Iced earth- The Glorious Burden

[The_Q]

I know there is already a thread regarding the impending Iced Earth/ Children Of Bodom US tour but I would like to know how many people out there have picked up Iced Earths' new album "The Glorious Burden" and their comments on it. Also how long have you been an Iced Earth fan? Below are my answers.


I have been a fan of Iced Earths' since 1994 when a local metal station played "Dantes Inferno" from the album "Burnt Offerings" and I picked that album up the next day. Since then I have bought every album up to this point and have seen them a total of three times live.
"The Glorious Burden" is a powerful,melodic,dark, and inspiring work of metal mastery. Unfortunately the powerful and inspiring was lacking terribly from the bands last endeavor "Horror Show". Although a good album, "Horror Show" lacked that cohesive spirit and "magic" that Iced Earth captured on releases such as "Something Wicked This Way Comes", "Dark Saga", and "Burnt Offerings". Gone is previous singer Matt Barlow but Tim "Ripper" Owens (ex- Judas Priest) fills his shoes magnificiently!!! From the first track (The Star Spangled Banner) throgh the awesome "Gettsburg" trilogy thsi disc kicks ass!!!! "DEclaration Day" is a great opener as "When The Eagle Cries" brings it down a notch to completely blow you away as "The Reckoning" cruises through. Whew, just a great releases and looks like one of the very top Cd's of 2004.

http://www.icedearth.com

 

[Mephistopheles]

I like it a lot. Ownes fits the band like a glove... I still miss Barlow a lot (especially after going back and listening to Alive in Athens again) but Ownes is a great singer also. I couldn't imagine Barlow doing a song like The Reckoning but Ownes is amazing on it.

I can't wait to hear The Ripper do some Barlow stuff... It should be great.

The Gettysburg trilogy is amazing, but tends to drag on a little IMO.

 

[Wandrail]

You just need to sit down and listen to it more, its not one of those grab you at first listen and is over in 3 minutes affairs. Especially powerful is High Water Mark 'We must push forward' on is just emotional as hell especially for a southerner and patriotic type person.

 

[Evergore]

2001 is when I got into them...I was only 20 then and my roomate was listening to Horror Show and the toon Damien caught my ear it was the song that got me into power type metal So I need to thank my good friend and at that time stranger Glen Stolberg
Thanks Buddy

 

[alexofbodom]

I find the album to be boring and repetitive. I have been a huge Iced Earth fan for many years, but this album is weak IMO. Jon Schaffer is becoming very repetitive and clichee in his songwriting and on top of that his arrogance is not helping him IMO. I am also not a big fan of Ripper Owens. I prefer Barlow 1000 times over Ripper (matter of taste)

 

[Se7enChurches]

I dunno. I like it a lot, but I do still miss Matt Barlowe, though i agree that there are some of the backing vocal lines (especially in Reckoning Day) that i don't think he could hit. Barlowe's voice suited their slower material FAR better than Ripper's, in my opinion.

also, a few little things:

1. Not to ruin the song for everyone else, but has anyone else noticed that "Declaration Day" has the exact same rhythm structure as Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal"?

2. This is really nitpicky, but as much of a flag-waving patriot as Jon Schaffer claims to be, it stuck out at me like a sore thumb that he put an instrumental version of "Star Spangled Banner" on the CD and credited it in the liner notes to Francis Scott Key, who wrote only the lyrics, not the music.

 

[ratanda]

2. This is really nitpicky, but as much of a flag-waving patriot as Jon Schaffer claims to be, it stuck out at me like a sore thumb that he put an instrumental version of "Star Spangled Banner" on the CD and credited it in the liner notes to Francis Scott Key, who wrote only the lyrics, not the music.

Haha! That's pretty damn funny. I'm not suprised though because Schaffer was also totally unaware that "Something Wicked This Way Comes" was the title of a book when he used it as an album title.

 

[INFINITE-DREAMS]

I've Been Listening To Them Since 'dark Saga' And Since Then They Have Grown Into One Of My Favorite Bands. In My Opinion, Matt Barlow Is One Of The Best Metal Singers, But I Couldn't Think Of A Better Replacement Than Tim 'ripper' Owens. The New Cd Kicks Ass, The 'gettysburg' 3-part Song Tops My List, I Can't Wait To See Them Live In April.

 

[Demonspell]

Haha! That's pretty damn funny. I'm not suprised though because Schaffer was also totally unaware that "Something Wicked This Way Comes" was the title of a book when he used it as an album title.

Must have been one of those people who slept through his English classes...

 

[Creeps]

My thoughts:

I think the new album is the one to beat for album of the year 2004.

This is the only metal album since PPIV that I've listened to over and over and over again without any desire to pop anything else into the disc player.

I personally think it's the best album they've put out (previously something wicked held this title for me).

I hear lots of Maiden on this album more than anything, especially on Valley Forge.

I prefer the acoustic When the Eagle Cries on the EP over the one on the album.

I don't hear any repetive-ness compared to the previous IE albums, this one sounds entirely different and fresh to me.

I like Rippers voice, I like the previous IE vocalists too, so I'm ok with the change.



now if we can only hear this live.. hmmm, where could we hear them live, hmm, lemme think.. OHIKNOW, how about at ProgPower this year!?!?! What a novel idea.

 

[Wandrail]

1. Not to ruin the song for everyone else, but has anyone else noticed that "Declaration Day" has the exact same rhythm structure as Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal"?

The rhythm/beat is similar during the main riff, but the timing is not the same.

2. This is really nitpicky, but as much of a flag-waving patriot as Jon Schaffer claims to be, it stuck out at me like a sore thumb that he put an instrumental version of "Star Spangled Banner" on the CD and credited it in the liner notes to Francis Scott Key, who wrote only the lyrics, not the music.

Well, actually, Key is credited with the whole song, which like alot of popular material back then was based on a well known melody that actually was originally written for a London gentlemen's club. The same melody and tune was used for alot of other songs prior (and probably after) to it becoming the republic's anthem. Key utilized this reasonably well-known and popular melody, but really all songwriting goes to him.

 

[guardian26]

I like it. I didnt think I was going to, but I like it.

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

My god. This Album is awesome. I have been a huge iced earth fan for about 3 years now, and this is truely my favorite album by them. I like jon's science fiction writing, but i am a HUGE history fan, so this album hits close to home and is very appealing to me. The Gettysburg Trilogy is outstanding, and this i agree is the album to beat this year. Maybe only the priest album will beat it....

Brent