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

[Madman Shepherd]

You left out:  and then Shaffer went all wacky right wing conspiracy lunatic on us claiming banks were taking over the world and wanting to start a political revolution with his "Sons of Liberty" project....

Did you see his interview on Alex Jones's show?  It was hilarious.  alex Jones obviously didn't do his research (like he did in researching that 9/11 was perpetrated by Queen Elizabeth) and he kept sidetracking all of the "important" things Jon was trying to say by saying such gems as, "You're a good singer!  Do you singer in your other band too? (Jon answers "no") Well, you should sing in it!  You should be the singer for that one!" (I paraphrased...also, I must admit I have no conclusive proof that Queen Elizabeth had anything to do with 9/11 other than financing it). 

With that said, I actually like the music on the first Sons of Liberty CD.  Would like to hear the second but I'm not going to pay for that conspiracy garbage. 

[Zook]

Jon's "awakening" and everything that followed certainly left a bad taste in my mouth.

Besides the Iced Earthifed Spirit of the Times (cause really, the original is awful, as is the video for it lol) everything Sons of Liberty is terrible.

[rickhawk80]

You left out:  and then Shaffer went all wacky right wing conspiracy lunatic on us claiming banks were taking over the world and wanting to start a political revolution with his "Sons of Liberty" project....

Did you see his interview on Alex Jones's show?  It was hilarious.  alex Jones obviously didn't do his research (like he did in researching that 9/11 was perpetrated by Queen Elizabeth) and he kept sidetracking all of the "important" things Jon was trying to say by saying such gems as, "You're a good singer!  Do you singer in your other band too? (Jon answers "no") Well, you should sing in it!  You should be the singer for that one!" (I paraphrased...also, I must admit I have no conclusive proof that Queen Elizabeth had anything to do with 9/11 other than financing it). 

With that said, I actually like the music on the first Sons of Liberty CD.  Would like to hear the second but I'm not going to pay for that conspiracy garbage.

Yeah I didn't want to support his insanity and make him think we wanted more of that stuff.   Please return your attention to Iced Earth, Jon. 

[wolfking]

Alright, while I was out this weekend, to my surprise I actually found a copy of the CD/DVD version of Babylon.  I instantly picked it up.

I have listened to it once and I gotta say, I think I'm impressed.  I think this album is pretty damn good.  The first six songs obviously shine and Zook is right, this is where Jon shines, he should stick to this sort of stuff. 

Stu is doing more his own thing, but his voice still annoys me a bit, but it's more bearable here.  Zook is right again saying that Ripper would destroy this thing.  The riffs are good, the rhythms are cool and old school and the song structures are surprising fresh and apart for some long intros, everything works quite well.

If I Could See You impresed me.  It's a IE ballad by numbers but Stu sounds alright here and the chorus is terrific.  Cthulhu.  Peacemaker reminded me heavily of TGB and seems filler but again I've only had one listen.  Parasite was okay, same as Peacemaker at this stage.  Not keen on the cover, but it works alright here and its one of the better SOL liberty song to cover.

Fuck Highwayman.  I can't believe this is an actul track.  I would accept this as a bonus track, but sweet jesus.  RA sounds like shit too.  The hidden piece of shit is uncalled for too.

So, after one listen, Zook I think you are right, Iced Earth are back.  We have to live with Stu, and even though, he's not optimal here, it's acceptable.  I also gotta say that the production is really good.  Everything sounds crisp and breathes and it's not weighed down with heavy compression of limiting too much.  Hopefully it has a bit of staying power.

[rickhawk80]

This is encouraging, wolfking.  I pre-ordered it after giving it a couple spins on Spotify because I, too, was encouraged.  Disc should be showing up here any day now.  They'll be playing near me in May -- for the first time in an eternity -- so I'm going to go give them a try and see how Stu is live.

[Zook]

If I Could See You impresed me.  It's a IE ballad by numbers but Stu sounds alright here and the chorus is terrific.  Cthulhu.  Peacemaker reminded me heavily of TGB and seems filler but again I've only had one listen.  Parasite was okay, same as Peacemaker at this stage.  Not keen on the cover, but it works alright here and its one of the better SOL liberty song to cover.

