Lineup:

Jon Schaffer - rhythm guitar, lead guitar, vocals

Tim Owens - lead vocals

Richard Christy - drums

James MacDonnough - bass guitar

Additional info:

Year: 2001

Album Length: 78:47

Genre: power metal

Background:

Iced Earth have always had themes of dark fantasy, but with The Glorious Burden, the band switches to a historical theme involving past wars such as The Civil War, World War 1, and the American Revolution to name a few. The new direction works extremely well with Iced Earth's powerful sound. Tim Owens also replaces Matt Barlow on this album.

Performance:

The performances on this album are all fantastic. Schaffer is excellent on guitar and plays plenty of fantastic riffs throughout the album. Tim Owens is an outstanding vocalist. He may not be as good as Barlow, but his vocal range is ridiculous. Richard Christy gives another great performance on the drums and MacDonnough is really good on bass.

Rating: 5/5

Songwriting:

I love the lyrical themes throughout the entire album. The album has terrific variation in the track listing. The album has beautiful melodic tracks like "When the Eagle Cries" and has heavy tracks like "Attila" as well. The biggest highlight is definitely “Gettysburg (1863)”, a three-part epic that closes the album with epic storytelling and equally impressive musicianship.

Rating: 4.5/5

Originality:

This album is unlike anything that the band has ever done before it. Still, certain songs like "Red Baron/Blue Max" are pretty basic and not very creative. Overall, this album is pretty creative and involves different themes than other Iced Earth albums.

Rating: 4.5/5

Production:

This is such a huge sounding album. Every song sounds big and epic. The instruments all sound fantastic and the vocals also are the perfect volume. This is one of the band's best produced albums.

Rating: 4.5/5

Highlights:

“Gettysburg (1863)”

"Attila"

"Valley Forge"

"Declaration Day"

"The Reckoning (Don't Tread on Me)"

Verdict:

I love The Glorious Burden and I have no complaints at all about it. Its great to be able to have a history lesson and head bang at the same time. This is power metal at its finest thanks to the albums terrific songwriting and excellent production.

Overall Rating: