Athens is Alive!!!

Here we have it. We have here, one of the most awesome live albums in metal history. Rock in Rio can't even hold a candle to Alive in Athens, in my opinion. Almost everything about this album is completely mind-blowing. Most of the time, I'd rather listen to a studio version of a song rather than a live version, but not with Alive in Athens.



With Alive in Athens, Iced Earth takes the studio to the audience and multiplies the awesomeness on all kinds of levels. This is the true poster boy of all live albums. There are no mistakes, no breaks, or anything stupid. All there is room for is the pure power of heavy metal. I know Jon Schaffer traditionally doesn't use BC Rich guitars, but he used one well on Alive in Athens.



The guitars have a very heavy crunch sound, as if you're being beaten into the ground with a sledgehammer. The solos stand out more than on the studio albums, even though some parts couldn't be harmonized it's still just as good. The thing I would have changed would have been to take out "Last Laugh" as well as "The Path I Choose," and replace them with something like "Burnt Offerings" and "Consequences," maybe. Dante's Inferno on Alive in Athens easily beats the Burnt Offerings studio version. The sound is so sweet, crushing, heavy, and melodic.



I was glad to hear Barlow do the Night of the Stormrider material, because I wasn't a fan of Greely's vocals at all. Matt totally nails the NOTS material with ease, which brings a smile to my face each time I listen to it. When I first bought the album it was in my CD player for over a few months. Yes, it's that good! This album completely pulverizes any live Iron Maiden or Judas Priest album with ease. This album is worth every penny and should be owned by all heavy metal fans.

Just amazing, absolutly amazing...

First off let me say that Matthew Barlow absolutly kicked the sh*t out of the early Iced Earth material that Randy Shawver sang on, key song being "Stormrider". With that said and out of the way, I truely believe that this album is an absolute essential for any true metal fan.

Possibly one of the few live CD's where the live versions are better than the studio versions. And I think the one song that proves it right from the get-go is "Burning Times". There is far more energy on the live version than on the studio recording off "Something Wicked". All in all I can't go telling you what is good and what sucks, but I put a 10/10 on this CD just f*cking amazing. Do yourself a favor and buy it now.

P.S.- I also own the 3 disc version, a little more expensive but it reall is worth it.

The only thing from Iced Earth you'll ever Need

This is probably the only thing from Iced Earth you'll ever need. The sound quality is almost studio perfection, very crisp and clear sounding, right up there with Slayer's Decade of Aggression or Exodus's Another Lesson in Violence or Metallica's S&M. Listening to this album makes me wish I was there, hearing the crowd chanting "Iced Earth, Iced Earth" just makes me want to chant along with them as they wait for the next bone crushing song. The highlights of this album for me are Burning Times, Pure Evil, Dante's Inferno, Stormrider, Dark Saga, and Iced Earth, all of these songs seem to have the energy that was needed in their studio albums, even the speed up version of Burning Times is very cool, the attitude of the song performance is quite overwhelming. This is again a very powerful album and a great introduction to Iced Earth, I will provide you with the tracklisting of the third disc of the set that I got so you can see that the three disc set is much better, and well worth the money.



Disc 3:

1. Stand Alone

2. Cast in Stone

3. Desert Rain

4. Brainwashed

5. Desciples of the Lie

6. When the Night Falls

7. Diary

8. Blessed are You

9. Violate