I think Schaffer has gotten really bad at writing slow/calm songs during/after Horror Show. Old slow songs, like "A Question of Heaven", were brilliant and emotional, never getting boring or un-atmospheric. But nowadays, the slow songs or slow parts of songs are generally boring and lifeless (let me stress this, IN MY OPINION).
On Horror Show, Dracula's slow intro is brilliant, but "Ghost of Freedom" is rather repetitive, though not hopeless.
On The Glorious Burden is "When the Eagle Cries", which I will not speak of more, and "Hollow Man", which might be ok with Matt, but is rather un-emotional with Ripper.
On Framing Armageddon is "The Clouding", which is three minutes too long, and also not very good for Ripper. Matt does it better on the single. Ripper is a great singer, I think, but these slow songs just don't fit him. Slightly the same problem on "A Charge to Keep", though Ripper nails the chorus while Barlow slaughters it.
On The Crucible of Man are also several boring songs, notably "Harbinger of Fate" (the slow parts) and especially "A Gift or a Curse". I find very little emotion in these tracks, despite Barlow singing them. But the last track, "Come What May", makes up for all the boringness of the previous songs. Getting Barlow back was worth it, if only for this song. It seems custom-written for Barlow, except the last chorus, which is very Ripper-ish with the very high singing on top of the chorus.
That being said, I still prefer Something Wicked Part 1, as there are more stand-out songs on that album for me. Setian Massacre, Ten Thousand Strong, Something Wicked Pt 1, A Charge to Keep, Infiltrate and Assimilate, Order of the Rose, Retribution through the Ages (that is the most badass name ever), Framing Armageddon, and When Stars Collide (repetitive, but I like it). On Part 2 there are The Revealing, Crown of the Fallen & The Dimension Gauntlet (I consider these two one song), I Walk Alone, Divide Devour, and Come What May, and even all of those are not that memorable. A lot of them are also rather short, and feel under-developed and unfinished, as if Schaffer had a good idea but didn't take it to the end.
And anyway, Part 2 relies much more on Barlow than Part 1 on Ripper. The songs themselves, regardless of singer, are better on Part 1.
