621. Iced Earth / Something Wicked This Way Comes. 1998. 3/5

For an album that many believe is the best in the Iced Earth discography, to me it just seems a little two-paced to have that mantle laid upon it.

"Burning Times" is a good opening song, though I must admit it sounds much better live on the Alive in Athens album. Ditto for the second song, "Melancholy (Holy Martyr)" which benefits in a live setting from being faster and more aggressive than it is here.
"Disciples of the Lie" starts off the way an Iced Earth song should, at a cracking pace with the flailing drums and guitars, and Barlow reaching his range with his vocals, but even then in the middle of the song we have the keyboards that become the prominant part of the song - and why? Just get on with it already! Even more mystifying, we then head into "Watching Over Me", a power ballad with acoustic guitars and soft vocals mixed with hints of powered up guitar. As power ballads go it isn't the worst, but it just halts the progress of the album again, and we're only up to song four. It makes it almost impossible to get into the mood of the album because it is in constant flux.
Back into the action, as "Stand Alone" crashes the party and brings us back into the true Iced Earth makeup. Short, sharp and to the point, "Stand Alone" reasserts the album in the right direction. But then, by god, let's chuck in another slow starter with moody vocals and acoustic guitar. "Consequences" is that song, and by now, you have to suspect that this was a delibertae arrangement for the album, because you surely could have this set up by accident. Which then begs the question - WHY did they do it this way?! It must work on some fans level I guess, but all it does is piss me off because there is absolutely no consistency. You get up and jump around and sing at the top of your voice for one song, and the next you are slumped back down in the armschair waiting for something to happen. Anyway...
Yep, you guessed it. "My Own Savior" returns the tempo to that faster double-kick driven guitar sound, before "Reaping Stone" draws on a later Sabbath tempo before picking up towards the end of the song.
"1776" is an instrumental interlude which (bugger me!) moves politely into a(nother) power ballad in "Blessed Are You". Honestly, how is this good balance in an album? (except for the fact that it's one fast, one slow, that is).

The album is closed out by the Something Wicked Trilogy, "Prophecy", "Birth of the Wicked" and "The Coming Curse". "Prophecy" makes a slow start before hitting its form halfway through. "Birth of the Wicked" is a good track, while following the somewhat inexplicable piano beginning for about a minute of "The Coming Curse", it also kicks into gear and delivers the goods.

This is quite a mystifying album. I fail to understand how it was put together in such a fashion. To the listener it just doesn't allow you to get a straight vibe of the album, so changeable is the format. When it is on song, with tracks such as "Burning Times", "Stand Alone", "My Own Savior" and the most part of the trilogy, this is a terrific album. In the other places, bogged down as they are like potholes on a freeway, it stops all cohesion. While the good material is good, the slow material holds the album right back in my opinion.