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Glorious Burden

Iced Earth - Glorious Burden Audio CD

A fair review of the Iced Earth "Glorious Burden" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Iced Earth reviews here, or go back to the Iced Earth tabs.

Band: Iced Earth
Title: Glorious Burden
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-01-13
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Star-Spangled Banner 2: Declaration Day 3: When the Eagle Cries 4: The Reckoning 5: Greenface 6: Attila 7: Red Baron/Blue Max 8: Hollow Man 9: Valley Forge 10: Waterloo 11: When the Eagle Cries (Unplugged) 12: The Devil To Pay 13: Hold At All Costs 14: High Water Mark

A Very Glorious Burden

I recently turned 17, and received this album for my birthday. I'm using my dad's account to publish this. I am very pleased, and impressed with it. I had heard some songs beforehand and based on those had asked for it. Being a bit of a history buff, I was excited that it was all about historical battles, events and figures. The lyrics are great, with excellent delivery by Owens. Just to get this out, Owens is a very good singer. No, he's not Dickinson or Halford, but who is? I first heard him in Framing Armageddon, and liked him there too. However, longtime fans seem to dismiss him out of hand. So he's not Barlow. Big deal. Barlow is a good singer, but so is Owens. His vocals just match the music.
This brings me to the best part: the music. The music is awesome. Schaffer is a master of the rhythm guitar, continually entertaining you with his ripping riffs. There is no one else like him around. The drums hammer you down, while the bass, though slightly understated, fills out the sound nicely. They also got a pretty good lead guitarist. In Gettysburg, they bring in the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, which does a great job of making the album epic.
You may wonder why you should buy this version instead of a cheaper one. The answer is because this edition contains bonus tracks: When the Eagle Cries (unplugged) and Waterloo. Waterloo is amazing, and one of my favorite songs on this album, though it is hard to choose favorites from this album, as they are all so great. Also, it comes with a booklet containing lyrics and notes by Schaffer about his inspiration for Gettysburg and what he was trying to do with the music. All in all, if you like good metal, solid lyrics, and great vocals, buy this CD before it is sold out. Then listen to Gettysburg and tell me you didn't get goose bumps at least once.
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Gettysburg is AWESOME!
Iced Earth is the only good american metal band. This albums is great, epic and patriotic. The only complaints I have is that Gettysburg should have been longer, especially High Water Mark, it always leaves me wanting for more. And the absence of Matt Barlow, that voice can't be replaced. .

Gettysburg is Epic!
So Matt Barlow doesn't have vocal duties on this album? Big deal. Unfortunatly, as a whole I can only give this album four stars, but Gettysburg is easily one of the greatest songs ever written. It is still better than most of the junk you'll hear on the radio, and it is worth purchasing for the Gettysburg Trilogy alone.
The three parts of Gettysburg highlight the events of July 1,2, and 3 of 1863, and run right around 30 minutes in length from beginning to end. That is double the length of the epic 16 minute Dante's Inferno from Burnt Offerings

"The Devil To Pay" starts with the Star Spangled Banner. Soon the southern theme of Dixie invades and then the sound of cannon. The events of July 1st, 1863 follow. "Hold At All Costs" highlights the stand of the 20th Maine at Little Round Top on day 2.
However, the third act is the crown jewel of the album. "High Water Mark" starts with Tim "Ripper" Owens as General Lee and Jon Schaffer as General Longstreet. They have an exchange and then Pickets Charge is sung of in all its romantic glory.

Want more? I highly recommend you read The Killer Angels by Sharra if you want more of Gettysburg. I know many people don't like to read. You are in luck! There is a movie adaptation of the book called Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition). Hey, if you don't like the movie just fast forward to the battle scenes and crank Iced Earth to 11. Just a thought. Man, I'm a geek.
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I had doubts! But MAN was I wrong! One of the best Iced Earth Albums!
Of course the legendary song writing of Jon Shaffer had an immense amount of influence in the creation of this epic. I had doubts, becuase I loved this band with Matt Barlow! Man I thought no one could pull it off after Matt Barlow, but Tim "Ripper" Owens was the one for the job! Amazing vocal performance on almost every track! Don't get me wrong, I prefer Barlow in Iced Earth, but Owens kept this band on the map and then some. Power Ballads, thrashy, heavy head bangers, and epics, what else can a metal fanatic ask for? Literally holding the American flag for pure metal!.

