The Official Iced Earth Thread v. "Tastes Like Treason!"

[BanksD]

I gotta say, I'm really enjoying the new album. Stu is a very worthy replacement (imo) and there is only one song I've found myself skipping (Days Of Rage)


My favorites are

5. Equilibrium
4. Dark City
3. Anguish Of Youth
2. Boiling Point
1. Dystopia

[Zook]

My thoughts, song by song:

Dystopia - Great song. I like the Ripper voice Stu does in the pre-chorus.

Anthem - This songs isn't bad, but I don't like Stu's Barlow voice. It's kind of annoying.

Boiling Point - The lyrics are a kinda.. Eh? I'll just quote someone from Brazil Under Ice:

Its one thing to sound pissed off when singing a metal song, its another to sing about BEING pissed off, LOL!

The song isn't bad though, just kinda comes and goes.

Anguish of Youth - This song isn't bad either. I wish Stu sang like this on Anthem. This album might be a grower, but fuck all these fade outs. Yes, I can hear the future.

V - OK, another good song, but I don't think it's something I'd keep coming back to.

Dark City - I'm really missing the trademark galloping riffs. Anyway, this song isn't really doing much for me, though it has a cool outro, which does sound very much like Iron Maiden.

Equilibrium - This song would be better if it didn't have the same structured verse melodies as Anthem, only faster. This song doesn't do much for me either.

Days Of Rage - This song is pretty lame and a rip off of Disciples Of The Lie. The chorus is shit.

End Of Innocence - OK song. Nothing more. Didn't have any impact on me, but I can say that about the whole album.

Soylent Green - This song is pretty good. Should be part of the official album. Days of Rage should be the bonus track. Although the ending is lazy.

Iron Will - I really like this song. Nice melodies. Shouldn't be a bonus track either. Only problem is the guitar solo sounds a bit too much like the one from Valley Forge.

Tragedy And Triumph - Oh hey Dystopia. Is my copy broken? Oh wait, the melodies are different. Anyway, this song sounds like something from another band, but I still like it. Fuck the fade out. Lazy Schaffer. LAZY! Good song though. Oh ha ha, funny thing at end. Ha ha.

Anthem (String Mix) - I didn't really notice a difference.

Overall, I give this album a 6/10. That's average, and exactly what this album is. Stu's really only annoying on Anthem, but besides his Ripper screams, his singing didn't do wonders for me. He wasn't bad by any means, he just wasn't OMG AMAZING like some are saying. And just for the record, I love Matt Barlow's voice, I just don't like imitators. I can barley make it through Winterfell's album nowadays because the vocals are so annoying.

[MykeHavoc]

It hadn't dawned on me till now that I haven't heard the bonus tracks! Gonna give them a listen now.

[MykeHavoc]

Digging Soylent Green.

Where is this supposed Sabbath cover? Is that going to end up on one of the editions or will that be a b-side to a single or something?

[Zook]

I think it may be an Itunes exclusive.

[wolfking]

Man, I really don't want to hear Troy butcher an Iommi classic.

[Zydar]

I only had time to listen to the first two tracks last night, but I liked what I've heard so far.

I had never heard this new singer before, I thought he kind of sounded like a cross between Ripper and Barlow.

[lanemeyer]

I know I'm getting to this thread late, but I'm happy to see Ripper get 20% of the vote (I thought it'd be lower). Barlow was great and a great fit, but I think Ripper has a superior voice and he definitely won me over. I still listen to Gettysburg and loooove the way he sounds, particularly during this section:

The Rebel Cannon Break The Silence
150 Guns Make Up Their Cannonade
They Must Destroy The Union Center
Before The Infantry Can Launch Their Grand Assault

Wish I could sing like that!

[MykeHavoc]

I know I'm getting to this thread late, but I'm happy to see Ripper get 20% of the vote (I thought it'd be lower). Barlow was great and a great fit, but I think Ripper has a superior voice and he definitely won me over. I still listen to Gettysburg and loooove the way he sounds, particularly during this section:

The Rebel Cannon Break The Silence
150 Guns Make Up Their Cannonade
They Must Destroy The Union Center
Before The Infantry Can Launch Their Grand Assault

Wish I could sing like that!

If I had things my way, Ripper would be ahead by a landslide. I wonder if we reset the survey what the results would be.

[Perpetual Change]

I really liked Ripper. What's he doing these days?

[Zydar]

I really liked Ripper. What's he doing these days?

