Released January 12, 2004 Artist Iced Earth Producer Jon Schaffer | Length 78:47 Release date 13 January 2004 Label SPV Recordings | |
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Recorded Morrisound Studios, Tampa, Florida The Glorious Burden
(2004) The Blessed and The Damned
(2004) Genres Heavy metal, Thrash metal, Power metal Similar Iced Earth albums, Heavy metal albums | ||
The Glorious Burden is the seventh studio album by the American heavy metal band Iced Earth. It is a concept album, which explores various moments in military history, such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolutionary War, and Waterloo. It also pays tribute to world events such as World War I, the World Trade Center attacks and the ravages of Attila the Hun. See the track list for links to the historical context of the songs.
Contents
The album includes a trilogy entitled Gettysburg (1863). Each of the three songs represents one day in the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest battle ever conducted in the Western Hemisphere and considered the turning point in the American Civil War.
This album features the debut of lead singer Tim 'Ripper' Owens, formerly of Judas Priest. Owens, who at that time was still in Judas Priest, was asked to do the vocals as a side project. However, he joined the band full-time after Judas Priest reunited with Rob Halford. The album was first recorded with Matt Barlow on vocals, but band leader Jon Schaffer was not satisfied with his performance. Due to the events of September 11th, Barlow became more interested in law enforcement than the music business, and according to Schaffer "Matt's heart was not in it and it showed in his performance." As a result, Matt left the band and the album was shelved until a new vocalist could be found. However, some of Barlow's initial recordings remain on the record as backing vocals, and he is credited with co-writing two songs.
This record is the only Iced Earth album to feature Ralph Santolla on lead guitars. This was the last studio album for bassist James MacDonough and drummer Richard Christy.
The album was released in three different formats: a limited edition 2-CD version in digipak format, an American version and a European version. See the track list for the differences.
"The Reckoning (Don't Tread on Me)", "Declaration Day", and the acoustic version of "When the Eagle Cries (Unplugged)" were all released as music videos.
Iced earth the glorious burden limited edition 2 cd s full album download
Songs
1Declaration Day4:59
2When the Eagle Cries4:07
3The Reckoning (Don't Tread on Me)4:58