Post by Reno on Feb 25, 2006 2:27:19 GMT -5
I picked this up Thursday afternoon. I already owned everything by Iced Earth except for their original self-titled album, their live CD Alive in Athens, their greatest hits collection The Blessed and the Damned, and this. I don't need a greatest hits CD since I have all those songs anyway, I don't like live albums, and the singer they had for the first album was terrible, so I got this instead. I'll pick that self-titled album up someday, but only to be a completist.
Well, frankly I wasn't expecting much from this album. I'd heard a few tracks before and wasn't all that impressed. But it turned out not to be so bad. Here's the track by track breakdown:
1. Creatures of the Night (originally by KISS) - This is one of the best songs on the cd, hands down. It's perfect for Iced Earth's style, and both Schaffer's guitars and Barlow's vocals shine on this one.
2. The Number of the Beast (originally by Iron Maiden) - This is one of the songs I'd heard before I bought this album. It's okay, but doesn't live up to the original. For starters, it's missing the spoken Vincent Price intro from the original, which takes away a lot from the song. Second, the distortion on Schaffer's guitar takes away from the crispness of the notes, and makes the baseline a little fuzzy. And Matt Barlow just doesn't have the same evil-sounding inflections on his lyrics that Bruce Dickinson did in the original, which frankly is shocking, because he's definitely capable of it.
3. Highway to Hell (originally by AC/DC) - This is the worst song on the cd. Matt Barlow's voice is all wrong for this. Nonetheless, I still find myself singing along unconsciously when I listen. Which I NEVER do. Strange.
4. Burnin' for You (originally by Blue Oyster Cult) - If you can get past the strangeness of hearing such lyrics from Iced Earth, this song is surprisingly good. I'm not familiar with Blue Oyster Cult at all, so I can't compare it to the original, but it's a good listen. You can easily tell it's a cover, even if you don't know the original, though.
5. God of Thunder (originally by KISS) - This is alright. Not as good as Creatures of the Night, but alright. Still very Iced Earth. Not much else to say about it, though.
6. Screaming for Vengeance (originally by Judas Priest) - For the life of me, I can't figure out why, of all the Judas Priest songs to cover, they would pick THIS one. Was this even a single? Despite that, it comes off pretty good. Barlow particularly nails the high notes. This probably would have sounded better if they'd done it after Ripper Owens replaced Matt, but then he was actually IN Judas Priest for awhile, so that's not fair.
7. Dead Babies (originally by Alice Cooper) - I was wrong. THIS is the worst song on the cd. It's just a dull song. Not one of Alice Cooper's best, and Iced Earth didn't do much with it. Too d**n repetitive for my liking.
8. Cities on Flame (originally by Blue Oyster Cult) - This one's easily forgettable. In fact, I had to go listen to it while making this post just so I could remember what it was like long enough to review it. Nothing special.
9. It's a Long Way to the Top (originally by AC/DC) - This one's alright. It sounds better than Highway to Hell, but I would rather have heard them cover TNT or Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Those would have taken better advantage of Barlow's voice, which sounds much better in the lower ranges, in my opinion.
10. Black Sabbath (originally by, you guessed it... Black Sabbath) - This song is nice and evil-sounding. So you'd think it would be the perfect Sabbath song for Iced Earth. WRONG. About the only thing I can say in its defense is that it sounds better than the Type O Negative version of it. But really, they should have covered The Wizard or Paranoid instead.
11. Hallowed Be Thy Name (originally by Iron Maiden) - It's alright. Again, Barlow's vocals just don't match Bruce Dickinson's original on this. Normally I like Matt Barlow better as a singer, but not when he's trying to sound like Dickinson. It's like listening to the original, except the singing's just not as good.
Well, frankly I wasn't expecting much from this album. I'd heard a few tracks before and wasn't all that impressed. But it turned out not to be so bad. Here's the track by track breakdown:
1. Creatures of the Night (originally by KISS) - This is one of the best songs on the cd, hands down. It's perfect for Iced Earth's style, and both Schaffer's guitars and Barlow's vocals shine on this one.
2. The Number of the Beast (originally by Iron Maiden) - This is one of the songs I'd heard before I bought this album. It's okay, but doesn't live up to the original. For starters, it's missing the spoken Vincent Price intro from the original, which takes away a lot from the song. Second, the distortion on Schaffer's guitar takes away from the crispness of the notes, and makes the baseline a little fuzzy. And Matt Barlow just doesn't have the same evil-sounding inflections on his lyrics that Bruce Dickinson did in the original, which frankly is shocking, because he's definitely capable of it.
3. Highway to Hell (originally by AC/DC) - This is the worst song on the cd. Matt Barlow's voice is all wrong for this. Nonetheless, I still find myself singing along unconsciously when I listen. Which I NEVER do. Strange.
4. Burnin' for You (originally by Blue Oyster Cult) - If you can get past the strangeness of hearing such lyrics from Iced Earth, this song is surprisingly good. I'm not familiar with Blue Oyster Cult at all, so I can't compare it to the original, but it's a good listen. You can easily tell it's a cover, even if you don't know the original, though.
5. God of Thunder (originally by KISS) - This is alright. Not as good as Creatures of the Night, but alright. Still very Iced Earth. Not much else to say about it, though.
6. Screaming for Vengeance (originally by Judas Priest) - For the life of me, I can't figure out why, of all the Judas Priest songs to cover, they would pick THIS one. Was this even a single? Despite that, it comes off pretty good. Barlow particularly nails the high notes. This probably would have sounded better if they'd done it after Ripper Owens replaced Matt, but then he was actually IN Judas Priest for awhile, so that's not fair.
7. Dead Babies (originally by Alice Cooper) - I was wrong. THIS is the worst song on the cd. It's just a dull song. Not one of Alice Cooper's best, and Iced Earth didn't do much with it. Too d**n repetitive for my liking.
8. Cities on Flame (originally by Blue Oyster Cult) - This one's easily forgettable. In fact, I had to go listen to it while making this post just so I could remember what it was like long enough to review it. Nothing special.
9. It's a Long Way to the Top (originally by AC/DC) - This one's alright. It sounds better than Highway to Hell, but I would rather have heard them cover TNT or Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Those would have taken better advantage of Barlow's voice, which sounds much better in the lower ranges, in my opinion.
10. Black Sabbath (originally by, you guessed it... Black Sabbath) - This song is nice and evil-sounding. So you'd think it would be the perfect Sabbath song for Iced Earth. WRONG. About the only thing I can say in its defense is that it sounds better than the Type O Negative version of it. But really, they should have covered The Wizard or Paranoid instead.
11. Hallowed Be Thy Name (originally by Iron Maiden) - It's alright. Again, Barlow's vocals just don't match Bruce Dickinson's original on this. Normally I like Matt Barlow better as a singer, but not when he's trying to sound like Dickinson. It's like listening to the original, except the singing's just not as good.
