@@CarlosFreitas99 In the context of what it is that album is great, think of it as like a side project more. Its a cover album for all their favorite bands, without actually just doing covers.
Yeah, looking back to it I can def appreciate how important it was as a transition to their newer "wackier than ever" phase lol Not in a bad way tho, as it feels like they've finally and truly went back to their essence, since The Rev passed. As in to always push boundaries new boundaries w every new release
@@NUKCYNDvold A7X had MARIA and Danger Line, so I would say they haven't changed much. However I do wish they went back to Scream and Bat Country. They used to have 2 styles and now they've transitioned to 1 main style.
The last part of Angels feels so underrated to me. The 3-layered polyphony of M Shadows' voices simultaneously singing "Took the road but should have chased the stars" and "The faster we run now the closer the gun now" and just a badass scream layered on top is fantastic.
it's crazy going from the new album to this one because I remember when this album came out a lot of fans were complaining about it being too different from their older stuff but now it seems so tame in comparison
A forgot how great this album was to listen to! I got it on cd for my birthday when it came out, played it all the time while driving. I’ll have to sit down and listen to it all again, this was nice.
Fun fact: The outro of the final track, Exist, is actually a speech Niel deGrass Tyson gave just for the album. So cool how people with such seemingly different lives and backgrounds can come together for one song. Gotta love it!
If you want to listen to their best album, listen to their self titled. If you want to hear the peek of their signature sound, listen to Nightmare. If you want to listen to a fan favorite, listen to City of Evil. If you want to listen to some of the best old school metalcore, listen to Waking the Fallen.
Another thing that makes this album my favorite by them aside from the music itself is the lyrics and the concepts they touch on. They bring up a lot of interesting topics and seem to find the perfect way to make these complex topics fit right in with the music
The stage and LIBAD are the most prog albums they've made so far, but they've always had prog elements in their music, even back in WtF. A lot of the later tracks in their albums tend to go full on prog and their albums, especially self titled, stay experimental the way through. A lot of avenged sevenfold fans tend to ignore this when complaining about their new music, but its been kind of obvious that this has always been the direction they were going in looking at their deep cuts and influences. A7x have a lot of fans that only care for the hits
This is so true. I don't understand why long-time fans are surprised about the music Avenged Sevenfold is making now. The elements of it have always been there, and it's a very natural progression based on their increasing maturity both as humans and as musicians.
So true, the self titled album especially is actually pretty darn weird going back after listening to LIBAD, it's not out of left field as much as people think
Yes keep going back in order by album!!! As someone who has listened to them since 2004 it's really interesting to see someone go from newest to oldest. Love it 💜
It's funny to me that you already see with this album how the new one is divisive. Wait until you hear just how different the older stuff is compared to the stage and to a larger degree LIBAD.
The first part of Exist is supposed to be a musical interpretation of the creation of the Universe. It starts out slow and when the instruments kick in and everything goes crazy it's meant to represent the Big Bang and the creation of everything. The vocal parts are when humans first come to be later culminating in Tyson explaining the miracle of our existence and how humanity has to look towards the stars in order for us to continue it. As a person who's always been very existential I fucking adore this album and Exist is one of my favorite songs ever.
7:00 is Synyster Gates' dad playing a rather improvised solo. He was brought in/invited to the studio and has a history of being of part of their records, Syn handed him his guitar and said get the sound you want and play. He then went for a grittier sound than Syn plays with and laid down that sweet tasteful gem.
The funny thing about The Stage is that, just like with this new album, it was super polarizing for fans who liked the previous album, Hail to the King. That's sort of how Avenged Sevenfold works: by the time everyone's used to the new album, the next stuff they release is vastly different and even more polarizing.
You have to do the album CITY OF EVIL..It's the album that broke them and established Sinister and Zaky as the new dirty duo akin Glenn Tipton and K.K.Downing from Judas Priest ✌️🤘🧐
Shout out to Judas Priest. Incredible Legends with utterly endless riches of Metal to choose from. The Painkiller album is THE definite statement of Metal!
