Iced Earth - Tribute To The Gods

Iced Earth
Tribute To The Gods
Century Media Records

Tribute albums can be either great, or a complete waste of time. Thankfully, Iced Earth has provided us with one of the great ones. This eleven-track album gives Iced Earth fans the chance to hear some of the bands that helped shape Jon Schaffer’s musical background.

This particular album was first available as part of the five CD retrospective box set Dark Genesis. The bands covered include AC/DC (‘Highway To Hell’ and ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top’), Black Sabbath ('Black Sabbath'), Iron Maiden (‘The Number Of The Beast’ and ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’), Blue Oyster Cult (‘Burnin’ For You’ and ‘Cities On Fire’), Alice Cooper (‘Dead Babies’), KISS (‘Creatures Of The Night’ and ‘God Of Thunder’) and the legendary Judas Priest (‘Screaming For Vengeance’).

All tracks have been given the Iced Earth makeover, and while all the cover versions are true to the original, vocalist Matthew Barlow certainly adds his distinctive stamp to them all. Jon Schaffer and the rest of Iced Earth give the accompanying music a much-needed punch, and the production is certainly sharp. Of particular note is the version of KISS’ ‘God Of Thunder’ where Matthew sounds very much like Gene Simmons. The other is the odd inclusion of Alice Cooper to the mix.

Iced Earth injects plenty of freshness put into every one of these old classics, making the whole album a classic in its own right.

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© Justin Donnelly.