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?