Iced Earth's Reviews
The Glorious Burden (Average Rating: 8.86 out of 10)
The Glorious What? (Rated this album with 10 out of 10)
Reviewed by
devoidvox
from hell
At the end of 2003 one of metal's best singers, Matt Barlow, left the power/thrash metal band Iced Earth. Finding a replacement worthy of replacing the might Barlow was certainly a hard task. Enter Tim Owens. With Judas Priest reuniting with Rob Halford Owens was left without a band. Taken in by Jon Schaffer he was put to work on The Glorious Burden and finished the vocal work in 5 days!!! But enough with the history and on the to history album.1. Star Spangled Banner - Great intro. Works well with the album's themes. I don't want to hear any more complaining about pro-Americanism... grr... 8/10
2. Declaration Day - WOW... the transition alone is worth not skipping the Star Spangled Banner... awesome work here... guitar parts a little repetitive... awesome vocal work by Owens. Very high shrieks... 9/10
3. When the Eagle Cries - good ballad with a very touching theme.. a bit repetitive but the emotional vocal work by Tim makes up for this song's shortcomings. 8/10
4. The Reckoning (Don't Tread on Me) - released prior as a single this song is a good thrasher which shows off some Schaffer trademark riffing and Owen's schreeching 9/10
5. Greenface - How could someone write such cheesy lyrics and uninspiring music... the only good parts are Owen's screams one of the low points of the album 5/10
6. Attila - WOW!!! This song is the highpoint of the album other than Gettysburg, evil riffs, awesome dueling vocals in the bridge and Owens shrieking like a demon... 10/10
7. Red Baron/Blue Max - while I can get into this song easier than Greenface it is still missing something important... Owens does another incredible vocal performance... the solo is also rather nice but a bit short 6/10
8. Hollow Man - Can someone say Horror Show castoff? decent song but totally out of place on this album... 7/10
9. Valley Forge - 2 ballads in a row? another decent song with a good message. 7/10
10. Waterloo - great song... reminds me of Maiden in an awesome way... 9/10
11. When the Eagle Cries(unplugged) - not necessary, but you can actually hear the wonderful Matt Barlow's backing vocals... a bit more emotional than the other version... 9/10 2nd Disc: Gettysburg(1863):
1. Devil to Pay - BAGPIPES!!!! what a great way to begin the best Iced Earth epic to date... not the best song of the trilogy, but still awesome... 10/10
2. Hold At All Costs - the beginning of this song makes me want to cry everytime I hear it... this song is so moving 11/10
3. High Water Mark - Here it comes!! starting with a flurry of percussion is the final day of the battle, starts with a dueling vocal piece with Owens and Schaffer, great stuff, the end with Tim screaming "It's all my fault!" makes me want to cry more than anything on any album 15/10 Now for the slight complaints... not enough bass... the whole mix seems to favor treble and leave out the dark side that prevailed in previous Iced Earth recordings... leaves something to be desired, but it may also be Owen's voice... who knows...
Buy this album on Amazon at $20.99
|
