Marko Hietala comments (excerpt)

“‘Gates Of Babylon’ by Rainbow really got me into sophisticated pre-symphonic metal. Though that genre didn’t really exist at the time, I saw that it would become something big after a decade or so. I loved ‘Stargazer’ too, but Gates... had probably the most brilliant solo that [Ritchie] Blackmore has ever done. I have a long history of combining a lot of things, having an ambitious attitude towards music and a lot of imagination. Probably because of the stuff I fill my head with! So Rainbow and ‘Metropolis I’ by Dream Theater – that song also got me interested in being a real listener of music. I used it as something of a musical arrangement playbook when experimenting myself!”