Iced Earth - The Devil to Pay

The Glorious Burden is an album by the American Heavy Metal band Iced Earth.
The album explores various moments in American military history, such as the signing of
the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolutionary War, and the American Civil War.
It also pays tribute to worldly events such as World War I and the ravages of Atilla the hun.

The albums centerpiece is the last three songs which together form a trilogy entitled
Gettysburg (1863). Each song represents one day in the Battle of Gettysburg,
which is 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 new lead singer Tim 'Ripper' Owens, formerly of Judas
Priest. He replaced previous singer Matt Barlow. However, the album was first recorded
with Matt Barlow on vocals,
but bandleader Jon Schaffer was not satisfied with his performance as the events of 9/11
had recently happened, and Matt was becoming more interested in law enforcement
than the music business.
According to Jon, Matt's vocals lacked the emotion they always had.
As a result, Matt left the band and the album was shelved until a new vocalist could be
found. Enter Tim Owens, who was at that time still in Judas Priest.
He was asked to do the vocals as a project, and only joined the band after Judas Priest
reunited with Rob Halford. Despite his absence from the band, some of Barlow's initial
recordings remain on the record as backing vocals.

This record is the only Iced Earth album to feature Ralph Santolla on lead guitars.
As well, this was the last studio album for bassist James MacDonough and drummer Richard
Christy. Strangely enough, none of their immediate successors are still with the band currently.

The Glorious Burden was met with mixed feelings by fans. Most fans have a difficult time
adjusting to Owens' vocals, due to Matt Barlow's huge impact on the sound of the band.
Others have criticized Schaffer for what they see as the introduction of politics within Iced
Earth music.

The album was released in 3 different formats: a limited edition 2-CD version in digipak format,
an American version and a European version. See the tracklist 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.

Track listing:

"The Star-Spangled Banner" -- 1:13
"Declaration Day" -- 4:59
"When The Eagle Cries" -- 4:06
"The Reckoning (Don't Tread on Me)" -- 4:56
"Greenface" -- 3:02
"Attila" -- 5:36
"Red Baron/Blue Max" -- 4:05
"Hollow Man" -- 4:25
"Valley Forge" -- 4:46
"Waterloo" -- 5:48
"When The Eagle Cries (Unplugged)" -- 3:34
"Gettysburg (1863)"
"The Devil To Pay" -- 12:13
"Hold At All Costs" -- 7:05
"High Water Mark" -- 12:35 (less)

Iced Earth - Dracula