

After reforming as Stratovarius, line-up changes started to occur. Timo Tolkki replaced Black Water member Stråhlman in 1985, becoming the singer as well, and the band expanded into a quartet with the arrival of keyboardist Antti Ikonen the following year. With this line-up, the band released its first album Fright Night in 1989, with Tolkki as the only songwriter. While going through many bassists, the band released the albums Twilight Time in 1992 and Dreamspace in 1994. In 1994, Tolkki decided to stop acting as lead vocalist, with Kotipelto joining the band. After the release of Fourth Dimension in 1995, Ikonen and the last Black Water member, Lassila, left the band and were replaced by Jens Johansson and Jörg Michael respectively.

This line-up consisting of Kotipelto, Tolkki, bassist Jari Kainulainen, Johansson and Michael, now recognized as the "classic line-up" of Stratovarius, became the most enduring in its history (1995—2005). With this line-up, the band released eight albums including most of their popular works (releasing an album with the same line-up as its predecessor for the first time) until the release of a self-titled album in 2005, after which Kainulainen departed and was replaced by Lauri Porra.

In 2008, guitarist, sole founder, composer and main lyricist Timo Tolkki, highly critical of their last album and tired of the tensions between the members, decided to disband Stratovarius. However, at the demand of the rest of the band, he let them continue as Stratovarius while leaving the band. He subsequently regretted his decision, stating that the current band had nothing to do with Stratovarius, which he considered mainly his own work.

Despite Tolkki's controversial departure, the band's following albums Polaris (2009) and Elysium (2011) had a positive reception, with various critics and fans considering them their best albums in the last decade. These were the first albums with Porra and new guitarist Matias Kupiainen, and all members except Michael took part in songwriting. After a small "Farewell Jörg" tour in Finland, Jörg Michael departed for personal reasons in 2012. With new drummer Rolf Pilve, the band released Nemesis in 2013 and Eternal in 2015. Stratovarius' sixteenth studio album, its first in seven years, Survive, was released on September 23, 2022.

Background (as Black Water), formation and Fright Night (1984–1990)
Black Water was founded in August 1984 in Finland. They went through a number of personnel and style changes before the band found its own voice. The founding members were Tuomo Lassila, Staffan Stråhlman, and John Vihervä. By 1985, the band had disbanded and reformed as Stratovarius (a portmanteau of Stratocaster and Stradivarius, which is also the name of an early Kraftwerk song), with guitarist/vocalist Timo Tolkki entering the band in December of that year, replacing Black Water member Stråhlman. In 1988 they released their first two singles, "Future Shock" and "Black Night". In 1989 their debut album Fright Night was released, which would be accompanied by a small tour of Europe.

Twilight Time, Dreamspace and Fourth Dimension (1991–1995)
In 1991 the group released their second album, which was initially released under the name Stratovarius II but was later re-released in 1992 with the name Twilight Time. On this album, Tolkki played bass as well as guitar on all tracks, despite Jari Behm receiving credit on the album. After Twilight Time was released, Behm was fired and replaced with Jari Kainulainen.

After releasing their third album Dreamspace in 1994, Timo Tolkki decided to step down from the lead singer position of the band to concentrate on guitar and songwriting as well as to move Stratovarius in a new direction. Dreamspace was the last album that followed the style of the band's initial releases before the group adopted the more neo-classical/symphonic style which they became famous for.

The band started auditions for a new singer, eventually choosing Timo Kotipelto. In 1995, the band released their first album with Kotipelto on vocals Fourth Dimension, which was accompanied by a music video for the song "Against the Wind". This was the last album with a singing performance by Timo Tolkki, being featured as a backing vocalist on this album. This was the first album that showed signs of the new direction the band was heading, with tracks such as "Twilight Symphony" using an orchestra for the first time in their recordings.

Departures of Tuomo Lassila and Antti Ikonen, Episode, Visions and Destiny (1996–1999)
That same year, 1995, Tuomo Lassila, the last member of Black Water, along with Antti Ikonen were fired from the band. This decision was, as Tolkki referred to years later shortly after leaving the band in 2008, "due to a non-dedication to the band's activities. They both were not at all into heavy metal and I don't think they ever thought that the band could become so successful. They didn't like the direction the music was heading."

This left Tolkki and Stratovarius searching for a new drummer and keyboardist to fill their places. Jörg Michael from Rage was hired as their drummer and soon after, Jens Johansson of Yngwie Malmsteen-fame was hired as keyboardist, a position he has held to this date. This new line-up released Episode, an album that showcased their new symphonic direction with a full orchestra and choir utilized on tracks such as "Season of Change" and "Forever". The line-up on this album proved to be their most stable, remaining the same until the release of Polaris in 2009.

