Matt Barlow rejoins Iced Earth

Yeah I'm with ya there, Lance. :) Axl's often referred to as a megalomaniac, but he can certainly write a song. I'd never heard about that solo replacement before... I'm hoping to get Slash's book on Dec 25. :)

What was the go with Gene Simmons firing someone on their death bed?
 
When Eric Carr was dying of cancer, Gene fired him so that they could get a replacement (Eric Singer). One would think he could have gone about it differently, such as bringing Singer in to fill in until Carr kicked the bucket.
 
I am stoked that Matt is back, one of my all time fav vocalists (I also think that Matt has the better range and more personality in his voice than Ripper) back in the band that needs him to reach their full potential. Ripper did his best on the 2 albums he sang on, and I am a big fan of some of the material, but it just wasn't right, regardless of who is the better vocalist. I just with this decision was made before Framing Armageddon, because when I listen to that all I think is that Jon's songwriting is back on track, but the lack of Barlow lets the album down. Knowing Jon, he will probably release it again with Matt on vocals anyway heh, but still.

I had written IE off and was far more interested in Demons & Wizards, but this has me interested in them again. Hurrah.

Also, while it does seem that it was very poorly handled, I'm not sure about the "Jon did it to make more money" comments...isn't The Glorious Burden IE's best selling album?