Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil
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Free Music Notes for City of Evil
Free Music Review: Quite Possibly the Greatest Album of All Time
Hit: 5 Stars
The first song I ever heard from Avenged Sevenfold was "Unholy Confessions" a couple years ago. My first impression was that they were wasting amazing guitar riffs with a terrible singer because at the time I was not a fan of the Metal-esque scream. I have come to enjoy A7X's screaming more, but the reason City of Evil stands out to me so much is that it combines even more amazing guitar riffs with much better vocals. I realize that veteran fans of A7X will be disappointed in this new style, but it is not to be looked at as if A7X is selling out. M. Shadows, the lead singer, had to have surgery on his throat and can no longer scream. I must say he has made great achievements out of what many may consider a harsh turn for M. Shadows.
When I hear a song with a great guitar solo, I will typically buy the CD because I am sure the rest will be good. This is the first time I have ever purchased a CD based on one song and ended up liking every other song on the CD more than that first one. I loved the riffs from 'Betrayed', and decided that it could justify purchasing the rest of the CD. It is still an amazing song, but every other song on the CD is so beautifully orchestrated that and individually crafted that 'Betrayed' becomes easily topped. Individual Reviews are as follows:
Beast and the Harlot: Nice way to start out the CD. Seems as if this song has a happy mood to it until you read the lyrics. Guitar is fantastic, and singing follows in excellence. (10/10)
Burn it Down: Good follow-up to Beast and the Harlot. Somewhat similar in style as a and guitar does not slack. Drums are extremely well-played also. (10/10)
Blinded in Chains: This song has nothing special to it after the song begins, but it is still a tremendous effort on the part of A7X, and it shows even in this less flashy song. (10/10)
Bat Country: As many people have heard this song, I am sure you either love it or hate it. Personally I love it and think it is magnificent. One of the better solos on the CD. (10/10)
Trashed & Scattered: The fast pace of this song is great to listen to and The Reverend plays the guitar so perfectly for this pace that I can't help but wondering what kind of sick possession he has. (10/10)
Seize the Day: By far my least favorite song on the CD. Some parts of it are really good though. Also I must include that I am the only person I know who does not like this song. (7/10)
Sidewinder: Best song on the CD. By far. It is the pinnacle of this CD and expresses everything that needs to be said or played. It contains the best solo of any song I have ever heard. The words are meaningful, and the singing is fantastic. Clocking in at just over 7 minutes, this song has moved in to my favorite song of all time. (10/10)
The Wicked End: Song about the end of the world and how wicked our world is. Good riffs, and the solo is quite possibly the sickest, most fast-paced solo you will ever hear. I did not know it was possible for somebody to move their fingers this fast. The bass is also noticeably good in this song as well (10/10)
Strength of the World: Good mix of orchestra and A7X's own special brand. Song about vengeance on behalf of a man's family. Some of the best stuff is in this song. (10/10)
Betrayed: As I said, this is the song that attracted me to this CD, and it is a good one. I cannot remember off the top of my head who it is about, but I believe is a tribute to another musician. Great guitaring and fantastic drumming. (10/10)
M.I.A.: Song about the current War in Iraq. Probably the deepest song as far as lyrics on the CD, and the guitaring should be mentioned because it closes out the CD so perfectly that anything else would be considered half-assed. Fantastic last song to a CD and one of my top 10 favorite songs ever. (10/10)
So total that is a 97/100. It is easy to overlook the minimal shortcomings on this CD, such as 'Seize the Day'. It should also be noted that some may be offended by the language on this CD. Also, while many have called A7X a satanic band, M. Shadows said that he does not promote satan in his life or on this CD, so it is a safe listen for any Christians. I recommend this CD to any normal human being interested in listening to some of the best music ever created.