It was a hard first listen as an A7X fan because it was so strange. Many listens later, amazing album with the first 4 being among their best. HTTK album was a very easy first listen as it’s very basic - many listens later… I enjoy it still, but it’s weak for their discography. They have always been extremely creative and this trajectory only makes sense, and I am all for it. Nice video!
Correct me if I get anything wrong but here's a few things about my favorite track on the album, Exist. The song encompasses the entire history of the universe- from the quiet nothingness before the big bang to the uncertain future of man. Without a single lyric in the first 7 minutes, it shows you how the universe was created in one massive and violent explosion, with uncounted subatomic particles smashing into eachother, forming the first elements. How those elements gathered together to form stars, how those stars violently spun into eachother or die out to explode and create newer, more complex elements. How one of many stars was born through the chaos and managed to delicately twirl throughout the cosmos without another major collision, and how dust and gas had gathered around it forming planets. How one such planet- rocky, volcanic, and inhospitable- was bombarded with other celestial bodies for billions of years until some of these attacks had deposited water on the planet. How the young planet now began to cool as continents and seas separate as underwater geothermal vents spill chemicals that produce just the right recipe to create the first proteins that make up living organisms. How over billions of years these creatures would evolve in countless ways, until one such creature gained enough intelligence to ask the question of who and what it is- AND ONLY THEN do the lyrics begin. This extended instrumental opening and short lyrical section is used to remind you how small we humans are in the universe, and how little we've actually been around. M. Shadows comes in and acts as the voice of both the entirety of mankind and of the earth herself. Niel DeGrasse Tyson comes in as himself- though he could be acting as the voice of God- and makes the message very clear. Every pathetic atrocity we commit to ourselves, every grand ideological goal, every great revolution we make is nothing compared to vastness of the universe. And only when we all truly come to terms with that on the inside can we, as a species, move forward. This is a message to not only us, but all of our descendants, as The Stage as an album is dedicated to the future.
the stage is such a legendary album, honestly Exist feels like the perfect transition into Life Is But A Dream, and im glad they threw a single esc song in there for the people who dont want to listen to 15 minutes of one song XD
You should also check out the deluxe version of this album, there is 1 new song and 6 covers in addition. Dose and Malagueña Salerosa are especially amazing.
People were already pretty surprised (positive or negative) with the direction they went in with this album so that shows you how their earlier work was received as well, for me both Waking the Fallen and City of Evil are goated albums from them. I like the Stage a lot tho, still plenty of metal and grooves to enjoy in this one, but the transition from this one to their latest albums is still wilder to me than previous work to this exact one
Well if we're doing it in reverse then the next one is gonna be Nightmare. Although you maybe want a little bit of context for the album. The only 'bad' albums are Hail to the King and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. Both of them get less praised compared to other albums by the fans
Dude, I loved watching this retrospective look at their work! Please skip everything else and go all the way back to their second album, Waking the Fallen. I consider that their first "real" attempt at an album (their debut was really hastily put together). I'd love to see your reaction to the stark contrast, yet some of the elements of songwriting they've retained over 20 years.
If you want to listen to something avenged sevenfold adjacent that's just as Avant Garde as LIBAD, you should listen to Unfortunate Snort by pinky smooth. It was a band that had 3 members who have been in a7x at some point (The Rev, Synyster Gates, and Justin Sane) and has the The Rev on vocals. Very experimental album with some crazy guitar work and lots of other good stuff. They are Mr. Bungle inspired but are more Musical than them.
If you keep going back in time, you’ll realize that this album was quite outside the box for them at the time. And I think it was well-received. I feel like in the new album they tried to dial up the experimental sound, but basically lost their identity in the process. The stage, while interesting, was still grounded. The new album just comes across as a mess and trying to be experimental for the sake of being experimental.
I like you diving into their older albums, see The Stage had me torn first like, oh no. And I still don't like that album I respect the talent but not a fan of the album. This album its a thinker but again not love but do like more songs off the new album. Go back to City of Evil, that's their more classic sound what they was known for.
