The Melancholy EP
(1999, Century Media)
The Melancholy E.P. was originally conceived in early 1999 as a radio-only
single that would be used in an attempt to get Iced Earth played on commercial
radio in some U.S. markets. Unfortunately, these plans were never executed
by the record company. In the meantime, however, they decided to make the
CD available to fans in a limited quantity of 1500 hand-numbered copies.
These copies quickly sold out, with many of them bought for a low price from
the band on their 1999 U.S. tour. Soon after, these discs were being bought
and sold at auction sites for many times their initial selling price. In
an effort to satisfy the demand, The Melancholy E.P. was re-released in Europe
in January, 2001, this time in a non-limited version with two extra tracks.
Iced Earth recorded two cover songs specifically for this E.P.: Bad Company's "Shooting Star" and Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral". The limited-edition version features these two songs as well as three ballads from Iced Earth's previous albums. In the re-released version, a cover of Judas Priest's "The Ripper" and a live version of "Colors" were added on. "The Ripper" was originally released on a Judas Priest tribute album and included on the digipak version of "The Dark Saga". "Colors" was recorded during the Alive in Athens concerts, but somehow got lost in the shuffle when the tracklisting for that album was being put together.
Tracklisting:
01 . Melancholy (Holy Martyr)
02 . Shooting Star
03 . Watching Over Me
04 . Electric Funeral
05 . I Died for You
06 . The Ripper
07 . Colors (Live)
Band:
Jon Schaffer - Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Matt Barlow - Lead Vocals
James MacDonnough- Bass Guitar
Guest Musicians:
Mark "The Creeper" Prator - Drums
Larry Tarnowski - Lead Guitar
Recorded at:
Morrisound Studios - Tampa, Florida
Produced by Jim Morris and Jon Schaffer
