Avenged Sevenfold (album)

Avenged Sevenfold is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released on October 30, 2007 by Warner Bros. Records. The album, originally slated for an October 16 release, was delayed by two weeks in order to provide more time to complete bonus material and production for the record, including the making of the animated music video for the song "A Little Piece of Heaven". The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200. On September 23, 2008, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA. The album has also been released on vinyl. The band supported the album with a tour, beginning a day before the release of the album and ending in 2009. This is their last studio album to feature the drummer The Rev for the full album, who died in December 2009 during the recording of their next album Nightmare.

Although critical reception to the album was mixed compared to previous releases, Avenged Sevenfold  won the Kerrang! Award for Best Album in 2008. In addition, the album was included in Kerrang's "666 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". As of 2014, it has sold over 960,161 copies in the United States and 152,123 copies in the United Kingdom.

Pre-release
Avenged Sevenfold revealed the track listing for the album on their YouTube profile on August 9, 2007, as well as their text messaging service, A7X Mobile. The band also posted a teaser on a recent YouTube blog featuring an excerpt of vocalist M. Shadows screaming in the studio.

On August 17, 2007, a clip was posted with about 2 minutes of their first track on the new album, "Critical Acclaim" on the band's YouTube. The single was later uploaded in its entirety on YouTube and released on the iTunes Store on August 28.

In the weeks leading up to the album's release, a series of ten video clips, called "webisodes", were recorded featuring "Wolfie the Fox". The first webisode was released on August 24, 2007; a 3:41 clip that was posted on the band's YouTube channel. The clip consists of a pre-recorded phone message from "Wolfie the Fox" and a few scenes of their process of making "Critical Acclaim". Each of the subsequent webisodes was similar in content. The clips featured a short mock-interview between M. Shadows and Wolfie the Fox, various band members during the making of various tracks for Avenged Sevenfold, and other background videos. About eleven days before the album's release, the Wolfie Trailer was posted on YouTube. In it, Wolfie sings "Critical Acclaim" and talks about the MVI version of the new album. The webisodes can all be viewed on the band's Myspace and YouTube pages.

By September 9, 2007, news leaked of the completion of a music video for the song "Almost Easy". It was directed by P.R. Brown, known for his collaborations with Mötley Crüe and Marilyn Manson, among many others. On September 12, 2007, the release date of the single "Almost Easy" was announced and was released six days later on September 18 to purchase via digital download.

The month of October was a busy one for the upcoming album. On October 3, Kerrang! released an article in which M. Shadows and Synyster Gates were interviewed about the new album. This day also saw the release of a live performance of "Almost Easy" at the Warped Tour 2007. Originally the band intended to release this footage if viewers watched the official music video for the track on YouTube 150,000 times. Though the goal fell short at 120,000 the band still released the footage. Another live video, featuring the third track "Scream" performed in Liverpool, England was posted on YouTube on October 11. The song was also heard during a commercial for the Scream Awards on Spike TV. M. Shadows can clearly be heard singing, "You know I make you wanna scream," which is an excerpt from the chorus. "Scream" was performed live at the 2007 Spike TV Scream Awards on October 23. Also, LoveLine played the radio premiere of "Afterlife" and "Almost Easy", which was guest hosted by M. Shadows and The Rev. Three days before, the Keyclub revealed an animated music video for "A Little Piece of Heaven".

To promote their new album, Avenged Sevenfold started their US tour on October 29, headlining in Los Angeles at The Wiltern. Their opening acts were Black Tide and Operator.

On October 30, 2007, Avenged Sevenfold was released in stores worldwide.

Music style
The album represents a further move away from the metalcore of the band's early work, and away from the mainstream heavy metal sound of City of Evil, into more of a hard rock genre, with other genres represented on some songs. It has been considered a hard rock album with elements of symphonic rock, hip hop, gothic rock, country music and experimental music. The band worked with brass and string sections on "A Little Piece of Heaven", an avant-garde metal song inspired by Broadway show tunes, in which horns and orchestral strings replaced the band's lead and rhythm guitars. The album features The Rev doing co-lead vocals and backing vocals on songs like "Critical Acclaim," "Scream," "Afterlife," "Lost," and "A Little Piece Of Heaven".

Reception and legacy
Upon release, Avenged Sevenfold was met with mixed reviews. Metacritic accumulated an average score of 56 out of 100 based on thirteen reviews on the website.

Jason Lymangrover of Allmusic had given the album a rating of three stars out of five and wrote "While their willingness to experiment is admirable, despite the fact that they've gone overboard with their overdubs, the overabundance of studio polish leaves one to wonder if it's not because the songs just aren't as strong this time around". A more positive review came from Andrew Earles of The A.V. Club who commented "The catchy Stone Temple Pilots vibe of 'Scream' is enough to put the band back on the charts, but that could happen with more than half of this album…And it probably will". He graded the album a B.

