Matt Barlow is back with Iced Earth! Good choice or bad?

Matt Barlow is back in Iced Earth! What do you think?

  • Matt belongs in Iced Earth!

    Votes: 88 80.7%
  • Ripper was better for Iced Earth

    Votes: 21 19.3%

  • Total voters
    109
  • Poll closed .
Anyone have word from Pyramaze on this? I've wanted Barlow back in IE since the day he left, but not at the expense of Owens or Pyramaze getting f**ked, ya know? I haven't read word from Owens either, maybe he wanted to leave to concentrate on his other projects. Maybe Barlow will sing for both IE and Pyramaze, but hopefully that doesn't cause a conflict in the future when both bands want to tour.

Anyway, honestly, I'm delighted, but it's bittersweet.

Oh, and rms.. may I ask, was Barlow a hypocrite when he quit music too? Afterall, he changed his mind then too. I think you're just splitting hairs to save face but your arguments are loose. I respect your opinion, but I really doubt you're going to get anyone to agree with you on something this inconsequential. I have a strong moral code against many things that plenty of my favorite rockstars perpetuate on a daily basis, but I'm surely not going to boycott their music or talk trash about them on a public forum, especially in a thread where my opinion would only serve to piss off fans who are happy about some good news. But whatever.. what else did you expect would happen with a comment like that? :lol:
 
Yeah, i thought the same thing Tamz. I know Pyramaze is saying it's not conflicting now but who knows what could happen in the future. o.o I mean IE has had so much success already, and as much as I love IE I think it's time to give Pyramaze a shot at the spotlight and I think Barlow is that ticket. It would suck if they lost him after having to let go Lance. But we'll see! As far as Ripper, yeah i thought the same thing.

Lets see what the future will bring! :p
 
I am not the biggest IE fan but looking from the outside in, this has to be huge for IE fans. Heck, not being a huge fan myself, even I could only see Barlow in that role. Don't get me wrong.......Tim Owens is a monster vocalist and I love the guys voice. I hope he was wanting out so as not to get the boot out of two bands that he helped along the way until the original singers came back around. The guy deserves a steady gig. I know it wont happen but how good would Tim be in Pyramaze? To me, that's a better fit than Matt in Pyramaze.

I am happy for all the IE fans as I know this is huge for them.:kickass:
 
I'm a person who believes in a strong moral code, I don't like people who go against their word, no matter how large the situation.
So admitting you're wrong by taking action is bad?
Does one have to call a press conference before doing so? Does that make it better?
If this is true I must be the worst person I know. :)
 
Matt wasn't the only person to react strongly after 9/11. The fear and anger of that event affected so many, it is greatly what got us into a no win situation in Iraq, the fear and anger, the desire to lash out or just do something so as not to feel so helpless. Now I for one thought those reactions were hasty, and felt you can't make decisions based on momentary strong emotions, but I do fully understand those that felt they had to do something. But time has passed and much has been learned since then both as a nation and as people, so I don't see anything wrong with Matt or anyone else reevaluating their feelings and making changes which they think are appropriate. A personal change of life is far different from a politician that gets elected based on promises and then breaks them, apples and oranges.
 
copy/paste of my post on another forum:

so, i've been giving this some thought. i was rather distraught when i first heard about barlow leaving the band a few years ago, and i was actually not as excited as might be expected of me when i heard this news last night (although i was also totally exhausted from a 13+ hour work day).

anyway, it occured to me that The Glorious Burden was written with Barlow's voice in mind, and while the writing in general is a bit weak, it doesn't help matters that the singer on it isn't the one it was written for. Ripper still had some great moments on it, though.
Framing Armageddon was written to work with Ripper's voice, and he sounds awesome on it. everything about it works.

so now we've got Barlow back in the band, but isn't Something Wicked part 2 already written? and now with Ripper's voice in mind? i know that the press release says that it'll take longer to come out now, but i can't imagine they'll be reworking much of it to fit Barlow. I'm worried that, as someone mentioned earlier, it may sound a bit disconnected and strange, plus i'm afraid that Barlow won't necessarily be the right voice for this material, if it wasn't written for him.

i guess only time will tell.
 