Free Music Review: Coming Into Their Own
Hit: 5 Stars
Avenged Sevenfold is a very unique band. Their first two releases, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and Waking the Fallen have shown that they have the talent of a legendary metalband, with the powerful emotion of today's metalcore. With thrashy drums and a perfect blend of screaming and singing, these two magnificent albums represent the beginning of Avenged Sevenfold--using the metal influences they love most to create a unique blend of "kid-friendly" metalcore. With their latest release City of Evil, A7X has run away with the metal side of their music and left the screamo behind. This new music is remeniscent of a classic metal masterpiece--every song has its hard hitting moments and its poignancy. The guitar work is stunning, the double attack of Gates and Vengeance will grow in the world to a great status. The bass is definitely turned up on this cd, and the riffs get much more technical. The drums are different, but for the better--they branch out from the very common "thrashier" style of WTF and STST, and into a different, more complicated unique style. And then there were the vocals--the biggest change on City of Evil. This is where Shadows gets to shine, as he is easily the best vocalist to come out of rock in the past couple of decades. He throws aside the screaming so he can showcase his unbelievable singing talents. Often his voice is remeniscent of Axl Rose and just as often he won't be as raspy but still perfectly on pitch like a solo artist. It is hard to fit City of evil into a genre--whether it is Metal, just plain Rock, still Metalcore, or even at times it is classical. The band also likes to describe some parts as "death-western." Don't let this range of styles turn you off from the cd though...it all fits together perfectly. City of Evil is an epic for our generation...and one of the greatest cd's the world will have seen in a long time.
Beast and the Harlot - a grungey opener with a killer solo and vocals remeniscent of zakk wylde. 7/10
Burn it Down - With very catchy riffs, lots of tempo changes, and a great variety of vocals, this is a good sample of alot of things to come on the cd. 8/10
Blinded in Chains - a really cool opening to this song, with lots of good riffs scattered here and there, and a unique sounding verse. 8/10
Bat Country - inspired by "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," this will be the first video for City of Evil. one of the greatest bridges i have heard in my lifetime. 10/10
Trashed and Scattered - The beginning, with all the layers of sound almost sounds like a really fast heavy rock classical piece, if you can draw that from it. This is a really good song. 8/10
Seize the Day - A ballad very remeniscent of A7x's Warmness on the Soul, or a poppy GnR, with some good solos. 9/10
Sidewinder - Latin inspired rock song for the first 4 minutes which is alright, then the last 2.5 minutes are a stunning latin acoustic piece with great vocals, backing, and an awesome solo. 10/10
The Wicked End - My favorite song on the CD. Starting off almost like a song from WTF, this goes from mid-tempo, to blatantly fast, and heavy, with a cool solo, and about half way through there is an orchestral interlude supported by a choir, and then the band comes in and plays over it. Spectacular piece of music. 20/10
Strength of the World - A 9 minute "death-western" epic only Avenged Sevenfold could create. Brilliant song from start to finish. 10/10
Betrayed - A rock song about the assassination of Pantera's Dimebag Darrel. Probably my least favorite on the cd, but that does not turn me away one bit. 7/10
M.I.A. - A song that sounds like ...And All things will end, the WTF closer. My second favorite on the cd, starts really slow and then bursts into all out metal with a cool solo and "choir-y" sounding finish, with shadows turning things down a bit, and then a solo fading out the cd. another great piece. 20/10
be sure to listen to this cd. i'ts brilliant.
Free Music Review: One of the freshest cd's I have heard in my life
Hit: 5 Stars
Right after City of Evil released, a friend of mine (who is in love it seems with Avenged Sevenfold) told me of them and how great and original this band was. I definetly had my doubts at first, but I can promise you those doubts definetly went away with the first few listens of this CD. The guitar work is unbelievable and absolutely crazy and sometimes it feels like there is a solo going on in the background throughout the whole song. The rhythm guitar is even more tight from Waking The Fallen, and the bass shines through more on this record than others. The Rev's drumming is definetly insane as well, the most technical and precise drumming I have heard since Joey Jordisons. Now, onto the singing. After listening to the first few minutes of City of Evil you will realize that there is no more screaming vocals and it is just straight up clean vocals. This caught me off guard at first, since I had heard and loved Waking the Fallen before this CD. But, it has grown on me and I really love Shadows style and how passionate his voice seems sometimes. Here's a run through of the tracks:
1. Beast And The Harlot: 10/10- Great opener track. Absolutely love the lead guitar on this song, Syn does a great job here. I think the key change at the end of the song is a little unneccesary, but it still sounds good.
