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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Astounding. Spellbinding. Stellar. Any of those words, December 13, 2004
"Good God!" were my first words when I listened to the approx 30 minute long, 3-song spanning EPIC trilogy chronicling the Battle of Gettysburg. And that wasn't even the entire CD!
I admit I'm not a big fan of Iced Earth (mostly because I rarely heard of them before). I don't even want to dip my foot into the whole reviewer controversy I think I see about the Matt Barlow vs Tim Owens debate between Iced Earth fans. In my own opinion, based upon the songs in "The Glorious Burden" and other Iced Earth songs from Barlow's time, I'd say Tim Owens is a much better vocalist in my opinion...
But this album is spellbinding. One of the best I've ever heard. The first 9 tracks are beautifully melodic masterpieces chronicling various events in world, and primarily American, history
1- Star Spangled Banner: Terrifying to our foes, glorifying to Americans, etc, blah, blah, wine, blood. Pretty much what I expected; the star spangled banner played on guitar, kinda like what Jimi Hendrix did
2- Declaration Day (9/10): great way to start off an album. A song about the Declaration of Independence signing. A great thrumming beat goes throughout the song which fits in well with what the colonists must have felt that day.
3- When The Eagle Cries (8/10): Good song about 9/11 attacks, with little biasedness. It is greatly written, with the right words at the right time and place.
4- The Reckoning (10/10): Excellent single, pure rock song about Justice and vengeance. The highpitched vocals are stellar and just "wow"
5- Greenface (9/10): Song which keeps bringing John Kerry and the game Battlefield Vietnam to mind. Assuming by the lyrics, name, and picture in the CD booklet, I'd say this has to do with the Vietnam war. Nice sound with good vocals.
6- Valley Forge (10/10): Great ode to the Colonial soldier suffering at Valley Forge. Also good lyrics criticizing our lazy and apathetic nature towards our government today ("Would he look upon us now in anger and disgust?") ("Will we let ignorance and laziness bring our demise?")
7- Attila (9/10): A ballad to our favourite Hun conqueror! A song about the man who dominated nearly an entire continent, it is powerful. What else should I say?
8- Hollowman (7/10): I still can't figure what this song is about, but it has a good sound to it
9- Red Baron/Mad Max (7/10)
Gettysburg
10- The Devil To Pay (10/10): Day 1 of battle. An astoundingly beautiful song, beginning with a lone bagpipe and drum playing the star spangled banner, Anthem of the Union. Some seconds later, a banjo playing dixie, Anthem of the Confederacy, joins in. And then begins the cannonfire. The song is well put together and chronicles the events of the first day, when not in lyrics, then in music. Also has a moving rendition of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" at the que of General Reynold's death. It goes on to play several variations of the song, mixed with Dixie later on. The song ends with solemn sounding drum beats which leads into Day 2
11- Hold At All Costs (10/10): Day 2 of battle. Song begins with a moving ballad based upon two generals who fought that day, one on the Union, one on the Confederates, who were like brothers, now forced to do battle. The song is more heavier and rough-around-the-edge than the first and third. The song ends with a climactic drum beat which leads into Day 3
12- High Water Mark (10/10): Day 3 of battle. The high point of all action is focused primarily in this song. It's also the only song with dialogue between Generals, with Tim Owens and Jon Schaffer (or Matt Barlow I think) as the other. The dialogue fits in with the music and even rhymes. The song plots General Lee's plans, and General Longstreet's faithlessness in Lee's plan. It goes on with the battle raging about, with several orchestral and overall instrumental parts raging on, with the occasional sound effects of cannonfire. Then comes the final attack of the Confederacy, with a speech from a field general ("We're almost there my boys, I've never worked with finer") etc. A bridge then plays, and ends with the shout "CHARGE!!", then the sound of thousands of men rushing forth, followed by gunfire, and then bayonet fighting in a climactic instrumental battle scene worthy of Hollywood fame. The climax ends with a tragic monologue by General Lee (voiced by Tim Owens), where he pleads for God's forgiveness for his faulty planning ("It's all my fault, their blood is on my hands") ("God forgive me, please forgive me") ("It's over now, we are retreating, I never thought that we'd be beaten")("Is this God's will after all?"). It goes on to play a climactic outro which slowly fades into a sad violin soli of the initial melody of The Devil To Pay. A majestic way to end a majestic trilogy.
Spectacular! Worth ever half penny I paid for this album!
