Looks like I need to catch up!

Dark Saga - Great album, their most accessible album at the time. I usually tell people to start with this album when introducing them to Iced Earth. Not a bad song on it IMO

Days of Purgatory - I own the two disc version. When I bought it, I really had to have every Iced Earth album. It barely gets touched now, because if I want to listen to Barlow sing the old songs, I'll play Alive in Athens.

Something Wicked - Looks like they were following the same formula as Dark Saga. I really like Watching Over Me as it has some sentimental meaning to me. The downfall on this album for me is it having too many ballads. I do love the Trilogy at the end, though. Still a solid album.

Something Wicked is also my favorite Iced Earth album...it was the first one I owned and I think the songs/hooks on it are stellar. There's not a bad song on this album, IMO. The riffs are vicious, the melodies are passionate and Barlow sounds amazing on this album...

1. Burning Times
2. Melancholy (Holy Martyr)
3. Disciples of the Lie
4. Watching Over Me
5. Stand Alone
6. Consequences
7. My Own Savior
8. Reaping Stone
9. 1776
10. Blessed Are You
Something Wicked Trilogy:
11. Prophecy
12. Birth of the Wicked
13. The Coming Curse

Every track is kick ass!

SOMETHING WICKED was when the US finally woke up to Iced Earth. I saw more advertising, magazine interviews and hype for that record here than for any of the previous CDs. I bought it as soon as it came out and was blown away by it. The band was definitely firing on all cylinders. Everything -- even the artwork and layout -- is total class. That album was a mission statement. "We're here, we're not going away, and we're going to kick your a$$." Fave tracks: "Burning Times," "Disciples of the Lie," "Blessed Are You." The closing "Something Wicked" trilogy is killer stuff, I like it almost as much as I like the "Dante's Inferno" trilogy from BURNT OFFERINGS (still my favorite I.E. epic) but it's a close race.

In short - this album freakin rules. One of my favorite albums of the '90s and quite possibly my fave I.E. disc overall.

I was a casual fan of Iced Earth before Something Wicked, but really got into the band after this album, including their back catalog. Something Wicked is heavy and dripping with emotion. The band were just on fire here. I don't think they really ever topped it.

Something Wicked is easily my favorite Iced Earth album. I'm not sure if this was the first album I got by them. It might have been. But when I'm looking for some Iced Earth to listen to, this is the album I each for most. So much in fact that I sometimes stop myself and say "Why don't you give some other one a shot?".

As for Dark Saga and Days of Purgatory, I need to go back and listen to them some more. At the time I was in such a fever to purchase all of the Iced Earth catalog, I didn't spend enough time really listening to them and enjoy them for what they were.

On a side note, I saw Iced Earth on the Something Wicked tour with Nevermore and Destiny's End at a little dive in Albuquerque. GREAT SHOW! No one showed up. Only a handful of people were there to watch this killer line-up. Got to meet one of my heroes, James Rivera. Still have the promo poster from that show.

... And then they created their masterpiece! Nothing Iced Earth did before (and probably ever will again) can top this. It's just the perfect power metal album. Great songs, great playing, and what a singer they have in Mr. Barlow! Every song on this album is AWESOME! But for reference, check out "Burning Times", "Melancholy (Holy Martyr)" and "Disciples Of The Lie". I really fell in love with the album's power-ballads. They are in a league of their own. 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' combines blistering power metal, and mind numbing arrangements. On the surface it seems as thought the band is just playing almost ordinary, straight ahead power metal. But it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the music is a bit more complex than that. Right there in-between heavy metal and thrash metal lies Iced Earth. Continuing the legacy of bands such as Metal Church and Vicious Rumors, only taking it up a notch. The production gives the band the edge this music needs, and the entire album sound very powerful. The epic songs are enhanced by the powerful voice of Matt Barlow. Again, this is truly a heavy metal milestone, and a masterpiece! A MUST!!

Killer songs: All of them!

This is probably my favorite IE album. Solid from start to finish. "Melancholy (Holy Martyr)" is probably my favorite slower tempo song from them. This is the album I loan to people who have never heard of them. Usually IE ends up with a new fan!