According to Wikipedia: "In early 2011 Ripper also joined forces with Dio Disciples, which features latest Dio members, first ever tour in US will take place in September 2011."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Owens

[MykeHavoc]

I really liked Ripper. What's he doing these days?

Everything. He is an active member of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Richard Christy's Charred Walls of the Damned, Hail (all-star revolving lineup playing covers), Beyond Fear, Dio Disciples (him with the Dio band playing all eras of RJD material) as well as his own all-star solo band.

[Jaq]

Doing the song by song thing here:

Dystopia: great song. If the entire album featured Stu Block putting this much variety into his performance, I'd have no complaints.

Anthem: I don't really mind that this song fades out. However-as much as I like the chorus, a quarter of the song is that chorus into the fade-out. Ugh. And yes, Stu's Barlow voice is the most grating here.

Boiling Point-Stu gets a bit more versatile here, but this is pretty much how Iced Earth is going to do a fast, thrashier number from now on, isn't it?

Anguish of Youth-I really get a Something Wicked This Way Comes Vibe off this one. One of those catchy chorus numbers like Melancholy. Maybe this can replace that in the setlist? (I live in hope.) Is this the song with the mandatory Jim Morris solo for this album?

V-nice little mid-tempo number. I prefer the range that Stu uses here to the one that he tries in Anthem. Really should stick to this for the band.

Dark City-omg it's Iron Maiden. In a good way. My favorite song on the album.

Days of Rage-Days of Filler. As said earlier in this thread, this should be one of the bonus tracks instead of what actually IS listed as them.

End of Innocence-from what I've heard, this was written by Stu Block about his mother's death. Which makes it a shame that it's kind of a generic Iced Earh ballad.

Soylent Green-given how short this album is without the bonus tracks, why isn't this and Iron Will actually ON the album?  Like it, although the lyrics are occasionally risible in that way you only get when you're doing book report music.

Iron Will-I really like this song. Catchy chorus, nice drive to it, songs like a perfect concert song. I'd rate this album higher if this was an official track in place of both two minute numbers.

Tragedy and Triumph-I see what you did there with the intro, Schaffer. I need to say that while I have no problems with this song and Dystopia and how they're part of the Something Wicked story...this needs to be it. Imagine if Iron Maiden had done first three songs, then two albums, THEN two more songs, about Eddie. Yeah we'd be laughing. Let this story go, Jon.

The second version of Anthem-how is that different from the first?

It's funny, though-I sound like I'm hammering this album and it's awful, but yet overall I enjoy it. On first listen I enjoy it more than any Iced Earth CD since Horror Show (I only just came around to liking Framing Armageddon, oh, a few pages back in this thread.) It's a little on the safe side, kind of coming close to being Generic Iced Earth, but it's solid, and I really think if Jon would start fully utilizing Stu Block, he could make a masterpiece. 7/10 would be my number score.

[MykeHavoc]

The second version of Anthem is pretty glaringly obvious
It has keys and orchestral arrangements in the background. I immediately noticed the difference. Not sure I prefer it.

They stated they're already writing new stuff, so hopefully they'll bang out another album within 18 months. With a new singer, perhaps its a good thing to do a safe record to ease them in with the fanbase. I'm certainly hoping that they'll branch off into some different and more exciting territory next go around, and let Stu show more of his range as well as take a step back from the Barlow clone thing. But agreed, with all the criticism, it is still certainly a strong release and I too would rate it a 7 out of 10.

[Jaq]

To be fair, I only listened to the other version of Anthem once and I was doing other stuff, so it could have had a tuba solo and I would have missed it. 

[MykeHavoc]

To be fair, I only listened to the other version of Anthem once and I was doing other stuff, so it could have had a tuba solo and I would have missed it. 

 


Just tabbed out Soylent Green:

Code: [Select]