Jon is the one everybody should be ridiculing.BIG Spill about how he has the greatest heavy metal singer ever when Ripper joined. I have never seen IE with Barlow so maybe that will be good but would have never asked for this to happen at Tim's expense. Tim Ripper Owens is nothing but TRUE CLASS and deserves better.Only hope he wanted out also.
 
Here's a difference in a band.

I dont like this band their vocals I cant stand....time later...wow this band is good, I can get into now - hypocrite? NO
I dont like this band, I WILL NEVER GET INTO THIS BAND THEY ARE CRAP.....time later...wow this band is great love em - hypcocrite? YES!

did none of you read his comments when he left IE? For one I felt it was very condescending of how he portrayed the 'rock star allusion' of playing in a band and he said he wanted to do something with his life, which is why he went into law enforcement. Then couple years later he comes back.

honestly you are just being pissy for the sake of being pissy.
 
Wait...What? LOL That made absolutely no sense. But here ya go: *hands you a chill pill*



That's not being a hypocrite...that's just having a change of heart about ones occupation. Maybe he wanted to have a regular life for a while after all the success of IE? Is that REALLY so bad? If someone says they want to do something else with their life that doesn't necessarily mean they hate where they are in life at the current moment.... I think you read way too much into his statements and saw something that probably more than likely wasn't there. Sorry you feel that way, but unless Barlow came out and said "OMG I HATE ICED EARTH AND METAL" I'm pretty sure he's not a hypocrite for missing the music.

Cheers.

If you don't understand the simple analogy, theres no point. And im trying to find his message when he left IE for better proof but cant find anything.
 
I think they were both great for the band... I just feel a bit bad for Ripper getting kicked to the curb like that. "Oh would you look at that! Old singer is back in Metal...See ya 'round Ripper!" I mean geez...lol. Granted I don't know all the details and I'm just assuming but...that's kind of how it looks.


...Now if only that would happen with the New Nightwish...haha One can only hope ;)

I agree w/you on both points. I.E. & NW!

It is both good & bad. I as a long time fan had accepted Tim, & love all of their material w/all singers. Matt was STILL my fave singer for them & STILL is! However, it does seem like Timmy is getting boned & not to mention Pyramaze! They already started working on a CD, & now will have to tour w/someone else? The songs won't sound the same live, unless they got an I.E.(Barlow-era) coverband singer!?? WOW!, How ironic would THAT be?

I must say, that in the thread regarding the announcement of his return on here; someone mentioned why not have 2 singers? & I actually think that would be VERY cool! It would add so much MORE depth to their music! Could have high & low vocals in songs. Make the background vocals sound more almost choir like. I mean if multiple singers worked for KISS, why not I.E.? I know this would be diff, as neither plays an instrument per-say, but so what?! & I don't think Matt nor Tim has such an ego that it couldn't work!

Just my OPINION is all!
 
Contradictory...Jon Shaffer equals John Kerry....if it helps his cause he'll poop it out of his mouth...I for one hope it fails,even though I love Iced Earth with Barlow
 
It's funny that I don't recall MAIDEN or PRIEST getting trashed for the returning of Halford and Dickinson or any thought of the feelings of Ripper or Blaze Bayley when they were relieved of duties. And, I loved Ripper in PRIEST and Blaze with MAIDEN, but I prefer Halford and Dickinson in their respective roles. Jon missed Matt and praised Ripper when he got him. Of course he said how great it was to get Ripper. What's he going to say? "Well, we had to settle for second best, so we got Tim Owens." VAN HALEN got DLR back and the tickets sell like hotcakes. Business is business is business. Nothing more and nothing less. I'm fucking ecstatic that Barlow is back except for the fact that the North American tour is off for now and touring has to revolve around Matt's career. Check out Bravewords.com to check that news tidbit.