Something Wicked is great and in 1998 was so different for the most part. Power Metal was a bad word then but these guys put out a masterpiece.

I'll get this one out of the way quick, since it's related to the last album.



THE MELANCHOLY E.P. (1999)

Next thing Iced Earth would release is an EP to try and get some more radioplay for their latest power ballad.

Matt Barlow - vocals
Jon Schaffer - rhythm guitar
James McDonough - bass
Larry Tarnowski - lead guitar
Mark Prator - drums

Again the last two are listed as guest musicians.

Produced by Jim Morris and Jon Schaffer.

Basically it's a record with three of the best Iced Earth ballads, mixed with three cover songs and a live track from the Alive in Athens sessions. It's a decent enough package for a fan, though it seems to go for the price of a full length album. It would be a stretch to call this an essential release.

1. Melancholy (Holy Martyr)
2. Shooting Star (Bad Company cover)
3. Watching Over Me
4. Electric Funeral (Black Sabbath)
5. I Died for You
6. The Ripper (Judas Priest cover)
7. Colors (LIVE)

The last two tracks were not on the original pressing of the EP, which was limited to only 2000 copies. The new pressing with these bonus tracks was actually released in 2001, but I wanted the timeline here to make a bit more sense, so I introduced this before the live album.

There's not much to say about the songs themselves... you should already know the three original tracks. The cover songs are okay, I guess, especially Electric Funeral, though I do prefer Iced Earth doing faster stuff. I think the best part of this EP is the live version of Colors, one of my favourite songs. As already heard on Days of Purgatory, Barlow can do a great job with it. This version is probably even better than that one.

Something Wicked is my 3rd favorite IE album and a great set of songs. My favorite songs are Meloncholy, Watching Over Me (both great ballads), The Reaping Stone, 1776, and the Wicked Trilogy.

I don't have that EP, usually I don't do EPs anyway.

Their Bad Company cover is pretty cool...

The MELANCHOLY EP isn't a must-have by any means, but it is a cool collectible. When it was first released it was only available via Century Media's web site, sold out pretty quickly and thus commanded stooooopid money on eBay shortly after that. $50 seemed like a hell of a lot of $ to pay for just five songs, so at that time I said "Well, I guess I can forget about ever getting this thing."

Fortunately CM released a European version of the same EP a year or two later, so I grabbed that the first time I saw one. Truthfully it's more of a collection-filler than anything else, but I do put it on occasionally to hear the Bad Company and Sabbath covers.

Money grab and I don't have it.

I love the EP as well. Matter of fact it is probaby the EP I play the most in my collection.

I lucked out and picked this one up on ebay pretty cheap. The cover tunes are pretty cool and make it a worthwhile purchase in my opinion, but I can't remember the last time I pulled this one out to play it. It keep it for collectible purposes mostly.

I picked this up strictly for the live version of Colors! I don't remember how much I paid for it, but I'm sure it was too much.

I don't have this one, but I don't always consider EPs essential in my collection.

Sounds like this one is worth the price of admission though.

I'm sure you can find it used pretty cheap. Not sure why Colors was left off AIA, because it sounds great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S6mO04Xfag

Jon being who he is makes me jaded about it.

ALIVE IN ATHENS (1999)

With their back catalogue Iced Earth have really shown what they are capable of, but in 1999 there was still one thing missing. The band knew it, the fans knew it. People who had seen the band live were expecting this to be great, but was anyone really prepared for arguably the greatest live album in heavy metal history?

I'm going to take back my words about Days of Purgatory and Something Wicked being excellent introductions to this band. Yes, they are GOOD ways to get a sample of their music, but THE best way to get the feel of what is Iced Earth is to buy and play ALIVE IN ATHENS.

The album was recorded at two separate shows with two different sets of songs. The result is a triple live album (plus Colors as a left out track as was mentioned in the Melancholy EP entry).

Matthew Barlow - Vocals
Jon Schaffer - Rhythm guitar
Larry Tarnowski - Lead guitar
James MacDonough - Bass
Brent Smedley - Drums
Rick Risberg - Keyboards

Produced by Jon Schaffer and Jim Morris

Smedley and Risberg are listed as guest musicians. For the first time Tarnowski gets to be a band member in the roulette we call Iced Earth. Not enough was said about the change of lead guitarists in the previous posts. Randy Shawver for sure contributed to the early sound of Iced Earth and especially the lead work, but Tarnowski plays those solos here even better. Absolutely flawless playing.

