Dark Genesis Action Figure - Collectible for Fans & Display

This is the absolute must for not just Iced Earth completists, but for any and all aspiring fans. Now one might flinch at the price on this baby, but it's worth it for the Iced Earth completist. Three remasters (of 1991's ICED EARTH, 1992's NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER, and 1995's BURNT OFFERINGS), a tribute album (TRIBUTE TO THE GODS), and a remastered copy of the legendary (and extremely hard-to-find) demo, ENTER THE REALM, all available to the public in this great boxed set!ICED EARTH - WOW! The sound quality is so much better! The guitar crunches come ALIVE! Unfortunately, when this one was remixed, nothing could be done about the irritating screeches of Gene Adam, Iced Earth's first lead singer. But just like how the original fans of Iced Earth thought of this album when it first came out, who cares so much about the bad singing as much as the MUSIC! Awesome CD in itself, but in this remaster, the music has never been better.NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER - I had not had this album prior to getting this box set on Christmas Day, 2002. I had not known one song off of it at all...and then I listened to it one afternoon, and I was simply blown away. The plot behind this excellent concept album is chilling, and the singing is much better (a la John Greely, a much better vocalist than Gene Adam, no comparison to Matthew Barlow though), and the music...ooooh, I feel like those weird women in the Herbal Essance Shampoo commercials when I hear the guitar crunches in the beginning of "Stormrider". Well, maybe not...but I DO love this music! And then one day I bought an original copy of this CD, and...wha? Where's the guitars? Where's the singing? It's just faint buzzes compared to the loud crunches on this version. If you've ever underrated NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER, then get this box set and listen to this version and I GUARANTEE that you'll love it.BURNT OFFERINGS - WOW! Again, another Iced Earth CD that I didn't have to begin with, but now...I'm so in love with it! I'm listening to it as I type this review, and "Burning Oasis" is blaring out of my speakers in the much-deserved volume that has been granted via this remaster/remix. I won't be surprised to find the original copy to have (again like STORMRIDER) bad sound quality in comparison to this. And then there's "Dante's Inferno"...nothing can begin to describe how good that is.TRIBUTE TO THE GODS - Wow! To quote fellow reviewer and friend the_Wickerman (and if you're reading this, e-mail me sometime, dude!), "The Gods Pay Tribute to the Gods". That's a fairly good description of this masterpiece. However, I have two small petpeeves about the song selections for this CD: where is the Megadeth? The Metallica? I mean, yeah, I guess I can see the influences from AC/DC and Alice Cooper, and of COURSE I see the Iron Maiden/Judas Priest covers being on here, but...Metallica at LEAST! The other thing is that I'm surprised that their rendition of Iron Maiden's "Transylvania" isn't on here. That instrumental was so amazing, and while it IS available in a limited, 2-disc version of HORROR SHOW, I'm surprised it's not here. It would have fit perfectly. But otherwise, TRIBUTE TO THE GODS is, quite simply, amazing.ENTER THE REALM--some may recognize a few of the songs here (especially "Colors" and "Iced Earth"), others may not. Though raw, these versions are almost as good as the later ones (and on the aforementioned songs, Gene Adam actually sounds BETTER here!). Superb to finally have a copy of this.And finally, there is the book that comes with this. Holding all the CDs in the inside covers, there are 32 pages of pure Iced Earth in here. 16 of them are a fairly complete biography of Iced Earth and its long history, with tons of rare, never-before-seen photos (my only complaint being that some of them should have mentioned the who's and where's), and some facts that you'd probably never find elsewhere. The other 16 pages are complete lyrics to all of the songs on each Iced Earth album, which is quite a good addition.My major complaint is that the remasters of ICED EARTH, NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER, and BURNT OFFERINGS, as well as the TRIBUTE TO THE GODS disc, are all now available on their own. Why? That de-values this boxed set to 1/5 of its wonders. I just pray that ENTER THE REALM doesn't become available on its own. But regardless, as I said earlier, just get this boxed set, and you'll be getting more for the money, and spending a little less than you would if you bought the remasters/tribute separately. This is, without a doubt, the BEST BOXED SET ANYONE WILL EVER FIND, AND THE BEST ADDITION TO ANY AND ALL ICED EARTH FANS, NEW OR OLD!And some good news to all Iced Earth fans: Jon Schaffer has found a replacement for lead guitar--a former Death touring guitarist. And believe it or not, he's replaced Matthew Barlow with a new singer...TIM OWENS! Yes, the same Tim Owens, AKA "The Ripper," former singer for Judas Priest. The upcoming album, THE GLORIOUS BURDEN, has been recorded, and all too soon...it is coming! Be sure to check out their official site for sound clips of three of their songs...Owens sounds great!