The next album is gonna throw you for a loop. All this experimenting and proggyness is dead in HttK. Its not bad but it is easily their most boring album
"we're 7 minutes in and thats the first lyric" humans didnt EXIST ;) for the whole formation and settling of the universe. Love your breakdowns and interpretations and open mindedness man great vids ❤
Watch the unedited reaction for free here: www.patreon.com/posts/84269113? 🎉
You should really just keep going back in time through all of their albums. As you keep going back you’ll be surprised at how much they’ve changed !
I totally agree, I’m so in board with this journey!
Facts!! 🥲💙
He’s gonna love Waking The Fallen…. That’s the more metalcore harsh sound Drew likes…
After the last two Hail to The King will be so underwhelming
@@CarlosFreitas99 In the context of what it is that album is great, think of it as like a side project more. Its a cover album for all their favorite bands, without actually just doing covers.
This album is standing perfectly one leg into the old Avenged and one leg into their new sound.
I agree. I remeber when The Stage came out and a lot of people said it was "too different" and nothing like the old a7x lol
Yeah, looking back to it I can def appreciate how important it was as a transition to their newer "wackier than ever" phase lol
Not in a bad way tho, as it feels like they've finally and truly went back to their essence, since The Rev passed. As in to always push boundaries new boundaries w every new release
@@NUKCYNDvold A7X had MARIA and Danger Line, so I would say they haven't changed much. However I do wish they went back to Scream and Bat Country. They used to have 2 styles and now they've transitioned to 1 main style.
My favorite album of theirs. Perfect mix of heavy, melody and prog. The solos for Angels and Fermi Paradox are my two favorite solos from gates
They are great! But I still think the stage has his most soulfull solo to date
Actually Angels' solo is not Syn, it´s his father, Brian Haner, also known as Papa Gates.
The last part of Angels feels so underrated to me. The 3-layered polyphony of M Shadows' voices simultaneously singing "Took the road but should have chased the stars" and "The faster we run now the closer the gun now" and just a badass scream layered on top is fantastic.
i always forget how good this album is. it has such a odd and distinct feeling, and i love it.
I'm all down for a A7x discography adventure, bring it on!
it's crazy going from the new album to this one because I remember when this album came out a lot of fans were complaining about it being too different from their older stuff but now it seems so tame in comparison
p.s. City of Evil fucking rocks
A forgot how great this album was to listen to! I got it on cd for my birthday when it came out, played it all the time while driving. I’ll have to sit down and listen to it all again, this was nice.
Legit, i used to listen to it over and over again and fell in love with it. Similar experience to their latest album.
The stage is one of the best metal SONGS of all time in my opinion. The drumming is on another level and the instrumentation is just immaculate.
Brooks is the goddamn man.
Fun fact:
The outro of the final track, Exist, is actually a speech Niel deGrass Tyson gave just for the album. So cool how people with such seemingly different lives and backgrounds can come together for one song. Gotta love it!
Waking the fallen should be next sir. Love the channel
Definitely look at their older albums! From what it sounds like, you’d like those more
Oh dude, you'll LOVE Waking The Fallen
If you want to listen to their best album, listen to their self titled.
If you want to hear the peek of their signature sound, listen to Nightmare.
If you want to listen to a fan favorite, listen to City of Evil.
If you want to listen to some of the best old school metalcore, listen to Waking the Fallen.
Very well-classified! Although best album is debatable ;)
Definitely have to listen to their album Waking The Fallen. An actual top 3 metalcore album of all time
We need Waking the fallen full album reaction
Gotta go back and listen to City of Evil and WTF albums. You will appreciate the guitar riffage on those
Another thing that makes this album my favorite by them aside from the music itself is the lyrics and the concepts they touch on. They bring up a lot of interesting topics and seem to find the perfect way to make these complex topics fit right in with the music
The stage and LIBAD are the most prog albums they've made so far, but they've always had prog elements in their music, even back in WtF. A lot of the later tracks in their albums tend to go full on prog and their albums, especially self titled, stay experimental the way through. A lot of avenged sevenfold fans tend to ignore this when complaining about their new music, but its been kind of obvious that this has always been the direction they were going in looking at their deep cuts and influences. A7x have a lot of fans that only care for the hits
This is so true. I don't understand why long-time fans are surprised about the music Avenged Sevenfold is making now. The elements of it have always been there, and it's a very natural progression based on their increasing maturity both as humans and as musicians.
