The Glorious Burden
| The Glorious Burden | ||||
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| Iced Earth studio album | ||||
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Publication |
2004 |
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| Label (s) | Steamhammer / SPV | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
12 or 14 (limited edition) |
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running time |
71:51 and 78:23, respectively |
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| occupation |
Tim Owens - vocals Jon Schaffer - guitar James MacDonough - bass Richard Christy - drums |
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Jim Morris / Jon Schaffer |
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The Glorious Burden is a music album released in 2004 by the US power metal band Iced Earth . It is the band's seventh studio album and the first with singer Tim "Ripper" Owens , who previously sang with Judas Priest .
Emergence
The recordings took place under the direction of Jim Morris at the Morrisound studios in Tampa ( Florida ) instead and took the first half of 2003 to complete. In addition to the band, the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra played the orchestral parts for the half-hour suite “Gettysburg 1863”. Guest solos on guitar come from Ralph Santolla and Jim Morris.
During the recording of the album, Jon Schaffer decided to replace the previous singer Matt Barlow with Tim Owens. In an interview with the magazine of the German mail order company EMP , Schaffer stated that he was not satisfied with Barlow's vocal performance: “Matt took 16 days and was miserable. It took Tim four days and delivered a result that couldn't be better. ”( Jon Schaffer ) Despite the change in singer,“ Attila ”, another song that Barlow had co-composed, made it onto the album.
The cover and all illustrations for the songs in the booklet of the album come from the Russian artist Leo Hao . In addition, there is advertising in the booklet for the militaria trade "Spirit of '76" operated by Jon Schaffer .
The release was preceded by the EP "The Reckoning", which was released in the US on October 21, 2003 and in Europe six days later. It contained four songs, which were later also on the album, whereby the acoustic version of "When the Eagle Cries" could only be found on the limited edition.
The album was released in Europe on January 12, 2004 and two days later in the US. In addition to the normal CD in a jewel case , a limited edition digipack and cardboard slipcase was also released, which contained the “Gettysburg 1863” suite on a separate CD. The CD with the other songs on the album also contained two bonus tracks.
Music videos were shot for the songs "Declaration Day", "When the Eagle Cries" and "The Reckoning (Don't Tread On Me)" .
Track list
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CD 1 ( The Glorious Burden ):
CD 2 ( Gettysburg 1863 ):
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"The Star-Spangled Banner" was composed by John Stafford Smith . All other songs were written by Jon Schaffer himself. Matt Barlow contributed the lyrics to "Attila", Tim Owens the "Red Baron / Blue Max" and "Waterloo", so they also received writing credits.
Meaning of the songs
- "The Star-Spangled Banner" is an adaptation of the US national anthem of the same name .
- "Declaration Day" is about the US declaration of independence against England on July 4th, 1776.
- When the Eagle Cries refers to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks . The eagle mentioned in the title and text is the bald eagle , which is symbolic of the USA as a heraldic animal .
- “Greenface” addresses American soldiers in the jungle war in Vietnam . This song was regularly included on the American version of the album and took the place of "Waterloo".
- "Attila" deals with the Huns ' prince of the same name , who penetrated to Central Europe as part of the migration of peoples in the 5th century AD.
- "Red Baron / Blue Max" tells the career of the German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen , who became known as the "Red Baron" during the First World War . "Blue Max" refers to the popular nickname "Blauer Max" for the order Pour le Mérite , with which Richthofen u. a. was awarded.
- “Valley Forge” refers to the American Continental Army camp of the same name in the winter of 1777/1778 during the American War of Independence .
- "Waterloo" reports on the " rule of the hundred days " of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and the decisive battle of Waterloo , which sealed Napoleon's downfall.
- "The Devil to Pay", "Hold at All Costs" and "High Water Mark" together make up the "Gettysburg 1863" suite and all deal with individual aspects of the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War in 1863:
- "The Devil to Pay" begins with a contemporary arrangement of the national anthem and describes the general situation in the run-up to the battle as well as the strategic measures that led to the encounter at Gettysburg. It also describes the events of the first day of the battle (July 1, 1863), particularly those of Generals John Buford , John Fulton Reynolds and Robert Edward Lee . In the meantime, the folk song " When Johnny Comes Marching Home " is quoted.
- “Hold at All Costs” deals with the following day, July 2, 1863, and initially takes up the point of view of a common soldier who is forced to fight his best friend due to the war situation and the split in the USA. The following describes the desperate defense of the Little Round Top ridge by the 20th Maine Regiment under Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain .
- "High Water Mark" is dedicated to July 3, 1863 and first describes a dialogue between the Confederate Generals Lee and Longstreet . The counterattack carried out by Lee is then described and in the meantime reported from the point of view of General Lewis Addison Armistead . The battle is performed musically, the composition ends with a guilty admission from Lee for having ordered the failed attack.
reception
Although the album received positive reviews, many reviewers and fans viewed the political component as problematic. In particular, the song “When the Eagle Cries” was criticized, which endorsed military responses to the terrorist attacks (text lines: “When the eagle cries, Blood will flow / When the eagle cries, For freedoms price”). That in turn was related in the discussion about the album to the Iraq war that began a year earlier and interpreted as an attempt to justify it. Furthermore, the other songs were partially accused of glorification of war . For example, it was said that the album contained "some ultra-patriotic lyrics [...] which - culminating in 'When The Eagle Cries' - could hardly be surpassed in one-sidedness".
In the German magazine Rock Hard the disagreement went so far that in issue 202 of the magazine all editors gave a single review of the album. The ratings differed between 4 and 10 out of 10 possible points. The editor-in-chief Götz Kühnemund concluded:
"From now on, EVERY Metal band with a traditional orientation - from Priest to Maiden , Savatage and Manowar to Blind Guardian - has to be measured against a reference work like 'Gettysburg (1863)' !"
In contrast, the German-language webzine metal.de saw the album as "a musical masterpiece, destroyed by dubious and blind patriotism" and took the following position:
“This lyric is a statement of the same political nature as if I was on 9/11. would be called good. [...] He [Jon Schaffer] does not simply describe historical facts neutrally or irony them for reasons of provocation, no, he evaluates crystal clear, glorifies war and spreads, as already indicated, blind and blind phrases. "
In commercial terms, the album was particularly successful in Europe. It stayed in the German album charts for six weeks and reached number 15, making it the band's most successful album in this regard.
The previously released single "The Reckoning" reached 45th place in the German single charts and stayed in the top 100 for four weeks.
Web links and sources
- ↑ Interview with EMP Magazin, Winter 2003/2004 edition
- ↑ Text to "When the Eagle Cries"
- ↑ a b Review in Rock Hard , issue 201
- ↑ a b review from metal.de
- ↑ Chart tracking ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the album at musicline.de
- ↑ Chart tracking ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. for "The Reckoning" on musicline.de
