Iced Earth - The Crucible Of Man (Something Wicked Part II)
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Free Music Notes for The Crucible Of Man (Something Wicked Part II)
Free Music Review: Good Metal Album, But in the Shadow of Part I
Hit: 4 Stars
I had followed Iced Earth but it wasn't until Glorious Burden that I purchased an album. Tim Owens meant a new era and I really connected with the energy of that album from Schaeffer and Owens. I highly recommend that one.
Framing Armageddon was a great followup, very strong riffs, melodies, and vocals wrapped in an engaging storyline. Highly recommended for those who came to Crucible of Man because of the vocal changes, you must check out the first album.
With a 2 part concept sequence, the singers and music must be compared. I really enjoy Crucible of Man, it is a solid metal album, and Matt Barlow's vocals are in great form.
However, this album sits in the shadow of Framing Armageddon. Tim Owens' performance was amazing last time. 10,000 Strong never fails to put a smile on my face with the opening wail, the rhythm, the chorus. There are so many tight tracks on the previous album. The new installment, when played back to back with part 1, does not match the energy and power of the first album.
As a fan of what Owens brought to the fold, I would rather have seen him finish this concept album, or join Matt Barlow with each playing different narrative parts. The Owens factor meant an auto-purchase for Iced Earth CDs, but going forward I'll need to try before I buy. I hope Iced Earth can continue to innovate and that they do not try to settle down into repeating what they've done before. Great music for sure, but keep on pushing the envelope.
Fans of metal, Iced Earth, and part 1 should pick this up right away.
Free Music Review: This is pretty good
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm new to Iced Earth. I've spent the time going through the back catalogs. And I must say that the guitar riffs are nothing special. They seem to be straight forward and plain with small excerpts of brilliance. And I do mean small. That being said the singers. WOW. Owens is great. I love his range and passion he puts into his singing. Owens seems to be a better vocal arranger than Barlow. Now Matt Barlow, I love his low range and on the song "Come What May". His flare really comes through here when he hits the high notes and the passion flies, surrounds you and then hits you in the face. At least that's what happened to me......LOL. What an epic song. I feel Barlow saves this album from mediocrity. His voice is amazing and makes this album come alive. I wish Barlow would learn a few things from Owens though and experiment with his vocals on songs and sing with more passion like Owens. Owens makes you want to get up and bang your head into everything with excitement. On Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1), Sometimes I had the thought of "Did he just do that with his voice" or "Did he just make that change in his voice so suddenly". Barlow, although VERY good makes you want to listen and just bop your head. I would like to hear Barlow use falsetto as the MAIN vocals more. Two different feelings when I hear both of them. Still a great album though and an INCREDIBLE singer. I think Barlow kicked butt here. I enjoyed it.
Listen to "Come What May" if you don't listen to any other song.
Free Music Review: Great with Barlow...
Hit: 4 Stars
I've listened to this album for several months now and feel I can give a "clear as mud" rambling review. As you may know, a vocal change happened between part I & part II. I thought Tim "Ripper" Owens vocals on part I were awesome and at first was dissipointed with part II due to parts I & II having different vocalists and losing continuity. However, now I think it fits very well since part II revolves around Set Abominae being born and coming of age and has more of a dark feel to it also, more of a "first person" view point (enter Matt Barlow as Set Abominae). Whereas part I was very sci-fi and seems more "Third Person narrative" of the story and awesomely sung by Tim "Ripper" Owens and fits well with the story setting up the coming of the "Wicked One" and the back-story. I hope this makes sense to you; it barely does to me, ha! Anyway, I love both parts I & II and prefer to listen to them back-to-back. If I was stranded on an Island and could only keep one of the parts to listen to, I would choose part I since I think it is just much funner and better of a stand-alone record than part II. Anyway, I recommend you buy both parts and listen to them with headphones. My wife and I both like Iced Earth; she prefers Matt's voice and I prefer Tim's voice, oh well. She likes part II better, so there you have it. I guess its whatever vocalist you prefer though both are great IMHO.Free Music Review: Growing with every spin.
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm not going to crap on endlessly here as most of my thoughts have already been said by most already. But I will say, at first, I thought this album was crap in comparison to FA, with the exception of the much bigger sound and some sweet guitar solos in 'A gift or a Curse' and 'Crown of the Fallen'.
However, after every listen it is really growing on me and I like most of this album more than FA now. My two main complaints about this album is the lack of faster songs in the vein of 'Ten Thousand Strong' , 'Framing Armageddon'...and the criminally underdeveloped 'Minions of the Watch' and 'The Revealing'.
As far as the vocal change goes, I think Tim's voice was perfectly suited to FA and Matt's perfectly suited to COM. As one reviewer has previously stated, the story is now told by Set Abominae's point of veiw, so I reckon the deeper, more emotional vocal style of Matt is infinately more suited for this role. A little torn on the idea of FA being re-recorded with Matt, as the only re-sung song I liked from the single was 'A charge to keep', but I'll reserve my judgement to when or indeed if it comes about.
Well, seems I have crapped on endlessly after all.
4 stars overall...a fine album
P.S....Bloody Brilliant cover art...even if the last track on the album 'Come what may' completely contradicts it :P
Free Music Review: Yes, Barlow is back
Hit: 4 Stars
Barlow is back for part 2. I got tired of waiting for the official release date so I just bought the MP3 version a few days ago. Overall this is a really good album. As far as IE albums go, I would rank this behind Dark Saga and Something Wicked but not any further back than that. I have a feeling this album will grow on me more with time though, I've only listened all the way through a few times and it's getting better and better. If you like Barlow-era IE, I think you'll be real happy with this album. Today, I'm only giving 4 stars because I'm not 100% hooked yet but in a few weeks it'll probably be 5 stars for me. I've been like that with alot of their albums, it takes me a few times listenening before I start liking the new material.
As a side note, if you didn't like Tim Owens, give him a second chance. I never really cared much for him but he's actually pretty good. I spent some time listening to Part 1 while I was waiting for Part 2 to release. That's a really good album, I didn't like it all for a long time but now it's gets regular play. After listening to Barlow's recuts of Setian Massacre and The Clouding, I think Tim's versions are better. It was written for Tim and works better for him.