In 1997 the band released their sixth studio album titled Visions. This album was released to a very positive reception and featured notable songs "The Kiss of Judas", "Black Diamond" and the title track "Visions (Southern Cross)", a 10-minute epic that was their longest song at the time. "Black Diamond" has since become one of their most recognized songs, and has been included in almost all live setlists since its release. In the same year, the band recorded the album Destiny, which reached No. 1 on the Finnish charts. Destiny contained "S.O.S." and "Rebel", as well as the 10-minute title track "Destiny".

Infinite, Intermission and Elements, Pts. 1 & 2 (2000–2003)
In 2000, the album Infinite was released. Just like its predecessor, Infinite reached No.1 in the Finnish chart, the last time one of their albums would do so until the release of Elysium in 2011. Continuing the trend of featuring lengthy symphonic pieces, the titular track "Infinity" is over 9 minutes long. Featured songs are "Hunting High and Low" and "A Million Light Years Away". The following year saw the release of Intermission a compilation album of B-Sides, bonus tracks from previous albums and unreleased material. During this time, the band decided to take a break from working on new material for Stratovarius. It was in this time that Timo Tolkki released his second solo album Hymn to Life and guest appeared on the Avantasia album The Metal Opera (Tolkki would later play guest guitar on the sequel album The Metal Opera Part II). Timo Kotipelto also began his side project Kotipelto, with the first album Waiting for the Dawn getting released in 2002.

In 2002 the band started work on their next project titled Elements. Initially conceived as a double album, the project was eventually split into two different releases, with Elements Pt. 1 and Elements Pt. 2 both being released the same year in 2003. This would contain some of the group's most ambitious work yet, with the title track "Elements" on Elements Pt. 1 clocking in at 12 minutes, the longest song the band would write until the release of Elysium in 2011. Elements was also the first, and so far only attempt at recording a double-album, and showed the band experimenting with their musical style.

Hiatus, Stratovarius and Tolkki's departure (2004–2008)
During this period, tensions were increasing in the band, and in 2004 Stratovarius temporarily disbanded after Timo Tolkki suffered a nervous breakdown. A couple of months after the breakdown, Tolkki was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and went into rehabilitation for a period. During this time, Timo Kotipelto released his second album with his side project Kotipelto titled Coldness. It was also during this time that Stratovarius orchestrated a series of publicity stunts, including Kotipelto being fired and replaced by a female singer named "Miss K" (Katriina Wiiala), as well as Tolkki being stabbed at a concert. Eventually, the stunts were revealed to be a hoax, and Tolkki reunited the band to begin work on their next album. In 2005, the self-titled album Stratovarius was released to hostile reception by fans. Stratovarius featured a very different style compared to previous efforts, containing almost no symphonic or neo-classical elements in the music or soloing of Tolkki and Johansson that fans were used to, and did not feature any lengthy epics. Tolkki was also highly critical of the album, and Stratovarius was proof of the relationship between band members at an all-time low. Seemingly against Tolkki's wishes, Jari Kainulainen was fired in 2005 following the release of the album for reasons Tolkki said were "so absurd that I am not even [going to] try and explain them here". Kainulainen was quickly replaced with Lauri Porra, and in 2006 the band began work on a new album that was tentatively titled R...R.... However, as internal issues increased, the project stalled. Eventually, the band reached a divide, with Johansson and Porra supporting Tolkki on one side, and Kotipelto and Michael on the other. Finally, on 4 March 2008, Tolkki officially declared that he was disbanding Stratovarius:

"It is time to stop the silence and announce what some of you have already been speculating. Stratovarius is no more..." As Tolkki held the rights to the name Stratovarius and all its royalties, it was his initial intention to completely disband Stratovarius. However, on 20 May 2008 he agreed to sign over the rights to the name Stratovarius and all its royalties to Timo Kotipelto, Jens Johansson and Jörg Michael (though Michael was initially against using the name Stratovarius ), allowing Stratovarius to continue on without him. Tolkki later took the songs he wrote for the R...R... sessions and formed the band Revolution Renaissance, using the R...R... to form the name of the band, instead of the album. Stratovarius eventually found a replacement guitarist with Matias Kupiainen, and soon after began work on their next album.

First years without Tolkki: Polaris and Elysium (2009–2012)
In 2009 came the release of Polaris, which reached No. 2 in Finland. It was the first album after the departure of Timo Tolkki and Jari Kainulainen, and featured in their place new guitarist Matias Kupiainen and bassist Lauri Porra. The album yielded the two singles "Deep Unknown" and "Higher We Go". In 2010 the album was re-released along with various live material recorded during the Polaris Tour.

In September 2010, Stratovarius announced the start of recording of their second album with Matias Kupiainen on guitar. Before officially launching the album, the Darkest Hours EP was released with the new songs "Darkest Hours" and "Infernal Maze", plus two live recordings of older songs. To promote the new album, Stratovarius toured as guests on Helloween's Seven Sinners Tour. As Stratovarius's drummer Jörg Michael was diagnosed with cancer, he was temporarily replaced by Alex Landenburg in the band.