2. Burn It Down: 9/10- This song starts off great, with the awesome sounding dual guitars doing all sorts of crazy sweeping in the intro. True, M. Shadows voice on this track is a bit more nasaly than the others, but once you get used to his voice you won't complain too much. Plus I really love the part where Shadows is singing, "yeah! before I tear you down, you chose the wrong side, so right!"
3. Blinded In Chains: 9/10- At first this was my least favorite song on the CD, but now I really love this one. Great song about politics. The little bass solo at the end is really great sounding and the rest of the song after that is really great to hear live.
4. Bat Country: 8/10- Ah, yes, the imfamous overplayed Bat Country. I think this is a good single, but yes definetly overplayed. Although I've stopped listening to the radio, so I still listen to this a lot. The solo on this song is unbelievable good, and the dual guitar thing right after the solo sounds really great.
5. Trashed and Scattered: 9/10-Great in your face song. Makes me feel like I just wanna smack someone in the face.
6. Sieze The Day: 10/10- I believe this is going to be the final single off of City Of Evil. Beautiful ballad. Shadows' voice when he says, "so what if I never hold you, or kiss your lips again" is so epic sounding there.
7. Sidewinder: 10/10- Now it's getting on to the more experimental side of the CD. This song is really a good one, especially the acoustic flamenco style stuff at the end.
8. The Wicked End: 10/10- Most epic song on the CD, obviously because of the boys choir in the middle of the song. But we cant forget the solo before that section. Definetly one of the best off the CD.
9. Strength of the World: 8/10- Starts off sounding like a Spaghetti Western, then quickly goes into standard A7X sound. The reason I gave this song an 8 is because it seems to drag on for a little too long. They should of cut atleast about a minute off of this song, clocking in at about 9:14. Although the solo is great on this song as well.
10. Betrayed: 9/10- Song about Dimebag of the legendary Pantera. I really like the lyrics on this song. It seems to show the perspective of three different people, one from Dimebag's, one from the killers, and one from an outsiders. Crazy sounding.
11. M.I.A.: 10/10- The final song and my personal favorite. Shows off really what Avenged does best, great guitars, powerful vocals and lyrics, tight drumming, everything is fantastic. Very sad song about war. The ending of this song is very sad sounding and the best way to end the CD.
Free Music Review: A7X
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been reading the reviews and frankly I don't understand how so many people could hate this album. I'll give it to you that this album sounds a lot different than Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and Waking the Fallen, but the fact of the matter is that the band has taken a turn towards a more melodic sound, which happens to be more popular than their former musical stylings. You can't blame a band for the type of people that are listening to them, if a 14 year old likes to listen to A7X, more power to them. I'm pretty sure your grandparents aren't pissing and moaning if you come across a Frank Sinatra song, or your parents flip out because you are wearing a Pink Floyd shirt and are listening to Dark Side of the Moon while watching Wizard of Oz. Seriously, you people that completely bash the band because they don't sound "metal" and that they sound like whining babies. I remember a man Axel Rose who sounded even more annoying that M. Shadows, but that doesn't mean I automatically hate GNR. And as for the guitar solos, I'm pretty sure that after a while, every guitar solo is gonna sound the same, there might be similarities in the types of solos, but they aren't ripping off solos from other guitarists.
There are many good songs on this album. I especially like M.I.A. because for some reason the guitar riffs bring me back to the 8-bit days of Mega Man 2. The solos are outstanding on this album and the lyrics are more melodic than they were on the previous two albums, which I think the band pulls off wonderfully, especially in Seize the Day.
For all you "metalheads" out there, just because A7X became popular doesn't mean they suck. Bands like Pantera, Iron Madien, Slayer, GNR, Manowar, Black Sabbath, and plenty of others are being listened to by the same kids that are listening to A7X. Does that mean that every band that I've mentioned sucks? I dare you to tell me that Black Sabbath is a woosey, baby, group that 14 year olds listen to...because any band, underground or mainstream, would rip your head right off of your body if you told them that, and Ozzy would bite it off.
