Burning Times - This is their Aces High. Not so much in the energy level or style of song (it's clearly not as high tempo) but in that it's the perfect way to kick off both an Iced Earth album and concert. The main riff is one of their best and it has a great chorus. The final "you are a siiiiiiiiner!" is one of Barlow's best moments.
Melancholy - I think this is the song that really sold me on Iced Earth. It's such a stark contrast from Burning Times in so many ways. These two tracks (and the album as a whole really) show the band's range in these days. Another awesome chorus.
Disciples Of the Lie - After two fairly steady tracks, this song shows that they haven't lost their thrashy roots. If anything, they've improved on that side. This is one of their best thrashers. The organ interlude is totally out of left field. It's great. This is also somehow one of their catchiest songs, despite not relying on melody nearly as much as some of the other material on here.
Watching Over Me - This song has been a bit overexposed but it's still another solid ballad. The short leads in between the verses really make the song IMO. Everything is layered really nicely. Barlow's performance also helps elevate this from being just another ballad. Another awesome chorus. So many great choruses on this album.
Stand Alone - This song has a great lead break and a decent chorus. Other than that it is one of the weaker songs on the album. A bit of a generic thrasher. Total opposite of Disciples of the Lie. It gets a vote.
Consequences - For some reason, this seems to be the forgotten ballad on the album, but it's just as good as Watching Over Me imo. It's much more intimate sounding and the parts are similarly layered extremely well. Love that clean guitar tone. I don't expect it to last long here but I like it a lot. My only complaint is that the heavy guitar solo is totally out of place and unnecessary. You could literally just cut that part out and the song would flow much better. The ending kinda reminds me of A Question Of Heaven.
My Own Savior - Where Stand Alone fails to live up to the band's heavier side, My Own Savior delivers on all fronts. Like Disciples Of the Lie, it manages to combine their aggression with a good sense of melody. There are also a healthy amount of unexpected twists, such as the clean guitars before the chorus and the eastern sounding backing vocals during the chorus. Great riffing too.
Reaping Stone - This has to be the most underrated Iced Earth song. It has such a cool riff and steady beat. Very Dio meets Metallica. Great chorus. It's something different for them.
1776 - Great instrumental, one of the more unique tracks on the album. I just think it is somewhat out of place. Maybe switch it with Blessed Are You or make it the opener. Where it is now it just seems kinda shoehorned in.
Blessed Are You - One more solid ballad. For this band's current track record on ballads, it's hard to believe that this album has four that are very different and very high quality. These four songs show a lot of range as well as a great knack for melody. What happened? Love the way this one builds.
Prophecy - Not a huge fan of the Something Wicked trilogy tbh. By this point in the album I feel a bit burnt out and these songs just seem so detached from everything else. Maybe it would've been better as an EP or something like that. Prophecy is pretty good when it gets going though. Not a huge fan of the first couple minutes but the heavy parts are great.
Birth of the Wicked - Good chorus, but the rest of the song is a bit underwhelming. It gets a vote.
The Coming Curse - This should've been the entire Something Wicked trilogy. It has all the positive qualities of the previous two songs but flows so much better and has a greater impact. It feels like they come up with this first and, for some reason, needed to stretch it into a trilogy. Prophecy is still solid but I feel like this song does everything Propechy does better. Great song.
Because there's a lot of competition here and I have to vote for something, I'm also reluctantly voting for Consequences and Prophecy.
This is my second favorite Iced Earth album. The rocker/ballad formula used here is surprisingly effective. The sequencing only really falls apart toward the end (before the SW trilogy) but that's just a small complaint. The album flows really well for the most part and is probably their most diverse. It's a more straightforward than a lot of their albums but the songwriting is top notch. They (i.e. Schaffer) really learned how to create great Metal songs with this. The riffing, melodies, and leads all come together here. This album really sold me on Iced Earth. I liked what I had heard before but I finally "got" them after hearing Something Wicked. So the album brings back good memories too.
Of course this is also their ballads album. I've made no secret of my disdain for many of Iced Earth's ballads, but somehow they got it right here. I think part of the problem is that these songs created the ballad formula and they never evolved past that. Every ballad since is a recreation of one of the songs here (usually Melancholy or Watching Over Me). But they really got it right the first time.
Anyway, kickass song, but much better live, especially on AiA.