Well I am skipping a whole mess of albums to get to the Slave To The Dark Box Set. So as the Joker in Dark Knight said "And here....we....GO!"
This is basically just a review of the packaging and bonus songs as the albums are already reviewed (well most anyway, and though they are ALL supposed to be remastered the ones after Burnt Offerings I couldn't really tell any difference so I won't review that aspect of the albums).
As we all know (or should know) Century Media has decided that they want to make even more money off Iced Earth buy releasing each "mini LP" remastered album on it's own, completely independent of the box set. Though collecting the "new" albums that way will cost almost $100 or so MORE than buying the box set and you won't get the awesome box. The artwork of the set is just fucking awesome! And I love the packaging. The cd's come housed in gatefold sleeve type cases reminiscent of classic double lp's. And the cd's with two or more discs, come in their own sleeves in those gatefold cases, just like lp's from the day. Not to mention the cd's themselves are made to look like lp's (hence the mini lp in the the titles). Even the ones with more than one disc have lables like lp's "Side A" and "Side B" type labels. They even gone as far as writing "Stereo 33 RPM" on the labels.
Now on to the music contents...
Iced Earth - They decided to use the original non US artwork for this album. The actual album is the same remaster from the Dark Genesis set. There are no bonuses on this release. Though the cd booklet does feature the US release cover and remastered cover artwork with the lyrics and it folds out to be a mini poster of the cover artwork on one side.
Night Of The Stormrider - As with Iced Earth, this is the remastered version from Dark Genesis but with the addition of a bonus track. The cd booklet features the infamous never used Rick Barstelmann artwork that looks like an aged Jon Schaffer with vampire fangs on a vampire horse. It also features a little story about the three used and unused artworks for the album. Story and lyrics on one side and like Iced Earth a mini poster of the album cover art on the other. Unlike the Iced Earth album they stuck with the US version artwork rather than using the "Flying Frog" or Barstelmann artwork on the gatefold sleeve. The bonus track is the rare live version of "Stormrider" recorded at Waken in 1998. This song was featured as a Japanese bonus track to the original release of "Something Wicked This Way Comes".
Burnt Offerings - This one is the remaster from Dark Genesis but uses the original artwork rather than the remaster artwork. There is no cd booklet as they decided to release this as a double disc set. The first disc is the remastered album and the second disc is the "rough mix" of the entire album. Slight differences but I really didn't pay much attention to give a proper review the the rough mixes, I will eventually.
Days Of Purgatory - Nothing different on this release besides packaging, no bonus tracks or unreleased artwork.
The Dark Saga - This too has nothing different than the original release other than two bonus songs called "Hellspawn Mix 1 and Mix 2" which are nothing more the rough mixes of the song "Dark Saga".
Something Wicked This Way Comes - I couldn't tell what was remastered here compared to the original so I can't say much about that aspect of the album. It does feature the three cover songs from the Melancholy EP as bonus tracks which is cool. "Shooting Star", "Electric Funeral" and "The Ripper".
Alive In Athens - The only addition to this three disc set is the song "Colors" is back on (disc 2). It was left off the original release for reasons mentioned in the other review of this album and was than released on the Melancholy EP.
Enter The Realm Of The Gods - A combination of the remastered "Enter The Realm" Demo and "Tribute To The Gods" album. Same versions as on Dark Genesis. No bonus tracks or anything else.
Horror Show - This was released a while back with the bonus track "Transylvania" on it as a two disc set, with a long interview and the bonus song on the second disc. You can still find the single disc version WITH "Transylvania" on it at most Best Buy stores (the ones in my town have em) but the bonus is track 8 being placed between "Dragons Child" and "Frankenstein". So it's not really a rare song or bonus song, as the version WITHOUT the song is the hardest one to find. This version (supposedly remastered) features the track as track 11 as did a few imports of the original back when it came out.
Alive In Athens DVD - No bonuses nothing different, exact same as original dvd release, region 0, meaning it can be played on virtually any dvd player in the world. Of course because of the box set being made the way it is, there is no dvd case it is just in a cardboard sleeve like how most promos are released. No gatefold no booklet.