So true, the self titled album especially is actually pretty darn weird going back after listening to LIBAD, it's not out of left field as much as people think
Yes keep going back in order by album!!! As someone who has listened to them since 2004 it's really interesting to see someone go from newest to oldest. Love it 💜
It's funny to me that you already see with this album how the new one is divisive. Wait until you hear just how different the older stuff is compared to the stage and to a larger degree LIBAD.
The first part of Exist is supposed to be a musical interpretation of the creation of the Universe. It starts out slow and when the instruments kick in and everything goes crazy it's meant to represent the Big Bang and the creation of everything. The vocal parts are when humans first come to be later culminating in Tyson explaining the miracle of our existence and how humanity has to look towards the stars in order for us to continue it. As a person who's always been very existential I fucking adore this album and Exist is one of my favorite songs ever.
7:00 is Synyster Gates' dad playing a rather improvised solo. He was brought in/invited to the studio and has a history of being of part of their records, Syn handed him his guitar and said get the sound you want and play. He then went for a grittier sound than Syn plays with and laid down that sweet tasteful gem.
IN THE FIRST TAKE
The funny thing about The Stage is that, just like with this new album, it was super polarizing for fans who liked the previous album, Hail to the King. That's sort of how Avenged Sevenfold works: by the time everyone's used to the new album, the next stuff they release is vastly different and even more polarizing.
Avenged are some cool songwriters ngl
When the stage released it had a similar reception to the new album because it sounds nothing like the previous albums
You have to do the album CITY OF EVIL..It's the album that broke them and established Sinister and Zaky as the new dirty duo akin Glenn Tipton and K.K.Downing from Judas Priest ✌️🤘🧐
Shout out to Judas Priest. Incredible Legends with utterly endless riches of Metal to choose from. The Painkiller album is THE definite statement of Metal!
City of evil is GOATED.
It was a hard first listen as an A7X fan because it was so strange. Many listens later, amazing album with the first 4 being among their best. HTTK album was a very easy first listen as it’s very basic - many listens later… I enjoy it still, but it’s weak for their discography.
They have always been extremely creative and this trajectory only makes sense, and I am all for it.
Nice video!
I truly can’t wait for you to check out City of Evil, dude. One of my favorite albums of all time.
Correct me if I get anything wrong but here's a few things about my favorite track on the album, Exist.
The song encompasses the entire history of the universe- from the quiet nothingness before the big bang to the uncertain future of man.
Without a single lyric in the first 7 minutes, it shows you how the universe was created in one massive and violent explosion, with uncounted subatomic particles smashing into eachother, forming the first elements. How those elements gathered together to form stars, how those stars violently spun into eachother or die out to explode and create newer, more complex elements. How one of many stars was born through the chaos and managed to delicately twirl throughout the cosmos without another major collision, and how dust and gas had gathered around it forming planets. How one such planet- rocky, volcanic, and inhospitable- was bombarded with other celestial bodies for billions of years until some of these attacks had deposited water on the planet. How the young planet now began to cool as continents and seas separate as underwater geothermal vents spill chemicals that produce just the right recipe to create the first proteins that make up living organisms. How over billions of years these creatures would evolve in countless ways, until one such creature gained enough intelligence to ask the question of who and what it is- AND ONLY THEN do the lyrics begin.
This extended instrumental opening and short lyrical section is used to remind you how small we humans are in the universe, and how little we've actually been around.
M. Shadows comes in and acts as the voice of both the entirety of mankind and of the earth herself.
Niel DeGrasse Tyson comes in as himself- though he could be acting as the voice of God- and makes the message very clear. Every pathetic atrocity we commit to ourselves, every grand ideological goal, every great revolution we make is nothing compared to vastness of the universe. And only when we all truly come to terms with that on the inside can we, as a species, move forward. This is a message to not only us, but all of our descendants, as The Stage as an album is dedicated to the future.
