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Track Listing: CD 1: Iconoclast The End of Innocence Dehumanized Bastards of the Machine Heretic Children of a Faceless God When All Is Lost CD 2: Electric Messiah Prometheus (I Am Alive) Light Up The Night The Lords of Chaos Reign in Madness

Symphony X's latest studio album, the magnificent opus that goes by the title Iconoclast, is one album that captured my imagination straightaway, in a manner that typifies just about everything this band does. After having reviewing it almost three months back and listening to it repeatedly since, I received the special edition of the album today, thanks to Nuclear Blast. And it was as if the album was a whole new entity all over again.

There are a few major differences between the regular edition and this special digipak 2-disc version, and I'll break them down for you one by one, in the right order, starting from the cover artwork and moving inwards. The artwork has been modified from the original design, and gives us a closer look at the three-headed machine-like figure (see image for original artwork below) Not only does the artwork provide a fresh representation of the concept, but also makes it a unique and worthwhile purchase for people who might be having the regular edition already. Moving on, the digipak opens into a double-gatefold with the two discs on the sides and the booklet in the center. It's not so much a booklet in the traditional style, opening up into a single 24-inch by 8-inch piece consisting of elaborate artwork and lyrics. It wouldn't be an exaggeration for me to say that art director Warren Flanagan went completely nuts on the artwork here, taking advantage of his film industry experience and executing this machine-based album concept with a great amount of flair. If you're a fan of album art, or any kind of art for that matter, you need to get your hands on this item.

As for the music, Michael Romeo has consistently maintained in interviews that he always wanted 12 tracks on the album, but because the duration of these 12 tracks totaled a little over 82 minutes, they could include only 9 of them on the regular single-disc edition of the album. This special edition gives you all 12 songs, and presents the album exactly the way the band wanted it to be presented in the ideal scenario, in the originally intended track order. "When All Is Lost" becomes track #7 and the three additional tracks come in at #10, #11 and #12. I'm a firm believer in listening to albums from start to finish, and if I like an album, it's because I like every song on it. To capture my interest, an album has to have a flow to it. Even though the regular edition of Iconoclast is absolutely brilliant when it comes to this aspect, this particular version surpasses that effort, and I can feel that the tracks have a better flow in this order. The 3 additional tracks fit in seamlessly, which is further proof that they were written specifically for this album, and aren't B-sides from the past or random bonus tracks added just for the sake of calling them bonus tracks. They really do make the Iconoclast experience 'complete', specially "Reign In Madness" which gives the album the ending it deserves.

All in all, this is totally worthy of being called the special edition of Iconoclast, because it truly is special. A must-have for all Symphony X fans!

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