If music is good enough, it's going to get popular; it's inevitable. And just because you can't write your own music or don't have as much talent as these guys, don't cry about it on amazon that it's your constitutional right to call this band any name you want; the fact of the matter is that A7X is a group of talented musicians that are living a dream. They worked their way up, producing a sound that they liked, and that people liked. Just because they aren't as "hardcore" as they used to be doesn't mean they are any less talented. Any man can scream his brains out with music playing in the background, hell, I'm pretty sure my little sister could be the lead singer of a metalcore band that yells over power chords. But it takes talent in order to sing melodies and harmonies, which is something that a lot of music has been lacking as of late. He still screams, but it sounds like music.
Don't get me wrong, I like metal and metalcore, and I always have, but a lot of stuff, including the underground stuff, sounds very similar. There is only so far a band can go by screaming their brains out about killing people, praising dark lords, and living in a dark abyss. A7X took it to a different level with City of Evil, and I think that this is probably their best album (very close with Waking the Fallen).
Well, I guess that's just one mans opinion, but I hope many other people feel similar to the way I do. Music is always changing; Some bands become popular while others are left in the dust. If you wanna say that a band is bad because they become popular and you see them on MTV, be my guest, but I can't wait until another band you like goes mainstream so you can cry about it again.
-Edele
Free Music Review: One Of The Most Controversial CDs Of Our Time
Hit: 5 Stars
Okay so I've tossed and turned for a long time on whether or not I was going to write a review about this CD or not. At first I wanted to so I could defend it against ex-Avenged fans who were trashing this CD. But after a while a lot of people realized that it is one of those CDs that you have to get used to in order to fully enjoy. It seems that this CD has two extreme opinions about it: you either love it or hate. The people that hate it are usually found comparing this CD to Waking The Fallen or Sounding The Seventh Trumpet. This is why it is such a controversial CD because so many fans felt betrayed by it when it first came out. I of course thought it was excellent from the start (bought it the day it came out too! lol) but I had no idea about the staying power this CD would have on me.
I have a strong belief that Waking The Fallen is a perfect album. How could they follow that CD up?? They made it impossible for themselves to make a follow up. It just couldn't be done. The band could have very well made Waking the Fallen II but instead they decided to go in a different direction, one without screaming and with vocal harmonies. Most people, if you looked around the message boards when Beast and the Harlot was first released on the internet, hated the new sound. I loved it and it seemed that June 7, 2005 could not come fast enough.
Waking The Fallen was perfect, and so is this album. City Of Evil is simply a different kind of perfect. You really can't compare the two albums because they have such different feels to each other. At the same time, however, if you really think about it, Avenged hasn't changed their sound all that much. The only thing that really sticks out as a huge change is the singing. Other than that, the music is still the same. There are still the Maiden-esque dual guitar riffs. There are still the Greg Graffin-like harmonies. Everything that was on Waking The Fallen is found on this CD, only it is brought to a much grander scale. This is why City Of Evil is just as good as Waking The Fallen in my opinion.
It's one thing to change your sound to sound like everyone else and try to join a certain scene to gain popularity. It is another thing to change your sound so you DON'T sound like anyone else. Before this change in sound, Avenged was thrown into the metalcore pile with Atreyu, As I Lay Dying, and Trivium (to name a few). With City Of Evil, they completely set themselves apart and come into their own. Just listen to the intro of Beast and the Harlot and try to tell me that it isn't timeless. Listen to the closing solo on Sidewinder and tell me that it isn't amazing. The bridge in The Wicked End is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard and the closing moments in MIA still give me chills to this day.
I have listened to nothing but this CD for the past year and a half, and I have yet to get sick of it. This CD is just perfect. The order the tracks are in, the guitar work, the drumming, the lyrics, the attitude, I could go on forever about. This CD has inspired me in so many ways it is incredible.
I have been a fan of this band from the start and while seemingly everyone else who was a fan at that point, bailed out on this band for becoming less hardcore, a few open minded fans stuck with them. These are people who don't care how many times they have been on TRL, how many albums they have sold, or how many times a day M Shadows lifts weights, but are here for the music itself and how it touches them in a way no other band has. If it wasn't for Seize The Day I wouldn't be dating my girlfriend of almost a year. "Seize the day or die regretting the time you lost." Truer words were never spoken. Thank you Avenged Sevenfold for showing that there is real music out there and that true talent always prevails above image and gimmicks.