Inspired by the talk of the band in this thread, I decided to listen to as much Iced Earth as I owned, with a few exceptions, in order to see if I've unfairly judged the output of the band for the last ten or so years. The exceptions were: the Into The Realm demo, Days of Purgatory, Alive In Athens (because, come on, that's NEVER going to be bad) and Tribute to the Gods. The first three albums were the Dark Genesis remixes. Here we go:
Iced Earth-the single best example of one element (the vocals) killing an otherwise excellent album. Some of Schaffer's best riffs ever are just overwhelmed by awful vocals.
Night of the Stormrider-still, in my opinion, Iced Earth's most consistent release. Much better vocals and amazing songs. Tied as my favorite IE album with...
Burnt Offerings-this masterpiece. It's easy to think of this album as "Dante's Inferno and several other songs" but that's not the case at all. I love the mood of almost pure evil this album exudes.
Dark Saga-one of the albums that I had grown to, if not dislike, then give a pass when I was in the mood for Iced Earth. On replay, it's a lot better than I recalled, blending the earlier, thrashy IE with the more conventional metal sounds the band would explore in the future. And "A Question of Heaven" remains a top 10 Iced Earth track for me.
Something Wicked This Way Comes-I like to think of this as the perfect
studio album to introduce someone to Iced Earth to. (Alive In Athens is the best introduction to the band there is, but if you have to go with a single disc, Something Wicked is it.) It's got thrashier numbers, great straight up metal, and the Something Wicked trilogy. Btw, Matt Barlow on the Coming Curse-a top five metal vocalist performance EVER.
Horror Show-I have a soft spot for this one because it was my first Iced Earth album and Steve DiGiorgio is one of my favorite bassists. Horror Show manages to balance the more straight ahead early IE with the more symphonic direction Schaffer took the band in, though Ghost of Freedom still brings me out of the concept with a dull thud.
The Glorious Burden-I really, really hoped I was being unfair to this album in hindsight, seeing as it marked the point where the band's line up changes started to hit the point of comedic value. Sadly, I wasn't. Despite a superheroic vocal performance by Tim Owens, this one is still merely OK. I will admit that Gettysburg improved on re-listen, but I still blame the mix for the orchestra seeming so thin.
Overture of the Wicked EP-Ugh. I remember when I got this, I thought to myself "man, Ripper's gonna slay on The Coming Curse." And he didn't. Wholly unnecessary remake of a classic.
Framing Armageddon-holy shit did I lowball this album. While I still don't think there was two albums worth of material in the Set story, the first album at least is pretty damn killer. The Clouding is a top ten Iced Earth track, easily.
Crucible of Man-unfortunately, I can't say I lowballed this album in my initial impression. The fact that The Coming Curse tells the story of most of this album better than this one speaks volumes. Come What May, however, almost saves the album singlehandedly, and its vaulted into my Iced Earth top ten.
Dante's Inferno Remake-you know what? This is starting to grow on me. The guitar solo is still dreadful, feeling like it was mailed in from another universe, and I miss the chants, but Stu Block nailed it. It's moved up to a B- for me.
tl;dr: I still really like Iced Earth it seems. I just hope Dystopia isn't another case of Lucy and the football for me.