''Alive in Athens'' is a live album by American heavy metal band

Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...

. It was recorded on the nights of January 23 and January 24, 1999, in front of sold-out crowds of approximately 2000 people (on both nights) at the Rodon Club in Athens, Greece. Iced Earth was supporting the '' Something Wicked This Way Comes'' album and were on tour. It was turned into a single DVD, and released in October 2006. The album features the return of former drummer

Brent Smedley Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...

, who did not record on the band's previous album. At the conclusion of "Violate", the band plays the opening riff of "

The Trooper "The Trooper" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released as the second single on 20 June 1983 from the band's fourth studio album, ''Piece of Mind'' (1983). It was one of only a few songs to get much radio airplay in ...

" by

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

. "Colors" was also played at this concert, but was not included on the CD due to a track listing mix-up. It is, however, included on the reissue of ''The Melancholy E.P.''. Next to the CD version, there also exists a vinyl box version. It was released in 1999 and contained five pictures of the band's albums. One had the Alive in Athens artwork, the other ones had the Night of The Stormrider, Dark Saga, Days of Purgatory and Something Wicked This Way Comes artwork. It came originally with an Alive in Athens poster signed by Jon Schaffer. This box had the same track list as the three-disc version. In 2008, Century Media reissued the three-CD release in a limited mini-LP gatefold sleeve. It included "Colors" as a bonus track on disc two. According to a 2003 post by Jon Schaffer, the album was certified Platinum in Greece.

Track listing

Disc I

Disc II

;Bonus track (2008 reissue)

Disc III

DVD

On October 30, 2006,

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

released a DVD version featuring live footage of the concert. Shortly before the DVD was publicly released, Iced Earth rhythm guitarist and founder

Jon Schaffer Jon Ryan Schaffer (born March 15, 1968) is an American heavy metal musician. He is the rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter of the Indiana-based heavy metal band Iced Earth, which he formed in 1985 under the name Purgatory. He is also the ...

offered a statement which voiced dissatisfaction with Century Media (with whom Iced Earth was no longer signed at the time). A portion of this statement reads: "I want you all to be aware of what it is that they entury Mediaare 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." Schaffer did not, however, go so far as to call for a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

of the product, saying, "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." The song order is not identical to that featured on the album version. A few songs are also missing, including "Slave to the Dark", "A Question of Heaven", and "Iced Earth". "Colors" was played at this concert as well, but was not included on the CD or DVD due to a track listing mix up. It is however included on ''The Melancholy E.P.'' and the 2008 re-release of ''Alive in Athens''.

Bonus features

*Iced Earth Backstage *Jon Schaffer in Athens

Personnel

;Iced Earth *

– rhythm guitar, vocals * Matthew Barlow – lead vocals *

James MacDonough James MacDonough (born April 3, 1970) is an American bass guitarist. He has played with heavy metal bands Iced Earth, Nevermore, and Megadeth. Career MacDonough was part of Iced Earth's line up from 1996–2000 and again from 2001–2004. W ...

– bass guitar *Larry Tarnowski – lead guitar ;Guest musicians *Rick Risberg – keyboards *

– drums ;Production *Jim Morris – production, mixing *Axel Hermann – artwork *Danny Miki – artwork * Travis Smith – artwork *Chris Kissadjekian – photography *Matthias Grünewald – editor