Yeah, If I Could See You is pretty good. Better than the ballads on Dystopia. Stu sounds more comfortable here. Shame about the subject matter though. Poor Stu. Is that a good "Cthulhu."? Peacemaker is weird. I don't really like Stu on this song cause he has food in his mouth, but the song is alright. I can see what you're saying about it sounding like The Glorious Burden era. They captured the Western vibe too like Metallica's Unforgiven. Obviously what they were going for though. Parasite I'd agree is kind of filler. I still say it sounds like Disturbed. It's OK, but could use a proper ending. Spirit of the Times is still ok, despite Stu sounding like Daffy Duck when he says "justice".

Fuck Highwayman.  I can't believe this is an actual track.  I would accept this as a bonus track, but sweet jesus.  RA sounds like shit too.  The hidden piece of shit is uncalled for too.

Highwayman has actually grown on me. I mistook Jon for Volbeat Guy when I first heard it (not sure how), So Jon sounds kinda silly here. I'm with you on Russell. He is over compressed or something. Maybe the other singers were jealous. Stu is really hillbillying it up here. Volbeat Guy actually doesn't sound that bad. His voice initially turned me off of Volbeat, but I might give 'em a fair listen. Pretty good Metal cover of an old Country song. The hidden thing: It sounded familiar to me, so after doing some research (looking through the Iced Earth webisodes) I found a short segment of Jon and Russell saying the Dave Chappelle line "fuck yo couch". According to Stu's facebook, it was the theme of the tour. I like Russell. He's a pretty funny guy, but this just wasn't. It may have gotten a smile out of me the first time around, but putting it on the CD was just stupid. At least they didn't stick it on the end of Highwayman.

[wolfking]

Yeah, for some reason I fucked up what I was writing for Cthulhu.  It's like I started a sentence but then forgot about it and went on to something else, weird.    Anyway I think I was just going to say that Cthulhu is fucking terrific too, which it is.

Been spinning this again today and I really like it, I never thought this would happen.  My favs could possibly be The Culling (what a chorus) and The End?  The whole mini story here works so damn well.

If I Could See You has grown on me even more and even though it's pretty much I Died For You, it's just wonderful.  Peacemaker is okay, but I think the vibe just doesn't fit what came before it.

It's funny, you've heard all these riffs and shit before but, somehow Jon has made everything work and even though things sound familiar with IE, it somehow sounds really fresh.

I watched the 55 minute doco on the making of and that was really well done.  Great interviews and insight on the album.  Stu is such a fucking nerd though.    Anyway, I like the drumming too, he makes it fresh, but it's funny how much they praise him on the DVD but at teh time the DVD was released he was already out of the band.

[Zook]

I guess I was wrong about If I Could See You. I thought it was pretty obvious that Stu wrote the lyrics, but it was Schaffer.

[wolfking]

I haven't read the lyrics or anything but to me it seems a bit of a sequel to Watching Over You.  Probably wrong, but that's the impression that I get from it.

[Zook]

Maybe.

Turns out the Plagues story is actually about the zombie apacolypse and not about the ancient plagues like I thought. Makes sense considering the lyrics of ATLD. The beginning of the title track made it sound like it was before The Clouding, but there is a resistance in the future that is becoming more aware of the Setians manipulation.

Jon explains all this in the new Making of Documentary.

[wolfking]

Maybe.

Turns out the Plagues story is actually about the zombie apacolypse and not about the ancient plagues like I thought. Makes sense considering the lyrics of ATLD. The beginning of the title track made it sound like it was before The Clouding, but there is a resistance in the future that is becoming more aware of the Setians manipulation.

Jon explains all this in the new Making of Documentary.

Yeah, it's like an off side story but in the same realm as the humans and setians.  Pretty cool.

[MoraWintersoul]

I just saw Iced Earth and it was perfect, probably one of the best shows I've seen. Stu was spot on, and we shared a moment when a dude lifted me up into the air during the first verse and chorus of Dystopia I don't like Plagues Of Babylon that much, it's pretty much just "okay" to me, but the songs were engaging live.

