Customer Reviews

Iced Earth

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saved this one for last, mainly cuz I couldn't find it anywhere, but I now have every Iced Earth CD in my possession. This, my friends, is where it all began. When a CD by an unheard of band with a really cool album cover suddenly appeared in record stores in early '91, who could have known this was the start of the greatest band of all time? And, this proves that there was never a time when they didn't rock. This was our first taste of Randy's blazing solos, Jon's unmatched rhythm guitar skill, and the incredible song structures. This is the album that brought us classics like "Colors", "When the Night Falls", and of course, "Iced Earth". Plus, there are good songs you may not know, like "Life and Death" and "Curse the Sky". And, if that wasn't enough, you've got two instrumentals. There's the brief, Opeth-like acoustic piece "Solitude", and the epic masterpiece, "The Funeral". All in all, it makes for a very good debut. It doesn't have as much of that rough around the edges feel that debuts from Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Maiden, or Slayer had, it's like Iced Earth started off at the top of their game. But, it's not to say they haven't improved. Even the best get better. If there's one thing I can think of to complain about, it's the vocals. Gene Adam (not Adams) is easily the worst of Iced Earth's three vocalists. The vocals can occasionally be embarassingly bad. It's a good thing they only made one album with him. But don't worry, the music is great, so you won't even really care. Much of this stuff has been greatly improved on "Days of Purgatory", but if you're like me, and you feel like you must have every Iced Earth album, you will not regret buying this. Up the, um, ice!

Let me start out by saying that this is my favorite album that Iced Earth has released. All the songs have a unique quality to them that sets this album apart from most others of the genre. They are both slow and fast while at the same time not overbearing. The guitar duo of Jon Schaffer and Randal Shawver light this album up. Schaffer sets the tempo with a steely rhythm then Shawver comes in with an excellent solo. The base and drum work are good also, especially the drums as most of the songs have meter changes that are not easy to achieve. Another thing that is good about this album are the vocals. Most fans argue that Matt Barlow is the best singer the band could ask for but I disagree. The songs on this album sound better with the original guy in my opinion, almost like they were written for him. To curse the sky and When the night falls are my two favorites. Overall, I suggest buying this cd first if you want to get into the band. So don't wait, get it today.

NATURE WILL FALL!!!

I nearly sh*t myself when I finally saw this album at a music store... I buy it, go home, put it in my CD player and, like Maiden's first album... AIR GUITAR HEAVEN!!! A solid album through and through and I have to say I really enjoy Gene Adam's vocals here... it worked perfectly for that time and after hearing the re-recorded version of the song Iced Earth (with Matt Barlow on vocals) it made the original stand out more for me (I love both versions, but prefer the original... probably since I heard it first... it's also a bit faster) My favorite track on this one is Life and Death. All metalheads must listen to Iced Earth and this is a great place to start. One of the most impressive debuts, but not the bands best...

This is Iced Earth's first ever album, and it sounds pretty damn good for a band that only had $10,000 to record this cd. All of the songs are great, I espiecially liked "Written On The Walls" and "When The Night Falls". (One thing to note, is that "Written On The Walls" is actually the original version of the "Cast In Stone" epic that can be heard on their "Days of Purgatory" album). When I first heard this release, I wasn't too fond of the singer's voice. Eventually, I got used to it and the album became one of my favourites. I highly recommend this to fans of Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Three Inches of Blood, etc. This is the start of Iced Earth's legacy.

This is the beginning of my all-time favorite Power Metal band, Iced Earth. If I was judging the album based on music alone, it would have received five stars, but I can't do that... when Gene Adam ruins it with his TERRIBLE voice. He was the first of Iced Earth's four vocalists, and he's probably one of the worst I have ever heard. Thank God Matt Barlow re-recorded these songs with the band on "Days of Purgatory".

Now, on to the many positive points. The music here is absolutely incredible. Mixing the best of Metallica and Iron Maiden to create something new, Iced Earth became a driving force for "true" Metal in the early 90's. Even with the terrible singer, IE managed to record a classic. It's really sad to hear "When The Night Falls" here, because Matt Barlow's version is the way it should have been done in the first place. I'm glad they were smart and got rid of this guy... but I wonder why they hired him in the first place.....

Iced Earth's 1991 self-titled debut is one of the all-time strongest debuts for any band. Granted, there are little inconsistencies and imperfections, but come on, the band had only just found their sound. I felt that I have not listened to it nearly enough lately, so upon listening to it now, I'm seeing just how good it really is.

