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Something Wicked This Way Comes is American heavy metal band Iced Earth's fifth album, released on July 7, 1998, by Century Media Records. It is the band's first album featuring lead guitarist Larry Tarnowski, and also features the return of former studio drummer Mark Prator, who wasn't part of the band during re-recording sessions for Days of Purgatory.
[edit] Track listing
- "Burning Times" (Matt Barlow, Jon Schaffer) – 3:44
- "Melancholy (Holy Martyr)" (Schaffer) – 4:47
- "Disciples of the Lie" (Schaffer) – 4:03
- "Watching Over Me" (Schaffer) – 4:28
- "Stand Alone" (Barlow, Schaffer) – 2:44
- "Consequences" (Schaffer) – 5:36
- "My Own Savior" (Barlow, Schaffer, Jim Morris) – 3:39
- "Reaping Stone" (Barlow, Schaffer, James MacDonough) – 4:02
- "1776 (instrumental)" (Schaffer) – 3:33
- "Blessed Are You" (Schaffer) – 5:05
- "Prophecy" (Schaffer) – 6:18
- "Birth of the Wicked" (Schaffer) – 4:16
- "The Coming Curse" (Schaffer) – 9:33
[edit] Bonus track (Japanese edition)
- "Stormrider (live)" (Schaffer) - 6:15
The song "Watching Over Me" was written in memory of Bill Blackmon, a friend of Jon Schaffer's who had died in a motorcycle accident. He also suggested the name Iced Earth to Jon.
The final three tracks of the album comprise the "Something Wicked" song cycle. It introduces Iced Earth's mascot, Set Abominae, and provides the backstory to the upcoming albums based on Set, Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1), released in September of 2007, and The Crucible of Man (Something Wicked Part 2). To keep a continuity between the original trilogy and the new albums, the band released an EP entitled "Overture of the Wicked" with the original song cycle re-recorded with then-current singer Tim "Ripper" Owens.
The title of the album is a quotation of a phrase in William Shakespeare's Macbeth in Act IV Scene 1. The full line of the second witch says: "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Iced Earth
[edit] Guests
- Larry Tarnowski - Guitar Solos on all tracks except "Watching Over Me"
- Mark Prator - Drums
- Susan McQuinn - Flute on "1776"
- Howard Helm - Piano intro to "Coming Curse"
- Tracy Marie LaBarbera - Backing Vocals on "My Own Savior", "Melancholy", and "Watching Over Me"
- Jim Morris - Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Guitar Solo on "Watching Over Me", Backing Vocals
- Roger Hughes - Mandolin on "Blessed Are You"