[rickhawk80]

    Glad to hear this.  I'll be seeing them in May.

[MoraWintersoul]

This is me cracking a very stupidly bedazzled smile at him:

 

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

 

[Zook]

[NotePad]

I remember back when Barlow was still in the band, Iced Earth was a very acclaimed and popular metal band. It also seemed this way when Ripper first joined too. But now it's not the same. I'm sure there are many others who feel this way.

[wolfking]

I remember back when Barlow was still in the band, Iced Earth was a very acclaimed and popular metal band. It also seemed this way when Ripper first joined too. But now it's not the same. I'm sure there are many others who feel this way.

Check mine and Zook's posts over the last 20 or so pages. 

Saying that, I haven't gone back to the new album much, but they have redeemed themselves a little.  They will never be the band they were though.

[Zook]

I'm still listening to the new album, but over the last few days Sins in Vain and Rainover have been raping my ears. I just can't get enough of those two.

There used to be an Iced Earth fan site called The Iced Realm that was huge. It had so much information regarding albums, different versions, the old Purgatory stuff, and a forum that actually had traffic. The owner closed the site because Iced Earth weren't his favorite band anymore, and because, as we have said on here, "Schaffer lost it".

I actually found a blabbermouth article about it. Yes, blabbermouth actually wrote an article about an Iced Earth fan site, but that goes to show just how big the site was.

 https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/long-running-iced-earth-fan-site-shuts-down-webmaster-says-schaffer-has-lost-it/



So yeah, there are diehards like Johnny Z, and then there are fans that are "awake" so to speak.

[rickhawk80]

Looks like they've been playing 6 songs from the new album on the first few dates of this tour.  A typical set list so far:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/iced-earth/2014/rosenhof-osnabruck-germany-73c50259.html

[wolfking]

That's an okay set, but they could ditch V.  I wonder how Stu copes with Red Baron.

[rickhawk80]

I wondered the same thing, Wolf.  I wish they were playing a few more tracks from the first couple albums.  On the plus side, they are skipping the "Framing Armageddon" and "Crucible of Man" albums, both of which I really disliked.....

[Zook]

I wouldn't mind hearing Stu sing Framing Armageddon. He does pretty good on Red Baron. But since he cuts himself off at the end of the epic climax to Come What May to sing the last chorus, I hope they don't bring that one back.

[Jaq]

This is me cracking a very stupidly bedazzled smile at him:

 

Wait you're NOT really a ghost wearing a sheet? 

[Zook]

John Greely and Jon Schaffer from yesterday's show!



Unfortunately he didn't get invited to sing, but I guess they aren't playing any Stormrider songs anyway this tour.

[NotePad]

Dystopia is not a bad album, and Stu is a good singer for Iced Earth. But the way I feel about Dystopia is how i feel about most of IE's music, and that is that it's not great but not bad. There is very little versatility in their music, and that makes them very unimpressive as a whole.

[Zook]

no u

[wolfking]

John Greely and Jon Schaffer from yesterday's show!



Unfortunately he didn't get invited to sing, but I guess they aren't playing any Stormrider songs anyway this tour.

Bullshit, he should have sung a couple of songs, what the hell?

[Zook]

Kinda glad I didn't see them last night. They played Days of Rage.

[wolfking]

gay

[Zook]

Off-topic = Dante's Inferno must be one of the best epics performed by any metal band.

You are correct, sir. I can't wait for the day Schaffer finally makes a newer version with a real orchestra. It won't beat the original, but it'll be epic as fuck.

... Still waiting...

[wolfking]

Off-topic = Dante's Inferno must be one of the best epics performed by any metal band.

You are correct, sir. I can't wait for the day Schaffer finally makes a newer version with a real orchestra. It won't beat the original, but it'll be epic as fuck.

... Still waiting...

I never heard the talk of them doing this.  Would be pretty cool, except Stu of course.

[Zook]

I can't really blame Stu completely for that rush job remake. The whole band including Schaffer was sloppy as fuck.

[wolfking]

I think I only listened to that once.

[Zook]

And that's more times than you should have.