Nice review man, love this album
EXIST is basically the creation of the universe, from the big bang all the way to Earth's creation (The slow part with lyrics)
Album Waking the Fallen.... Their changing is what I love most about A7X. Masterpiece after masterpiece ...
the stage is such a legendary album, honestly Exist feels like the perfect transition into Life Is But A Dream, and im glad they threw a single esc song in there for the people who dont want to listen to 15 minutes of one song XD
this is a unique experience to hear them backwards and im looking forward to hear your perspective.
I just re-listened to this one yesterday! solid album
exist is such a wild last track
Great video bro, can't wait for you to hear the rest.
This album is awesome. Still listen to it all the time.
One of best albums ever
You should also check out the deluxe version of this album, there is 1 new song and 6 covers in addition. Dose and Malagueña Salerosa are especially amazing.
keep it coming, Hail To The King and Nightmare next
City of Evil PLEASE MAN PLEASE
People were already pretty surprised (positive or negative) with the direction they went in with this album so that shows you how their earlier work was received as well, for me both Waking the Fallen and City of Evil are goated albums from them. I like the Stage a lot tho, still plenty of metal and grooves to enjoy in this one, but the transition from this one to their latest albums is still wilder to me than previous work to this exact one
so these are my favourite band of all time and i like every album they have done. this format is great and you some to have incredible taste
People were pissed off with this album too. You can't please A7X fans.
Definitely need a City Of Evil album reaction
hands down their best album by FAR
Album is 10/10 imo
Bro PLEASEEEE check out both of the new Like Moths to Flames singles
btw I'm loving these a7x videos, bring it
Well if we're doing it in reverse then the next one is gonna be Nightmare. Although you maybe want a little bit of context for the album.
The only 'bad' albums are Hail to the King and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. Both of them get less praised compared to other albums by the fans
Dude you should listen to their debut album 🔥
Dude, I loved watching this retrospective look at their work! Please skip everything else and go all the way back to their second album, Waking the Fallen. I consider that their first "real" attempt at an album (their debut was really hastily put together). I'd love to see your reaction to the stark contrast, yet some of the elements of songwriting they've retained over 20 years.
If you want to listen to something avenged sevenfold adjacent that's just as Avant Garde as LIBAD, you should listen to Unfortunate Snort by pinky smooth. It was a band that had 3 members who have been in a7x at some point (The Rev, Synyster Gates, and Justin Sane) and has the The Rev on vocals. Very experimental album with some crazy guitar work and lots of other good stuff. They are Mr. Bungle inspired but are more Musical than them.
Fun fact: In the last song Exist, Neil Degrasse Tyson did backing vocals.
As much i like LIBAD, The stage still the best Avenged sevenfold Album 🖤 imo
jolly likes this album
my favorite album is the stage. I didn't like their new Life is but a dream album. not for me but this is a masterpiece
I share the same opinion
How come you don’t feature your sister on your videos? I feel like she would’ve liked reacting to this album alongside with you
Nightmare is a masterpiece
❤
10:36 that not really that but u get the idea
If you keep going back in time, you’ll realize that this album was quite outside the box for them at the time. And I think it was well-received. I feel like in the new album they tried to dial up the experimental sound, but basically lost their identity in the process. The stage, while interesting, was still grounded. The new album just comes across as a mess and trying to be experimental for the sake of being experimental.
Skip hail to the king please! Lol
This comment needs more attention 😂
Your auto muting on the mic s my ears
Better than libad
I like you diving into their older albums, see The Stage had me torn first like, oh no. And I still don't like that album I respect the talent but not a fan of the album. This album its a thinker but again not love but do like more songs off the new album. Go back to City of Evil, that's their more classic sound what they was known for.
Your comparaisons to other bands after hearing the songs only once is kinda annoying
The next album is gonna throw you for a loop. All this experimenting and proggyness is dead in HttK. Its not bad but it is easily their most boring album
"we're 7 minutes in and thats the first lyric" humans didnt EXIST ;) for the whole formation and settling of the universe. Love your breakdowns and interpretations and open mindedness man great vids ❤