Great, Historical Modern Day Metal
It may not be their best album, but it's still an extraordinary piece of work. This was my introduction to Iced Earth. As I'm sure you all know, this is Tim "Ripper" Owen's debut with the band. You're probably thinking that that's no good. Do not fret. Remember, this guy sang with Judas Priest. That ain't too shabby if you ask me. Now of course Iced Earth's best and most popular era was with Barlow. And rightfully so. He has the perfect voice for Iced Earth and did a superb job. But, Tim brings different things to the table. He can hit the high notes and the classic metal screech better than Barlow, although Barlow's was also excellent. "Ripper" doesn't have nearly as low or deep up a voice, which also changes things up quite a bit. All in all, Owens gives a more than average performance and is an exceptional replacement. This is unlike almost anything out there right now in the fact that this is very educational/ informal and all about history and war (mostly Civil War and a little World War I). Now I'm not a big guy on history, but if I had to choose, the Civil War and the World Wars would be my favorite topics. You don't have to like history one bit to enjoy this cd, although you may not get the full effect that a history buff might get out of it. Just listen to the amazing instruments and Owen's voice. They're enough to make your head spin.

Now, there are really no filler songs on here, with the exception of the introduction, the Star Spangled Banner, which is just simply exactly that. They don't mess with it or toy with it one bit, which kind of goes to show how Jon Schaffer feels towards history (Afterall, he did write a whole frickin' album about it). Easily, easily the best songs on here are the Gettysburg trilogy. First off, they're all epics and who wouldn't like that. You can really feel the emotion in Tim's voice on every song, but for me, most notably on Hold at all Costs, which has a beautiful acoustic intro that portrays Confederate General General Lewis Armistead speaking of his best friend, Union General Winfield Scott Hancock who he would soon be going against in battle. It then goes into a heavy, driving beat with Jon's galloping guitar lines. The last and best song on the album, High Water Mark, starts off with Tim Owens, portraying General Robert E. Lee, talking to Jon Schaffer, portraying General James Longstreet, voicing his concerns with the upcoming battle- Day 3 of the Gettysburg battle, the last, most important day of the Gettysburg fight. At about 8:50 on this song, Tim gives maybe his most emotional, greatest sounding vocals I've ever heard from him. They end the album off on an extraordinary high mark with this song.

Now, for the non-Gettysburg trilogy songs, a favorite of mine would be When The Eagle Cries, which is mostly acoustic and about the terrors of the 911 terrorist attacks. Also, Declaration Day and Red Baron/ Blue Max, which is easily the heaviest song on the album and amazing high-pitched vocals from "Ripper" on the chorus. Although Matt Barlow is not singing on this album, before he left the band, he co-wrote one song on the album, Attila, which is excellent. He also helped out with the bonus track, Waterloo, which is also awesome and should have definitely been included on the original album. There is also an unplugged version of When The Eagle Cries. This is an excellent little extra. Jon Schaffer's backing vocals on the chorus are much more clean and emotional for that matter. Jon Schaffer really shows his love for history on here, and that is very comendable and respectable of him to put out an album like this in this day and age when most people could care less about this type of stuff.

If you're wondering to get this two-disc album or the one-disc, I would go with the two-disc if you have enough money. It has two cool bonus tracks- Waterloo and When The Eagle Cries(Unplugged). The Gettysburg trilogy is also put on the second disc, which is nice. Included is a nice, fully detailed booklet, explaining the battle of Gettysburg fully and two pages of notes from Mr. Schaffer. He really did a huge part in keeping metal alive and kickin' when it was almost dead in the 90's. This is not your average album, so do yourself a favor and pick this one up. Jon Schaffer/ Iced Earth, I salute you!.

You can see a complete list of all Iced Earth discography, or go back to the Iced Earth tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.