Track list:

Spoiler:

Disc 1 1. Burning Times 2. Vengeance Is Mine 3. Pure Evil 4. My Own Savior 5. Melancholy (Holy Martyr) 6. Dante's Inferno 7. The Hunter 8. Travel in Stygian 9. Slave to the Dark 10. A Question of Heaven Disc 2 1. Dark Saga 2. Last Laugh 3. Last December 4. Watching Over Me 5. Angels Holocaust 6. Stormrider 7. Path I Choose 8. I Died for You 9. Prophecy 10. Birth of the Wicked 11. The Coming Curse 12. Iced Earth Disc 3 1. Stand Alone 2. Cast in Stone 3. Desert Rain 4. Brainwashed 5. Disciples of the Lie 6. When the Night Falls 7. Diary 8. Blessed Are You 9. Violate

I don't know what to really say about these individual tracks that hasn't been said already.

The live version of Pure Evil is much faster than the Stormrider album version. Really one of the best tracks on the album.

'1776' is not listed, but is played as an outro to the second disc (playback).

No Creator Failure or Burning Oasis? But complaining about either of them missing is a bit ungrateful. Adding EVEN MORE tracks to this amazing set would be just too much to ask. Seriously, a triple live album? That's awesome already. Just that it would have been great to hear Barlow do the "ABOMINAAAAATION" part in Creator Failure live. Great song.

Having said that (about not complaining), Blessed Are You is featured here. And it doesn't even sound that great, despite the lyrics that would make you think it fits well with a live setting. But, at least in my opinion, this is one of those songs that work better in the studio.

Best version of When the Night Falls ever recorded. And Iced Earth.

This album was supposed to be released as a three CD set worldwide, but the record company felt the buyer attraction created by extra tracks would not offset the extra cost that come with printing three CDs per set, so USA only got a double disc version. Greece certainly proved them wrong, as it entered their charts at #1. Granted, Greece is not a top album selling nation (blame it on mp3s or culture of not buying CDs, but when they are interested in something they do buy it as evidenced here), but it's still a great achievement. Now that I wrote that, I cannot find any online confirmation about sales in Greece, so you're going to have to take my word for it. I think I heard it from a reliable (Greek) source way back a decade ago, but who knows now.

Speaking of the Greek, the volume of the audience is mixed at a perfect level. There's plenty of audience singing and participation, especially during the slow breaks that Iced Earth songs have many, but when the band really starts playing they sound clear and on top. Very little noise. Some songs do seem a bit 'too faithful' so I'm sure there was enough finetuning at the post production stage, too, for those who care.

The cover again features Iced Earth's mascot Set Abominae. Cool looking cover. Though at first glance I remember I thought he was burning the Greek flag.

What else? Well, this is also available as a five disc vinyl version. And a DVD that was released in 2006, though Schaffer said it shouldn't have been. Apparently he thinks the video was not in good enough quality and I'm sure they'll shoot a new DVD at some point. I never saw the DVD so I can't comment on that. But this album is definitely among my favourites and an album I play a lot.

In general, I'm not a fan of live albums, but this one is a big exception to the rule. It's just sooooo intense. I have the 3 disc import set and I love it. I originally purchased it as the 2 disc set, more to complete Iced Earth discography, but after hearing how awesome it was, I was soon on the look-out for the 3 disc set.

Due to my disinterest in most live albums, I only picked up ALIVE IN ATHENS fairly recently (like, within the last month or so) via trade basically because having a hole in my otherwise complete I.E. discography was bugging the hell out of my O.C.D. I traded with a fellow forum member here for the 2-disc version. It's a great show, and a decently made live album, but to be honest I spun it a couple of times and stuck it on the shelf. Nothin' against the band or the performance, just my general lack of live-album love I guess.

I also borrowed the DVD version from a friend some time ago, which was fun to watch.

Right up there with Iron Maiden live, the intensity of this band really came through.