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Literate Metal? Thank you Iced Earth!, January 20, 2004
OK, I am probably old enough to be some of these band members' Father. But for the first time in years, I am actually thrilled to have a hard rocking album blasting my ears off. Most metal is music made by hormonally challenged creatures of limited vocabulary (especially the mall-core bands) for the disenfranchised teenaged boy trying without success to understand his radically changing worldstate. Therefore, mismanaged anger will always rule the creatively lowest common denominator. Excuse me while I date myself, but I was weaned on Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Rush and Aerosmith. Bands for whom anger was not necessarily off the palate, but were always looking to push things a little harder than the "break-stuff" mentality that seemed to evolve into the nineties and present day metal. So when I heard that there was a band that had created an opus that devoted itself to thrash without a deficiency of sense, I had to check it out. "Glorious Burden" is that album. It is patriotic without being jingoistic and has a solid sense of history. It uses intellect above obscenity. Oddly enough, it is the 9/11 song that is the album's weakest moment! But the first portion of the album looks deeply into World War Two battles, the American Revolution, and (in a kind of disturbing way) a special ops soldier's mindset, is both riff heavy and lyrically fascinating. (Love that riff in "Greenface.") The kind of smart writing that gave concept albums a good name in their heyday. That's all just preface to "Glorious Burden's" opus, "Gettysburg 1863." Written to cover the three day expanse of one of the darkest periods of our nation's history, it looks at the battle from varying points of view. Without getting too cliche', the band utilizes great orchestral colorings to emphasize the horror and fascination of war and the ultimate costs. The "dialogs" between Jon Schaffer and Tim "Ripper" Owens shine throughout this 30 minute masterpiece, and make me go after the CD booklet for repeat snatches of the lyrics as well as Schaffer's notes about the composition of the work. All I can say is BRAVO Iced Earth. "Glorious Burden" gives me hope for the future of metal and makes me long for concept albums with Hipnosis gate sleeves and fold out posters. (Ask your parents if you're in the pre-CD generation.)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I added a star a month or so - but still 5 stars, June 12, 2006
This one really grew on me. I am in the habit of only publishing 5 star reviews. If it isn't 5 star quality, I don't want to waste other people's time with it. This album absolutely grew on me. At first it was a disappointment. But I was letting my political prejudices get in the way of my judgment of the album - incorrectly viewing it as a cash-in on all the fake flag-waving and magnetic ribbons on cars being foisted on us by an administration I believe is abusing and dishonoring our troops by abandoning them upon return (I say this as someone who has designed reintegration and vocational rehab programs for guard and reserve who have lost careers in this conflict). Anyone can stick a magnet on their car - now let's see them all DO something. But as I listened repeatedly with my prejudices removed I grew to love it. The album is a fantastic tribute to the many thousands of brave men and women who have defended our nation and even brought it into being - with a few other military themes thrown in (Atilla The Hun, for example). Having been to the Smithsonian and the national archives, I believe that The Star Spangled Banner, presented here with some of the same contrapuntal lines used in orchestral arrangements, is both respectful and inspiring, and the thunderous intro to Declaration Day which starts just beneath the last noted of the Anthem reflects the awesome foreboding of tyhe great nation which would arise from the actions of our forefathers, who coul only have dreamed of what kind of incredible future their sacrifices woul bring. And When The Eagle Cries is the ONLY song ever written about 9/11/2001 that is not morose, sickeningly politicized, or hamfisted - it does justice to its theme and reflects the experience as ALL Americans of ALL political persuasions felt on that horrible day. The Reckoning is an intelligent exploration of the end of vigilante justice in the west and the "taming" of the frontier that brought an end to a sick vigilante code and brought true American civilized justice to the west. I know many men who serve in Iraq today and who served in Vitnam, and "Greenface" is a terrifying tribute to those men who make the great sacrifice of becoming killers in the name of justice and freedom and ONLY in the name of justice and freedom. "Valley Forge" takes us back to the Revolutionary War again, making us realize the incredible hardship and sacrifice our bluecoated forefathers made for the principles they held sacred. "Atilla" evokes the awesome fierceness of the true warrior with its unique combination of choir and metal arrangement. "Hollow Man" is really the only filler here, and even it is quite listenable. "Red Baron/Blue Max" does one of the best jobs of evoking imagery - that of airborne combat and the hail of bulets in a dogfight - ever committed to a metal recording. And the incredible dichotomy and cognitive dissonance evoked by the idea of friends and brothers taking arms against one another is masterfully portrayed in the last three songs which comprise an epic about the civil war and Gettysburg, and Jon Schaffer's writing and Tim "Ripper" Owens' singing portray Gen. Robert E. Lee as a truly conflicted, tragic figure that lends a geat historic perspective to the events of the civil war. And musically this combines some of the heaviest metal ever laid down with some truly brilliant arrangements and inventions on the part of Iced Earth. If you truly love heavy metal, get this, and listen to it until you understand it - it is worth the investment of time and thought it takes to truly understand this brilliant piece of work. Oh yes - I also hope that Tim Owens will remain with the band. They were great with Matt Barlow, but Ripper's unique style which still manages to incorporate influences of Rob Halford (of course!), Bruce Dickinson and John Bush makes Iced Earth possibly the most formidable metal act around.
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