All in all well worth the money for die hard fans such as myself even if you already have all the albums. Especially if you are a nitpicky fan since all albums are "remastered". The artwork and box to hold the collection are really what motivated me to buy this set. Yes we all know Jon does not endorse the set, but he did say the same as I am saying. If you are a diehard fan you will want it. Of course be prepared to pay over 120 bucks at least. Or spend close to $200 if you buy them individually, but remember that way you don't get the box. _________________ "To answer the question asked of me "Have you been saved?", the answer is yes! I have been saved!! .......................
From Jesus by SATAN!!!" - Me
I bought it on the release day, got it for 99,95€. Even if it lacks of unreleased songs it still completed my Iced Earth discography, so i think it was well worth the money! _________________
I bought it on the release day, got it for 99,95€. Even if it lacks of unreleased songs it still completed my Iced Earth discography, so i think it was well worth the money!
I don't get what you mean by "lacks unreleased songs" cause it has a whole album worth, the Alt Mix of Burnt Offerings not to mention the two Hellspawn songs which were never released on any IE album before. Please explain? I am not aware of any other unreleased songs by IE during the Century Media years. Oh and no I am not being sarcastic or an ass, I really want to know. Thanks. _________________ "To answer the question asked of me "Have you been saved?", the answer is yes! I have been saved!! .......................
From Jesus by SATAN!!!" - Me
I don't get what you mean by "lacks unreleased songs" cause it has a whole album worth, the Alt Mix of Burnt Offerings not to mention the two Hellspawn songs which were never released on any IE album before. Please explain? I am not aware of any other unreleased songs by IE during the Century Media years. Oh and no I am not being sarcastic or an ass, I really want to know. Thanks.
Okey, I should have used the words "unreleased material" instead. Cause maybe there arn't any NEW songs, but I still think the box lacks of unreleased material.
We got the 2 Hellspawn mixes where I can't hear any diffrence between (the Song) The Dark Saga and Hellspawn (mix 2). The Rough mix version of Burnt Offerings is pretty cool stuff to have but as for the rest is stuff I already heard. Most bands when they release a box set like this they expand many cd's with live material, demos or whatever they find. I can't see any reason why Iced Earth wouldn't have also some demo versions and stuff lying around somewhere.
Can't remember which interview but Jon said that he heard about the release of the box only a couple of days before it's release, and if he knew about it he would have make sure there would have been some more intresting things to hear.
Instead of this feels like a cool box for the fans, it's more like a cash grab. _________________
I don't get what you mean by "lacks unreleased songs" cause it has a whole album worth, the Alt Mix of Burnt Offerings not to mention the two Hellspawn songs which were never released on any IE album before. Please explain? I am not aware of any other unreleased songs by IE during the Century Media years. Oh and no I am not being sarcastic or an ass, I really want to know. Thanks.
Okey, I should have used the words "unreleased material" instead. Cause maybe there arn't any NEW songs, but I still think the box lacks of unreleased material.
We got the 2 Hellspawn mixes where I can't hear any diffrence between (the Song) The Dark Saga and Hellspawn (mix 2). The Rough mix version of Burnt Offerings is pretty cool stuff to have but as for the rest is stuff I already heard. Most bands when they release a box set like this they expand many cd's with live material, demos or whatever they find. I can't see any reason why Iced Earth wouldn't have also some demo versions and stuff lying around somewhere.
Can't remember which interview but Jon said that he heard about the release of the box only a couple of days before it's release, and if he knew about it he would have make sure there would have been some more intresting things to hear.
Instead of this feels like a cool box for the fans, it's more like a cash grab.
I get you and agree, really they could have used more material. There is a demo tape they have that came out as a comp of their Purgatory and Iced Earth Demos, I think we mentioned it in a different topic here, they could have used that. And yes there may have been some material recorded and it never saw the light of day. Other than the Hellspawns all the "bonus" songs have been available on import versions or special editions of their albums at one point or another. I think the alt mix Burnt Offerings was actually made available at one time but I am not certain and don't want to say for sure as I could be wrong. I do think it is a cash grab, honestly if it weren't for the packaging I would have just waited for the single releases for the Hellspawn songs instead of spending $120 for the whole thing. Of course I wouldn't do that for all bands I like just my top favorites.
_________________ "To answer the question asked of me "Have you been saved?", the answer is yes! I have been saved!! .......................
From Jesus by SATAN!!!" - Me
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