I'll just straight-out say what I don't like about this album: vocalist Gene Adam. Quite simply put, it sounds like he's dying. He can sometimes achieve fairly good growls, and his performances on "Written on the Walls" (the only song he wrote on this album) and "To Curse the Sky," he has a few highlights (just listen to his snarls in the chorus of the latter song - not bad!), but...I can see why Jon Schaffer wanted him out of the band. In the verses of the title track, Adam's screeches are just about unbearable. His wails, perhaps, could have been better on an agony-based song, but on a song such as "Iced Earth," he needs to sound powerful and evil, which he fails at. So there, that's the one thing I don't like about this album. There are better renditions of some of these songs on 1997's DAYS OF PURGATORY, but I don't recommend listening to that compilation first - one should listen to the originals first to better appreciate them. That's what I did!

There are some now-classic songs on this album, including the aforementioned "Iced Earth," "Colors," (one of my all-time favorite IE songs...well, at least when Matthew Barlow performed it), "The Funeral," and "When the Night Falls." But my absolute favorite song on the album is "Written on the Walls" - the atmospheric opening riffs, the fast pacing that slows down, then gets slower, and even slower...and then the acoustic fill in the bridge that has such a dark, icy feel to it...no pun intended. The song would later be re-done as "Cast in Stone," featuring lyrics by Barlow and better production, but it ultimately has the same awesome, mini-epic feel.

Musically, the album is so tight. Since IE formed back in 1986 (then known as Purgatory), Jon Schaffer had picked up some excellent musicians to help play the music he had written. Mike McGill is a splendid drummer, heavy on double-bass pedals and very fast with the sticks. Longtime guitarist Randall Shawver (who would play on three other albums as well as DAYS OF PURGATORY) is just as good as ever on this album, with his highly melodic licks. Also a long-running member, bassist Dave Abell helps make some steady rhythms on the tracks. And of course, Jon Schaffer was as fast and heavy a guitarist then as he is now.

Finally, the production on ICED EARTH is not too hot, but thankfully the recent reissues feature remastered and re-MIXED sound, to bring out the real crunches. This is a good thing, too - hopefully more fans can respect this overlooked beginning to metal's best band: ICED EARTH!

It's fairly remarkable that a true, down-to-earth heavy metal band emerged in the 90s. That was a decade where the big-time labels considered real metal a tax write-off, at best; rock devolved into a barren wasteland of grunge, rap-metal, and nu-metal. It's even more remarkable that one of the best metal bands ever appeared in the 90s. Usually when one thinks of "best metal bands," names like Metallica, Black Sabbath, or Iron Maiden would pop into one's mind. These were all bands from before the 90s. Finally, it's remarkable that great metal band came from Florida that didn't play death metal. Really!

I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence, but I'm obviously talking about Iced Earth. They truly are one of the best metal bands ever, and the debut unfurls their humble beginnings. The production values are low, the songwriting is unpolished, and the vocals...well, we'll talk about the vocals in a minute. But this is a great album. This is real, classic heavy metal, undistorted by the sensibilities of the time. The music is pretty rugged, which I think is because Jon Schaffer wasn't integrating the melodic Maiden influence that came a bit later. The riffs are heavy and intense, and there are subtle hints of where the band would travel with future releases. Schaffer's distinctive riffing style is as chuggin' as ever, though less intricate than on later releases. The heavy-soft-heavy dynamic and sparse use of keyboard on "Written on the Walls" hints at the future expansion of their musical palette. "Solitude" is a beautiful acoustic piece that shows Schaffer's sense of subtlety and melody. Randall Shawyer proves to be a pretty slick lead guitarist, too (nice lead tone, to boot).

Actually, the music here is so full of metal goodness that even Gene Adam's goofy vocals don't mar the listening experience too much. I'm dead serious when I say I laughed upon first hearing his voice on the opening song. His voice is small, screechy, and, well, kinda weird. There are times when he sounds like a Muppet character or something. But, strangely, this is the only 'singer' (I use the term loosely) whose vocals are so bad they're good. I actually enjoy his contribution to this album. (But Matt Barlow stomps him into dust.) Actually, to be fair, Adam sounds perfectly decent when he's not doing his weird scream. The band could have done better, but they could have done a lot worse too. At least they aren't death metal vocals! (Not that there's anything wrong with death vox, it's just, well...you know.)

