What do you guys think about this eh? Seems logical, but Matt Barlow left some pretty big shoes to fill. Still, Schaffer says that the new album is DONE. Finally, some new Iced Earth. I f you don't like 'em that's fine; don't post! Form everyone else, let me know eh.

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Well Ripper is a fairly decent vocalist, just too bad he had to live up to the METAL GODtm when he joined Priest. Now he has to live up to Barlow, no push over himself. I think he will do well though.

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This might turn out to be cool, but the MP3's that are up on the site of the new songs didn't impress me.

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who's ripper owens?

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You're a fucking cumwad. Ex-Priest. You knew that.

I'm going to get this music and report back, STAT!

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sweet Iced Earth rules havent they just signed to a major label now?

Not exactly major, but they switched to SPV/Steamhammer.

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WHO CALLED IT!!
(see halford back in Judas Priest thread)

I think this rules!

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I can't believe someone said 'Matt Barlow left some pretty big shoes to fill' as if Ripper hadn't done the whole 'filling in for one of the most revered vocalists in metal' thing. It's not a matter of 'filling in shoes' - I'm sure he can handle that pressure - it's more of what you'd call 'whether or not it sounds good.' This is not the same thing, for anyone who's thinking 'but what he meant was it sounding good 'when he reads this. It has nothing to do with 'filling in shoes' (he didn't even do that with Priest, for Chrissakes, if you'd think about it) and everything to do with whether or not they can change to accomodate a different voice. Based on what they did with Barlow's first album, I'm assuming Schaffer's not such a cunt that he'd pretend it's the same voice and change nothing, but that's hardly definite.

Fortunately I'm not the least bit emotionally invested in this band, and if it sucks I'll probably never know.

cumwad, hehehe
and no i didn't know that, because i never really heard judas priest.
and if i heard it on the radio, i probably wouldn't realize who it was.

hell, i just found out that a song i've heard since i was a baby
is by whitesnake...

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I am totally shocked. One of the songs availible for download has the credit of (Schaffer/Owens). Jon must of been really drunk to allow that to happen.

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meh, all the tunes of D&W are by "Schaffer/Kürsch"

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i reckon its stupid how Matt B left because of september 11 pritty stupid reason for leaving the band if u ask me they were getting bigger oh well guess i dont know how it affected him. bah

I wasn't trying to downplay Ripper at all, I was just saying that Matt Barlow was THE Iced Earth vocalist, and I can't imagine classics like Dante's Inferno or The Something Wicked trilogy without him. Halford was exactly the same, but Ripper's style is a lot like Halford's, whereas Barlow was alot more melancholy in nature. He's powerful like Halford, but he just had a signature voice that I belive became Iced Earth's voice, not just a singer's. Barlow is alos one of my favorite singers of all time, so I can't really imagine him being replaced. Ripper never really totally filled the void Halford left, espcially after a classic like Painkiller. Ripper is a great vocalist, I just don't know if he's the right vocalist. He didn't replace Halford in Priest after all. But then again, who could?

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Iced Earth might be good now.

Look, I don't care if you downplay Ripper at all. It's just you're asking the wrong question.

Follow me here: Priest changed when they got Ripper, because they're not idiots. They realized that he can't be Halford, for the simple reason that only Halford can, since he's the only one with the right name. So they made Jugulator. It wasn't even a question of 'filling in shoes;' the band changed to do the best they could with this new guy. If Schaffer's not an idiot, he'll realize that Ripper isn't Barlow, and change accordingly. And, since he changed when Barlow came on, I'm assuming he realizes that different vocalists have to be treated differently, whatever his egotism. He probably realizes, or should realize, that music is, to a great extent, a synthetic creation, and when an important element changes you have to change.

But 'leaving big shoes to fill' is, generally, a question of pressure, and I think Ripper can handle the pressure. And I doubt they would take him on if they couldn't make something that at least Jon thinks is good music with him. And, as you're presumably a fan, I'd guess that his opinion of what's good probably holds something for you.

I'm glad for Owens that he got a new band so soon, good for him.

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