The album wasn't without its more hostile responses. A much more negative review came from Dave de Sylvia of Sputnikmusic summarising "Avenged Sevenfold resemble a poor man's Hardcore Superstar" and rated the album one out of five. Andrew Blackie of PopMatters rated the album two out of ten and dismissed it as being "Unoriginal, overlong even at a ten track setlist, and riddled with banality..." He even went far enough to add "...the disc is even being released the day before Halloween, could it get more corny?"

Despite the mixed reaction, the album won a Kerrang! Award for Best Album in 2008.

The USC Trojans Marching Band performed the song "Almost Easy" at the Rose Bowl halftime show on January 1, 2009.

Track listing
All songs credited to Avenged Sevenfold.

Singles
"Critical Acclaim" was the first single from the album. A 2-minute and 15-seconds teaser was posted on the band’s MySpace to tide fans over until the iTunes release date, but on August 20, 2007, Avenged Sevenfold uploaded the full version on their MySpace. The full song was released on iTunes August 28, 2007.

Introduced by a twenty-two second long organ melody followed by a harmonized guitar solo, Critical Acclaim is based around two aggressive guitar riffs—one which is repeated during the verses, the second one after every chorus and before and during the third guitar solo—which pushes back the band’s musical direction much more to the one during their earlier career. This rough song is slightly reminiscent of their metalcore sound, but it more closely shows signs of a more matured hard rock sound.

The song's lyrical meaning is a criticizing attack on people who, according to the band, are in their turn criticizing the soldiers of the United States of America for engaging in the Iraq War conflict, without trying to find a solution to end the ongoing war. Avenged Sevenfold lead singer Matthew "M. Shadows" Sanders has close friends who have experienced military service in Iraq.

James "The Rev" Sullivan, the band's drummer, provides the vocals for the chorus of the song, as well as some background vocals and screams. After The Rev's passing in 2009, all live performances of this song still feature his vocals (the studio recording of said vocals is played through the speakers) as a way for the band to honor him.

"Almost Easy" was the first official and second overall single from the album. The song was officially released on September 18, 2007 through online music stores such as iTunes, URGE. The song was written by The Rev. In the second chorus the whole band sang simultaneously - all 5 members combined their voices for more of a choir sound, which was shown in the MVI that came along with the album.

The song was included on the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack. It was also available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as of March 6, 2008 and featured again as part of the Avenged Sevenfold track pack for Guitar Hero 5. The song is also featured in Rock Band 2 and Need for Speed: ProStreet. In December 2008 it was announced that the USC Trojan Marching Band would perform the song at the Rose Bowl halftime show on January 1, 2009.

The band released a video for "Almost Easy" with director P.R. Brown (Mötley Crüe, Marilyn Manson). The video debuted on Fuse's The Sauce on September 24, 2007 and MTV2's Unleashed on October 1, 2007. The video shows the band playing on a barren wasteland whilst they appear to be aflame. Over a ridge, a huge crowd of hundreds of people appear, walking in a zombie-like fashion towards the band, only to stop at a large gaping hole and jump downwards, into what appears to be Hell. Special effects show some parts where the people have skulls for faces. At the end of the video, when the last person jumps down the cavern, the camera zooms out from the band, showing that the hole the people were jumping into was actually the eye of the band's recognizable logo from the album cover, the "Deathbat".

"Afterlife" was released as the third single from the album. The song itself features a string orchestra and was written again by The Rev. It was voted the best song of the new album on the band's homepage. The single and a live-action music video were released in early 2008. The song is about a man who dies early and finds himself in heaven. Upon entering, he realizes that he has too many things to do on Earth, and to go back and make it right he has to escape from the afterlife. (This part was mentioned by Zachary "Zacky Vengeance" Baker, the band's rhythm guitarist, in the "Making of 'Afterlife'" video).

The music video is directed by Wayne Isham. The violin parts in the album version of the song were cut out of the video, along with the bridge of the song, which features The Rev's vocals. The music video, released on March 12, 2008 consisted of the band performing, on a small stage, a white room with black radiance and shows clips of M. Shadows running shirtless, Zacky Vengeance dancing with a woman, lead guitarist Brian "Synyster Gates" Haner holding a skeleton head in a sea of lit candles, The Rev lying down with a Spider on his face, and bassist Jonathan "Johnny Christ" Seward holding a flock of doves which he sends flying off all at once later in the video.

The song was available as downloadable content for Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5, and was featured in the video game NHL 09. It was released for Rocksmith on October 30, 2012. The song is also available on the game Rock Band Track Pack: Volume 2.

