A fine assortment of obscurities and ballads

On this, Iced Earth's 2000 E.P., are seven tracks both well-known and -liked, as well as unheard and elsewhere unavailable. The former include three ballads: "Melancholy (Holy Martyr)" and "Watching Over Me," from the great SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and "I Died For You," from THE DARK SAGA. These songs are all well-known to any Iced Earth fan, and show the passionate, emotional side of the band. However, because they're so well-known, I won't get into them here.

The last track, "Colors," was supposed to have been included on their live album, ALIVE IN ATHENS, but for some reason did not make the final cut (but thankfully it is available like this!). This is a great, uber-heavy thrasher, and their performance of it is pristine.

The other three songs, however, are excellently rendered covers. Two are classic metal songs, Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral," and Judas Priest's "The Ripper." These bands are both obvious - and traditional - influences on Iced Earth, and let me tell you now, Iced Earth's renditions ROCK.

"Electric Funeral" is well-executed, with the same chugging rhythms that came naturally to Sabbath, only far heavier here with Jon Schaffer's ultra crunches. Not to knock the great Ozzy, but Matthew Barlow's snarling wails far outdo the original singer's performance. As well, session drummer Mark Prator is, as usual, perfect. Definitely one of the best Black Sabbath covers I've ever heard.

"The Ripper" is a rip-snorting thrash piece, even before the days of thrash. The guitars shred, the drums pound away, and Christ, Barlow's VOCALS - he could replace Rob Halford any day of the week. It is kind of funny now that Iced Earth covered that song; after Halford left Judas Priest, he was replaced by Tim "Ripper" Owens; later, when Barlow left Iced Earth, Tim Owens replaced HIM. It might be kind of interesting to hear Iced Earth cover this song in concert!

Much like the TRIBUTE TO THE GODS cover album, one of the songs here is a rather surprising selection. One would think that a metal band would have all metal songs for covers, but on that album there are covers of songs from AC/DC and Blue Öyster Cult! So here it is less of a surprise that there is a cover of a Bad Company song, "Shooting Star," a heartfelt ballad about the life of a rock star. Matthew Barlow makes an excellent vocal performance, and is one of the most emotional singers I've ever heard. Larry Tarnowski's solo shines, too.

This is a great little miscellaneous collection; songs not available elsewhere are here, and are excellent. Yes, I know it's a hard-to-find import, but this is not just another E.P. that you might want to toss after a few listens. For any REAL Iced Earth fan, this is a must.

a nice collection of material with some great covers

Iced Earth's Melancholy EP clocks in at just over 30 minutes, and features powerful metal 7 songs - 3 tracks from various Iced Earth albums (Melancholy, Watching Over Me, and I Died For You), 1 live track (Colors), and 3 excellent cover songs, which aren't available anywhere else. While the 4 original songs are quite good, they are probably already well-known to the serious Iced Earth fan. The highlights of this EP are the 3 covers - Bad Company's Shooting Star, Black Sabbath's Electric Funeral, and Judas Priest's the Ripper (which is a bit ironic considering former Priest frontman Tim "Ripper" Owens is now Iced Earth's lead singer). The Sabbath and Priest covers are quite good, which should probably be expected from a band that is so obviously influenced by those two bands. The surprising choice of covering classic rockers Bad Company shows that the band wasn't just influenced by traditional metal bands (as do their covers of Blue Oyster Cult and Alice Cooper on their Tribute to the Gods album). Ice Earth's version of Shooting Star turns out to be the EP's standout track. Vocalist Matt Barlow seems to put his heart and soul into the song, and it really pays off.
Overall I was quite pleased with the Melancholy EP. I could have wished for all-new original songs, but that is a minor gripe considering how good the cover songs turned out to be. I'd recommend this album to all serious Iced Earth fans. Casual fans or those looking to try the band out might want to try some of the band's regular albums before checking this one out (I'd recommend Days of Purgatory as a great starting point).

Iced Earth are a great band, EP priced not of this Earth!

I love Iced Earth, I have all there releases, except for Dark Saga. I picked this up out of curiosity. 3 of the 7 tracks are on Something Wicked CD ( Melancholy (Holy Martyr), Watching Over Me, and I Died For You). Cool covers of The Ripper (Judas Priest), Electric Funeral (Sabbath), and Shooting Star (Bad Company). All are worthy covers and should be in your Iced Earth collection. There is one other song from Something Wicked, that is presented here live, Colors! Just blazing as they usually are live.
A very decent EP, but for the money, it could be priced a little lower. Go and try to find it used.