In 2011, the band released their new album titled Elysium that quickly reached No. 1 in Finland, the first of their albums to reach No.1 since Infinite. Notable songs on the album include the singles "Darkest Hours", "Under Flaming Skies", and the 18-minute epic "Elysium", the longest song that Stratovarius has ever recorded.

Jörg Michael has announced his plans to leave the band for personal reasons. Jörg played all the remaining tour dates until 31 January in Guatemala City, and celebrated with a special Finnish "Farewell Jörg" tour from 18 to 26 November.

In March 2012, the band announced a drummer search on their Facebook page. On 20 June 2012, the band announced that Rolf Pilve is their new drummer.

On 29 June 2012, live album and DVD Under Flaming Winter Skies - Live In Tampere has been released. It was filmed in Tampere, Finland on 19 November 2011 and that is the last release with the drummer Jörg Michael.

Nemesis, Eternal, Enigma: Intermission 2 and Survive (2013–present)
Their next album, Nemesis, was released on 22 February 2013. The first single, "Unbreakable", was released on 25 January 2013. They also released a DVD called Nemesis Days with some Nemesis World Tour recordings in this same year.

In August 2014 the band announced they would play a few shows dedicated to their 1997 hit album Visions. During these shows, the whole album was played. The premiere of these concept shows was 12 September 2014: their headliner performance at Progpower USA in Atlanta.

On 5 December 2014 Elements Pt. 1 and Elements Pt. 2 were reissued as a box set which included the high quality 3CD+DVD digi-pak, a cassette including previously unreleased demo songs which are only available on this format and are not made available anywhere else, an "Elements" tour T-shirt as well as a reproduction of the original tour program.

On 24 April 2015, Stratovarius announced that their sixteenth studio album, Eternal, would be released on 11 September 2015. On 23 June 2015, Stratovarius unveiled Eternal's cover, as well as the official track list of the album. On 30 July 2015, the band announced that the lead single from Eternal will be Shine in the Dark. An official lyric video featuring vocalist Timo Kotipelto was uploaded onto YouTube. In October 2015, Stratovarius embarked on a world tour to promote the new album. They began this with a European Tour of 16 countries including France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Gloryhammer and Divine Ascension were the support acts for the European leg of the tour.

On 20 May 2016, the band released their Best Of compilation, which included one previously unreleased track called "Until the End of Days".

On 13 January 2018, Kotipelto discussed recent anniversary shows and also commented that the band had hoped to record a new album during spring 2018. On 10 August 2018, Stratovarius released the new song "Oblivion" from the upcoming compilation album Enigma: Intermission 2, which came out 28 September 2018. It is the follow-up to 2001's Intermission. The band supported the new album with a European tour with Tarja Turunen on the A Nordic Symphony '18 tour.

By September 2021, Stratovarius had been tracking their new album at Kotipelto's studio. The new album Survive was released on 23 September 2022.

Musical style
Stratovarius is described as primarily a power metal band and one of the most influential groups of the genre,  and also encompassed other genres, such as neoclassical metal,  progressive metal  and symphonic metal.

Band members

 * Current members
 * Timo Kotipelto – vocals (1994–present)
 * Jens Johansson – keyboards (1995–present)
 * Lauri Porra – bass, backing vocals (2005–present)
 * Matias Kupiainen – guitars, backing vocals (2008–present)
 * Rolf Pilve – drums (2012–present)

 * Former members
 * Timo Tolkki – guitars (1985–2008), lead vocals (1985–1994) , backing vocals (1994–2008)
 * Tuomo Lassila – drums (1985–1995)
 * Mika Ervaskari – keyboards (1985–1987, died 2005)
 * Jyrki Lentonen – bass (1985–1990)
 * Antti Ikonen – keyboards (1988–1995)
 * Jari Behm – bass (1989–1993)
 * Jari Kainulainen – bass (1993–2005)
 * Jörg Michael – drums (1995–2012)

 * Black Water line-up (1984–1985)
 * Tuomo Lassila – drums, lead vocals
 * John Vihervä – bass
 * Staffan Stråhlman – guitars
 * Mika Ervaskari – keyboards

 * Former session musicians
 * Sami Kuoppamäki (studio) – drums (1993-1994)
 * Anders Johansson (live) – drums (2004)
 * Alex Landenburg (live) – drums (2010)

Discography
Studio albums
 * Fright Night (1989)
 * Twilight Time (1992)
 * Dreamspace (1994)
 * Fourth Dimension (1995)
 * Episode (1996)
 * Visions (1997)
 * Destiny (1998)
 * Infinite (2000)
 * Elements Pt. 1 (2003)
 * Elements Pt. 2 (2003)
 * Stratovarius (2005)
 * Polaris (2009)
 * Elysium (2011)
 * Nemesis (2013)
 * Eternal (2015)
 * Survive (2022)

title: Stratovarius