"Dear God" was the fourth single and a notable deviation from the band's usual heavy metal style, taking on more of a country feel. Johnny Christ has stated that the inspiration for the song came from the band's friendship with country act Big & Rich. Their influence can be heard in the background vocals of MuzikMafia member Shanna Crooks.

The music video intersperses parts of the band's live shows, with candid footage of the band backstage in the studio and on their tour bus. The video faded the audio out of the song several seconds after the vocals of the song ended, therefore shortening the length of the song from its original 6:33 span. Shots where a live crowd is singing along with the song was shot at the same concert in Long Beach, California, where their live concert/album DVD, Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, was shot. The crowd was notified of them being on the video prior to the band coming on stage. The song was played prior to the band coming out and was not actually part of the concert. The video was released to the U.S. on September 30, 2008. It was the last music video to feature Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan before his death.

"Scream" is the fifth and final single which reached number nine on the U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 26 on the U.S. Alternative Songs chart. It is the second of five singles by Avenged Sevenfold written by M. Shadows. This is also the last single to feature The Rev on drums. It was released on July 27, 2010 as a downloadable track in Rock Band 2 along with "Nightmare" and "Seize the Day".

On October 31, 2008, Avenged Sevenfold mentioned that fans of the band were eligible to make their own music video for the song. The video had to be submitted to YouTube before November 30, 2008. The winner and five runners-up of the contest were announced on December 15, 2008. The winner received a new MacBook Air computer that came with Avenged Sevenfold videos, music, and other items from the band. The winning video was also featured on the Avenged Sevenfold website, MySpace page, YouTube account, and Facebook account. The five runners-up in this contest received a copy of the DVD and CD Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, signed by the members of the band; in addition, a merchandise pack was also rewarded to these runners-up.

Charts
Singles

MVI

 * The Making of Avenged Sevenfold
 * The Making of Avenged Sevenfold (Animated short)
 * "A Little Piece of Heaven" (Animated music video)
 * "Crossroads" B-side (Song)
 * Studio tour
 * Producer for a Day
 * Pre-encoded MP3s for all tracks
 * Future Avenged Sevenfold updates (e.g. songs, videos, etc.)
 * Making of "Afterlife" video

Personnel

 * Avenged Sevenfold
 * M. Shadows – lead vocals
 * Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar on "Dear God", backing vocals
 * The Rev - drums, percussion, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Critical Acclaim", "Afterlife" & "Scream", piano
 * Synyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals
 * Johnny Christ – bass guitar, backing vocals


 * Session musicians
 * Programming by Jay E on "Critical Acclaim" and "Scream"
 * Piano and Organ by Jamie Muhoberac on "Critical Acclaim", "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", 'Lost", and "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Piano by Greg Kusten on "Almost Easy"
 * Upright bass by Miles Mosley on "Afterlife", "Brompton Cocktail", and "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Cello by Cameron Stone on "Afterlife", "Brompton Cocktail", and "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Violins by Caroline Campbell and Neel Hammond on "Afterlife," "Brompton Cocktail", and "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Viola by Andrew Duckles on "Afterlife", "Brompton Cocktail", and "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Background vocals by Zander Ayeroff and Annmarie Rizzo on "Unbound (The Wild Ride)"
 * Percussion by Lenny Castro on "Brompton Cocktail"
 * Choir: Beth Andersen, Monique Donnelly, Rob Giles, Debbie Hall, Scottie Haskell, Luana Jackman, Bob Joyce, Rock Logan, Susie Stevens Logan, Arnold McCuller, Gabriel Mann, and Ed Zajack on "Unbound (The Wild Ride)" and "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Alto sax by Bill Liston and Brandon Fields on "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Clarinet by Bill Liston and Rusty Higgins on "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Tenor sax by Dave Boruff and Rusty Higgins on "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Bari sax by Joel Peskin on "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Trumpet by Wayne Bergeron and Dan Foreno on "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Trombone by Bruce Fowler and Alex Iies on "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Additional vocals by Juliette Commagere on "A Little Piece of Heaven"
 * Lap, pedal steel and banjo by Greg Leisz on "Gunslinger" and "Dear God"
 * Additional vocals by Shanna Crooks on "Gunslinger" and "Dear God"
 * Additional vocals by Jaime Ochoa on "Critical Acclaim"
 * Scream on "Scream" by Valary Sanders
 * Production
 * Produced by Avenged Sevenfold
 * Engineered by Fred Archambault and Dave Schiffman, assisted by Clifton Allen, Chris Steffen, Robert DeLong, Aaron Walk, Mike Scielzi, and Josh Wilbur
 * Mixed by Andy Wallace
 * Mastered by Brian Gardner
 * Drum tech by Mike Fasano
 * Guitar tech by Walter Rice
 * Fan Producers for a Day (MVI) by Daniel McLaughlin and Christopher Guinn