So I got the DVD and here are my thoughts:
Iced Earth's first and only live album, "Alive in Athens", was recorded at two sold-out shows on the nights of January 23 and January 24 1999 at the Rodon Club in Athens, Greece. Originally it was only released as a triple-CD and on vinyl in summer 1999. Although only three cameras were present at the show, the quality of the video and picture resolution were rather good, restored, 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. The audio files have been re-mastered for 5.1 DTS surround sound to offer the best quality live feeling and are exactly the same quality as heard on the live cd set.
Being a long time fan and someone who has gone out and purchased every record the day it came out since the release of "The Dark Saga", as well as interviewed John, with no disrespect to John, God I would never, and I am not questioning his problems with this release, but this DVD is just fine as it stands. The packaging matches that of the cd, with the booklet including lyrics to each song and photos.
The videos quality is clean and overall sharp, yet maybe seen as a tad soft given the year of its recording, with selective moments of fuzziness in the resolution and the occasional glitch in the transfer (think I caught one to two the most) but that is so minimal you barely notice the couple imperfections. You really have to be examining this with a fine toothed comb to catch it.
My problem with the whole thing is how do you lose three songs due to tape changes??? How unprofessional is that and clearly the issue should have been dealt with and avoided prior to taping. The running order of the track listing also does not match that of the original cd given some patch work had to be done in order to present it as one show.
I am assuming these are the faults that bothered John and swayed his full support behind this release.
The videos edit is perfectly synched up with the audio and includes multiple camera angels (for a three camera shoot) and rotating shots of each member. The 5.1 audio mix is satisfactory given at the time it wasn't recorded for those specs, so the low end bass and drums don't come across as one would expect through a sub woofer.
Don't let all the scrutinizing by either John or anyone else question whether or not this is the full performance because minus those three songs it is presented as a full concert. The band are in top form and this is the "Live After Death" for 90's Heavy Metal.
The two bonus features are thin as it only includes some backstage footage which is nothing more than the guys mulling around prior to the performance with no real candid footage aside from the "John Schaffer in Athens" segment where he takes you on a tour of some of Greece's sites and backstage where he introduces his proud parents. So what this DVD boils down to is the performance.
Given this was an official audio/video recording and is a snap shot in Iced Earth's history I am glad the DVD portion was released. Hopefully one day John also will accept it for what it is and be glad this time in Iced Earth's past was captured, preserved on video and not completely lost.
You can read the whole review with some of John's previous comments about its release here http://www.metalasylum.net/reviews/cd06074.html
Iced Earth's first and only live album, "Alive in Athens", was recorded at two sold-out shows on the nights of January 23 and January 24 1999 at the Rodon Club in Athens, Greece. Originally it was only released as a triple-CD and on vinyl in summer 1999. Although only three cameras were present at the show, the quality of the video and picture resolution were rather good, restored, 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. The audio files have been re-mastered for 5.1 DTS surround sound to offer the best quality live feeling and are exactly the same quality as heard on the live cd set.
Being a long time fan and someone who has gone out and purchased every record the day it came out since the release of "The Dark Saga", as well as interviewed John, with no disrespect to John, God I would never, and I am not questioning his problems with this release, but this DVD is just fine as it stands. The packaging matches that of the cd, with the booklet including lyrics to each song and photos.
The videos quality is clean and overall sharp, yet maybe seen as a tad soft given the year of its recording, with selective moments of fuzziness in the resolution and the occasional glitch in the transfer (think I caught one to two the most) but that is so minimal you barely notice the couple imperfections. You really have to be examining this with a fine toothed comb to catch it.
My problem with the whole thing is how do you lose three songs due to tape changes??? How unprofessional is that and clearly the issue should have been dealt with and avoided prior to taping. The running order of the track listing also does not match that of the original cd given some patch work had to be done in order to present it as one show.
I am assuming these are the faults that bothered John and swayed his full support behind this release.
The videos edit is perfectly synched up with the audio and includes multiple camera angels (for a three camera shoot) and rotating shots of each member. The 5.1 audio mix is satisfactory given at the time it wasn't recorded for those specs, so the low end bass and drums don't come across as one would expect through a sub woofer.
Don't let all the scrutinizing by either John or anyone else question whether or not this is the full performance because minus those three songs it is presented as a full concert. The band are in top form and this is the "Live After Death" for 90's Heavy Metal.
The two bonus features are thin as it only includes some backstage footage which is nothing more than the guys mulling around prior to the performance with no real candid footage aside from the "John Schaffer in Athens" segment where he takes you on a tour of some of Greece's sites and backstage where he introduces his proud parents. So what this DVD boils down to is the performance.
Given this was an official audio/video recording and is a snap shot in Iced Earth's history I am glad the DVD portion was released. Hopefully one day John also will accept it for what it is and be glad this time in Iced Earth's past was captured, preserved on video and not completely lost.
You can read the whole review with some of John's previous comments about its release here http://www.metalasylum.net/reviews/cd06074.html