Soylent Green - half-step down
=============
transcription: Myke Havoc
plannineproductions@hotmail.com

 intro/outro:
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|----5--7--9--10--9--7--577-|----7--9--7--10--9--7--799-|
|-777-77-77-77--77-77-77----|-666-66-66-66--66-66-66----|
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
   ** ** ** **  ** ** **       ** ** ** **  ** ** **       

 intro/outro cont'd:
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|-------------4------------|
|----4--5--4--7--5--4--455-|----5--7--5-----7--5--54--|
|-555-55-55-55-55-55-55----|-444-44-44-44-44-44-44--5-|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
   ** ** ** ** ** ** **       ** ** ** ** ** ** **

 verse:                                  bridge:
|------------------|------------------| |---------------|--------------|---------------|
|------------------|------------------| |---------------|--------------|---------------|
|------------------|--------------5-4-| |---2-----------|--------------|---2-----------|
|-2------------4-5-|-2------------5-5-| |---2---5---4---|-2------------|---2---5---4---|
|-2-------[3x]-5-5-|-2-------[3x]-3-2-| |---0---5---5---|-2-------[4x]-|---0---5---5---|
|-0-00000------2-3-|-0-00000----------| |-------3---2---|-0-00000------|-------3---2---|
    *****              *****                                *****

 chorus:
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-\------------------5-\------------------4-\------------------4-\------------------|
|-7-\------------------6-\------------------5-\------------------4-\------------------|
+-----0-0000-0-0-0-0-0-----0-0000-0-0-0-0-0-----0-0000-0-0-0-0-0-----0-0000-0-0-0-0-0-+
|     * **** * * * * *     * **** * * * * *     * **** * * * * *     * **** * * * * * |
|                                                                                     |
+------3-00-5-00-7-00-------3-00-5-00-7-00-------3-00-5-00-3-00-------2-00-3-00-2-00--|
|-5-00-----------------4-00-----------------3-00-----------------2-00-----------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
  pm------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 end:
|--------------------|------------------|
|--------------------|------------------|
|--------------------|------------------|
|-2------------4-5-5-|-2----------------|
|-2-------[3x]-5-5-5-|-2----------------|
|-0-00000------2-3-3-|-0----------------|
    *****           

<songflow>
intro  [3x]
verse  [2x]
bridge
verse  [2x]
bridge
chorus [4x]
verse  [2x]
bridge
verse  [2x]
bridge
chorus [4x]
outro  [4x]
end
Not bad for a song I heard for the first time 12 hours ago.

[Dr. DTVT]

I really liked Ripper. What's he doing these days?

Everything. He is an active member of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Richard Christy's Charred Walls of the Damned, Hail (all-star revolving lineup playing covers), Beyond Fear, Dio Disciples (him with the Dio band playing all eras of RJD material) as well as his own all-star solo band.

Beyond Fear is recording another album? Cool.

I'll have to remember to pick up the new Charred Walls album when I get the new Iced Earth album.  It just sucks I have to wait until the next time I visit my girlfriend who lives nearly an hour away to go to a music store because other than Best Buy my options are absolutely nothing locally.  Lost 3 record stores in the last 18 months

[GuineaPig]

Got a promo copy today.  Listening now.

[GuineaPig]

It's OK.  Passable.

The songs are a bit more energetic, if derivative as fuck.  The lyric are either mediocre - if it's some sort of concept album (and it sounds like it is) - or terrible, if they're meant to be "OH NOES OBAMA WILL PUT CHIPS IN YOUR BRAIN," which I sort of feel like it's hinting at.

[wolfking]

I really liked Ripper. What's he doing these days?

Everything. He is an active member of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Richard Christy's Charred Walls of the Damned, Hail (all-star revolving lineup playing covers), Beyond Fear, Dio Disciples (him with the Dio band playing all eras of RJD material) as well as his own all-star solo band.

Beyond Fear is recording another album? Cool.

I'll have to remember to pick up the new Charred Walls album when I get the new Iced Earth album.  It just sucks I have to wait until the next time I visit my girlfriend who lives nearly an hour away to go to a music store because other than Best Buy my options are absolutely nothing locally.  Lost 3 record stores in the last 18 months

Yeah, Ripper has been working on that for a while, although I think it went on the backburner once he joined Charred Walls.  I'm also looking forward to the new Charred Walls album.  The first was absolutely killer IMO.

I've also lost I think 3 brilliant record stores in like 2 years, depressing stuff.

[Perpetual Change]

Damn. I forgot all about CWotD, even though I was really interested in it at the time. I'll have to get it  when I have a budget for music again. Is it good?

[Dr. DTVT]

The first Charred Walls was pretty good, definately better than my expectations.  I'm also a bigger fan of Ripper than most people seem to be.  Nobody does vocal trills like Ripper.

[Zook]

Poll has been updated and reset.

[BanksD]

Matt Barlow is kind of my favorite vocalist at the moment so...yeah

[Jaq]

Poll has been updated and reset.

I like the new comedy option 

[BanksD]

Since a few other people did I thought I'd give a rundown on what i thought of each song.