"Life and Death" begins with gorgeous guitar interplay before erupting into the classic Iced Earth chugga-chugga riffing. "The Funeral" is a 6-minute instrumental of tight complex arrangements and melodic riffs. "When the Night Falls," clocking in at 9 minutes, is one of the band's best songs, even after all these years. It's better to hear Barlow sing it (on the Days of Purgatory compilation), but the original has its own charm too. And, of course, there's the eponymous title track. It's almost cartoonish with the vocals, but it truly has some of the tastiest guitar lines ever recorded. "Iced Earth," the song, on Iced Earth the album, by Iced Earth the band! Hoi!

I don't advise anyone to begin their Iced Earth collection here...try a newer release like Something Wicked This Way Comes. But when this band pulls you in, you'll HAVE to get this to complete the collection. It's definitive Iced Earth.

this Iced Earth album is awesome. i dont like john or matt as singers. tim in the new album is awsome. my favorite song is iced earth , written on the walls , and colors. i dont get y people reviewed it saying that they hate gene adam's voice. he is awesome, especially in the song Iced Earth. BUY THIS CD.

When I first listened to Iced Earth's self titled album, I was already used to the Barlow era Iced Earth, and I was eager to experience the album that started Iced Earth's quest in the metal world. When I first heard the album, I nearly turned it off, because I couldn't stand Gene Adams' horrible singing. A few months later, I popped it back into my CD player and listened to the CD all the way through. Needless to say, it's a good album, but there is still something I can't get over...which is Gene Adams' voice. He's not awful, but he isn't exactly Bruce Dickinson either.

Adams' vocals tend to vary from "shut the Hell up with that God awful high-pitched wail" to "Meh; he's not that bad". When he sings he tends to go into this high pitched wailing and draws it out a little too much. When he's not handling the more heavy vocal parts, he sounds decent on the softer parts (Written On The Walls is a good example where the song breaks into a slow melody fest). Even when he's doing the slower parts I can't get over his whiney gritty voice. If he would have taken some singing lessons he might not be bad, but merely okay.

Musically, this album is a goldmine. The rhythm guitar goes into some seriously fast palm muting, quickly come out to reveal some melody, then falls back into it's tight formation with lead guitar. This really backs up the fact that Jon Schaffer has some incredible agility and stamina with his hands to be able to shred power-thrash like this. When the rhythm isn't completely mowing you down with speed, the lead takes control and fills the atmosphere with melody that takes you to the icy plains to freeze your ass off. Now that we're having fun, can we get rid of Gene Adams and make this album "very good," instead of just "okay"?

I enjoy the music very much because it varies in speed and melody, as well as songwriting. It's an excellent first album for a metal band, but I'm guessing either Jon Schaffer was desperate and settled for Adams or he let him sing out of loyalty to their friendship. I love everything about this album except Adams' vocals. Jon and Randy being the riff masters that they are made this album more of a pleasurable listen. I've always loved Schaffer's riff style, even if it sometimes seems simple or reused.

The bad production kind of irks me with it`s hollow sound, but it's still a pleasure to listen to from time to time. All in all, the album is worth buying if you can learn to at least somewhat adapt to mediocre vocals. I'm just glad that Schaffer got rid of him when he wrote Stormrider

This is Iced Earth's most solid release, showcasing Schaffer's talent at the early stages of the band before everything became centered around Barlow. If you want to hear a great mix of thrash and power metal riffs and solos, this is the album for you. If you'd rather hear Barlow's melodramatic singing, then get one of the later albums.

Schaffer is purely and simply a thrash guitarist, and this album shows off his talent. The opener is reminiscent of early Slayer, later Death, with some Maiden-like hooks and solos. The singing is terrible. I may have to pick up the album where Barlow is singing some of the tracks off this album, but seeing as the music was written with Adam in mind...I figured I'd start here. But "Iced Earth" is not the best song on this album, and is, as another reviewer agrees, a bit of a let down as the song the band is named after.

However, all the other songs are amazing in terms of the guitar-work. The singing, again, is horrible (the best tracks are probably the two instrumentals, "Solitude," and "Funeral." John Greely was definitely a step in the right direction.

What makes this album worthy of the title of "best album" is the fact that there is ABSOLUTELY NO FILLER. This surprises me, because Iced Earth tends to enjoy putting the listener through as much filler as anyone can bear. And when they don't, the albums have been somewhat lackluster in terms of the guitar-work (I think Barlow pushed Schaffer to the side when he joined...you hear a lot more creativity in the guitar on the first three albums).

This is a solid release for fans of thrash and power metal, and the most enjoyable album by Iced Earth. All the songs are good or great if you can get past the average vocals (the singer actually does a good job at the opening of "Life and Death," so I hesitate to call him absolutely terrible). But if it takes this kind of vocalist to allow Schaffer free reign, then so be it. Great album.