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CD/DVD Releases: Iced Earth To Release Live DVD; Schaffer Comments

Posted on Sunday, October 01 @ 05:09:14 UTC by nightowl

With Iced Earth, Jon Schaffer created one of the most successful Power Metal bands ever. One of those reasons for their success is that Iced Earth were always renowned as being one of the best live bands ever. Their first and only live album, Alive In Athens, was recorded at two sold-out shows on the nights of January 23rd and January 24th, 1999, at the Rodon Club in Athens, Greece. Originally released as a triple CD set in summer 1999, Alive In Athens entered the German charts on #55 and stayed two weeks at #1 in Greece, where it was quickly certified Gold, a feat previously thought unattainable.

Alive In Athens was heralded by many as one of the greatest live heavy metal albums ever recorded, often named among such hallowed company as Iron Maiden's Live After Death and Judas Priest's Unleashed In The East as one of the finest live albums ever captured.

Seven years after the release of Alive In Athens, a discovery was made when raw footage of the live show itself was discovered in a discontinued archive, and out of curiosity alone the footage was immediately converted to a modern tape format and examined.



Although only three cameras were present at the show, the energy and atmosphere of the material was overwhelming, and only three of the 31 live songs ("Slave To The Dark," "A Question Of Heaven" and "Iced Earth") were absent or unusable due to videotape changes of the camera team. Not having known that camera footage existed from such a legendary concert, the decision was made to share the material with the world in the form of Alive In Athens - The DVD. The audio files have been re-mastered for 5.1 DTS surround sound to offer the best quality live feeling. While not as slick as the modern 16-camera, quick-cut DVD releases found today, the fact that fans can now share the visual experience of being at the show is one that will surely be rejoiced. Some backstage footage and a Jon Schaffer interview with the German music channel VIVA TV were also unearthed and added as part of this historical performance, leaving it without the standard bells and whistles but nonetheless delivering more than 2-? hours of the best metal ever recorded live.

Alive In Athens ? The DVD is set for an October 31st release.



That's the press release from Century Media. However, I want to share Schaffer's comments, as posted by Schaffer at the Iced Earth website - www.icedearth.com - on Sep. 21. You can view his full comments by clicking here: www.icedearth.com/wwwbb_msg.php?m=25

"I've been asked recently about the release of the Alive In Athens DVD and I want my position on this to be very clear to all of the Iced Earth fans out there. In my opinion, this is purely a money grab on behalf of Century Media Records. The reason that it was never released before is because the footage is substandard. This was only a three-camera shoot that was done for a German music television channel called Viva. I hosted the show as a guest VJ and played videos from different bands as well as a few tunes from the Alive In Athens concert.

"About a year ago, Century Media contacted me and asked if I'd like to be involved in doing this. I said that I did not think it was a good idea based on my memory of the footage, but to go ahead and send me some of the camera angles on DVD so I could think about it. After viewing the footage I felt that it would be extremely difficult to make a release that would live up to the standards that we have set for Iced Earth over the years. So I turned the project down."

"Several weeks ago, I learned that they were determined to release this DVD anyway. When I found this out I asked to see the edit and they obliged. After viewing it and seeing how weak it is I asked if they would be willing to fly me over and rework some of the edits. The answer was no, they did not think it could be done better. That translates into, 'We don't want to spend the money to make it the best it can be.'"

"So here's the deal: I want you all to be aware of what it is that they are releasing. This is a very low-budget, badly edited video of an amazing concert and an awesome period in the history of Iced Earth. They promised me that they are going to keep the price down and that they are not going to market it as something it's not. But I feel it's my responsibility to let you know the reality of the situation."

"I've often regretted that there was never a high-quality filming of the band during that period but it was something that we could never persuade the label to do. And it's not cheap if you do it right.

"Iced Earth will be filming a real DVD on the next world tour. This will be what the fans have been waiting for. It will consist of a 16-camera crew with cranes and a real stage show and all of the things necessary to finally bring to the fans a state-of-the-art DVD that will really give you the feeling of being at an Iced Earth show.

"The decision to purchase the Alive In Athens DVD is up to you. I just want you to be aware of what it is you're getting should you choose to do so.

"I don't want to make it sound like it's some horrible bootleg, because it's not, it's just not up to the standards that you've come to expect from us."

Posted in Album Release News

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Band News (tours, comings/goings, etc)