Dystpoia - Quickly became one of my favorite IE songs when I heard it when it leaked a few weeks ago


Anthem - Nice ballad song, no complaints here, though it probably would have done better had it come later on in the album


Boiling Point - Another one of my favorites. Love Block's vocals on this one, and the chorus is awesome.


Anguish of Youth - My second favorite behind Dystopia actually, probably my new favorite IE "ballad"


V - Nice "march" type song, not one of my top 5 but comes very close and I always enjoy it.


Dark City - Another of my top 5 and damn do I love it, Block's vocals really shine here and the outro great.


Equilibrium - Even though the verses are similar to Anthem I must say I enjoyed this song more than Anthem, and this is definitely one of my favorites  from the album


Days Of Rage - Even though it is filler and sounds a lot like Disciples Of The Lie, I actually kinda like this song, it's short, and doesn't go on too long, so it really isn't painful.


End Of Innocence - For the first time I think Iced Earth has written an emotional song that doesn't have any lyrics that make me go "ugh..." (Ghost Of Freedom, When the Eagle Cries, and as much as i love it Watching Over Me is a bit guilty of this)


Soylent Green - I'm gonna echo the "shouldn't have been a bonus track" statement. Though not one of my top favorites, still one I think i'll find myself enjoying in the future


Iron Will - Once again, shouldn't have been a bonus track, but regardless still a VERY good song, and one of the more uplifting songs i've heard by IE

Tragedy and Triumph - This is the one song I can't seem to get into really, not a bad song by any means, but the re-use of the Dystopia intro is kinda lazy imo. But since it's the last song on the album I'll likely sit through it when giving the album a run-through, but likely wont ever go out of my way to listen to it


Overall i'd give this album an 8 or a 9 out of 10, I can see this joining Something Wicked and Horror Show as one of my favorites (yeah, i like the power metal side of IE more than the thrash side of albums such as Burnt Offerings and NOTSR)

Really looking forward to the future

[MykeHavoc]

I really liked Ripper. What's he doing these days?

Everything. He is an active member of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Richard Christy's Charred Walls of the Damned, Hail (all-star revolving lineup playing covers), Beyond Fear, Dio Disciples (him with the Dio band playing all eras of RJD material) as well as his own all-star solo band.

Beyond Fear is recording another album? Cool.

I'll have to remember to pick up the new Charred Walls album when I get the new Iced Earth album.  It just sucks I have to wait until the next time I visit my girlfriend who lives nearly an hour away to go to a music store because other than Best Buy my options are absolutely nothing locally.  Lost 3 record stores in the last 18 months

Yeah, Ripper has been working on that for a while, although I think it went on the backburner once he joined Charred Walls.  I'm also looking forward to the new Charred Walls album.  The first was absolutely killer IMO.

I've also lost I think 3 brilliant record stores in like 2 years, depressing stuff.

The truth of it is money. They started recording it, but without label support, they had no completion funds, so until that happens, it will be TBA.

[wolfking]

That's fucking bullshit.  The first album was so damn good!! 

[Zook]

I thought Beyond Fear was terrible. Then again, I really haven't liked anything Ripper has done outside of Iced Earth and a few cover songs.

[jjrock88]

I think the vocal talents of Ripper are unmatched; amazing heavy metal voice and one of the best ever.  The first Beyond Fear and CWOTD discs kick major ass.  Looking forward to the new CWOTD more then the new IE.

[MykeHavoc]

I thought Beyond Fear was terrible. Then again, I really haven't liked anything Ripper has done outside of Iced Earth and a few cover songs.

That's fucking bullshit.  The first album was so damn good!! 

It took me a few years to come around. But when I put it on about a year ago, it sounded so fresh and new. The production and performances are solid. It was as if it was ahead of its time. I have much more of an appreciation for it now.

[Zook]

The lyrics are really bad though. REALLY bad. I like Scream Machine though, as silly as those lyrics are as well.

[MykeHavoc]

Yes, admittedly, even as a Ripper purist, I cannot deny his lack of compelling lyrical content. But I chalk that up mostly to not being able to write a damn song of his own until he was nearly 40. I'm sure over time, he'll hone his craft like any musician.

[wolfking]

Beyond Fear is a good solid heavy metal cd, nothing less.  I love it for that.

Ripper's lyrics are pretty ordinary.  I do like his attempt on Red Baron, although it does fall short.

[Zook]

RED BARRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON! BLUE MAX!