Astounding
Stu Block has managed to do what I thought was impossible - do justice to material from Iced Earth's full discography, and originally sung by no less than 4 different people. He can out-scream Ripper, and even out-emote Harlow. And the whole band sounds tight, energized, and the crowd is INTO it. That a band this far into their career can pull off a live album like this is really remarkable.
If you like Iced Earth - old stuff or new - this is a must buy. And if you like power metal at all - grab it.
Now I just have to wait for the Blu-ray to come out in the U.S.
Ancient Kourion - an "Iced Earth MUST"!!!
5 stars... it would be silly to expect anything better than this! Watched the dvd in one sitting... with my girlfriend... we were both mesmerized!
I'm a big fan of Iced Earth, they're probably my favorite band. That may lead you to believe this will be a biased review; however, often times the biggest fans are also the harshest critics. To build credibility, here's a few criticisms I have toward Iced Earth:
* "Framing Armageddon" & "Crucible of Man"... I've picked about 5 songs between the 2 albums that I really enjoy, the rest are pretty much boring/filler to me.
* I liked Barlow the 1st time around, buy why get rid of Ripper to bring back a "part-time" Barlow?
* "Festivals of the Wicked" - why release 2 shows from the same summer festival tour? The 2 Barlow shows have virtually the same setlist.
But for "Live in Ancient Kourion" ... Iced Earth has nailed it! As Jon states in one of the interviews, the setlist will never please everyone...
Surgical Precision, Highest Quality Effort
No question - Iced Earth presented their fans with a true gem. This is simply not just their best live album ever, but one of the best ever in the genre. Why did I buy this album? First, I'm a fan. But, that's not very useful if you are wondering whether you should get it, is it? First should be that Iced Earth truly play inspired and true metal. Emotion, dedication, love shown to their fans - all of it is there. Second, the quality of the material is the highest. Songs on this live album sound better than on their studio releases. Third, the musicianship is second to none. Finally, in Stu Iced Earth got the world class singer. I don't care whether you're a fan of Dickinson, Halford, Dio, Ripper, Barlow or someone else, Stu will impress you. If you're a metal fan you should own this record ... If you're an Iced Earth fan, ... well, it's a no brainer.
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