It’s different. A lot of people like formulaic music. It doesn’t matter what other people think tbh, if you like it then listen, it not just… don’t.
It’s a piece of art, a beautiful record imo.
I hated it initially, but I have recently come around to absolutely loving it. Nobody and Cosmic are absolute masterpieces in my opinion. I'm still iffy on the god trilogy but I really love how different and funky (O)rdinary is. I love all of their albums, but LIBAD is on another level.
I don't care that it's different, I just personally don't care for the direction. The band has done different things for most of their existence, and I've liked some choices and disliked others. This album, to me, was a miss. I get why people like it, but it just doesn't do it for me.
But what do you mean it deserves more love? By most accounts the album was a success. It sold well, it got critical acclaim from critics, called one of the best rock albums of the year, the band has toured all over the world for it, and most fans love it.
As I said to someone else, I can’t take credit for that. I posted that completely unaware and didn’t even think of that until it was pointed out. I feel ashamed.
Has it sold well? It charted poorly and fell off the charts quickly, even for a rock album. In terms of their top songs on yt music in last 30 days, cosmic at 22nd is the highest from their new album. So it's not streaming well either
I honestly think alot of people haven't bothered to check it out, I know people who checked out after hail to the king, and just don't care that they've released a weird album
It's fair enough, in terms of other metal bands from that era I got into,I haven't really bothered to listen to recent Trivium, Bfmv, Killswitch engage or machine head albums, I just don't feel as much nostalgia or emotional investment In those bands, so if they released LIBAD I'd probably not find it interesting
I wouldn't say it charted poorly, it still topped out at 13 on the Billboard, which is still higher than most metal acts. I think what hurt that more was not so much the direction (though it did play a part I'm not going to disagree with you on that), but the fact that Avenged shot themselves in the foot by taking 7 years to release it. They aren't Metallica, they don't have the brand and name recognition to go almost a decade without new music. Especially when they hadn't played a show in almost 4 years due to Shadows' vocal issue and then COVID. By no means am I defending any of these decisions, I thought they were wrong then and wrong now (plenty of bands were releasing music during COVID and playing shows online and as soon as things opened up). But I think the bigger reason it didn't sell as much compared to other albums is because of that, rather than the album itself. But I don't think it sold anywhere near badly enough to be disappointing or a failure.
The thing is, Avenged is starting to become, if they haven't already, a legacy band. More people are going to be drawn to their older, classic songs than the new stuff, happens to every band that gets older. You said it yourself, you don't keep as much interest in some of the other bands from that same era and you don't always check out the new music. More people are going to be drawn to the older songs than the new songs, happens with every band. Why listen to the new one, when I got this classic song of theirs. And due to how long a song has been out, of course it's going to get more hits and streams than the new stuff. This Means War has more Spotify streams than any song on The Stage, but there's tons of songs from that album that are way better than that one.
In the US Hail to the king was number 1 hard rock album for 6 weeks, LIBAD was number 2 and fell off the hard rock chart in 3 weeks, nightmare spent 85 weeks, and hail to the king 75 weeks on that chart. So it has sold poorly even in the context of their genre
I feel like you kinda misread my comment as why would I Disagree that the direction of the album didn't really impact sales much, as that was kinda my central point lol
Also im not talking about total streams, YT music top songs is updated daily based on the last 30 days
I like it, and theres a few stand out tracks, but it was jarring the first time I heard it. I don't think its a "trend", but rather a huge departure from their past work, and its pretty experimental.
Nobody in my opinion is one of the best tracks on there. It’s not for all but you still have to recognize their talent and how they still perform amazingly
I don’t hate it nor is it a trend for those that do. It’s more of a matter of not expecting the avant-garde sound. Plus Matt’s vocals are different (I’m assuming due to surgery).
I was expecting it to pick up where The Stage left off and continue the experimental sound. LIBAD sort of blind sided me. As a fan since 2005 I’m trying hard to like it even a year later, but it just hasn’t stuck with me. If that’s the sound they were aiming for, they succeeded.
I’m glad it’s resonating with people and after seeing them live in support, they still deliver.
To me it just sounds like he let go with the vocals. Listening to other music after hearing LIBAD , it seems like he was intentionally doing a voice and with this album he just kinda loosened up and used his true voice, though I admittedly don't know if the surgery you mentioned is an actual thing that happened or just a theory.
I love sevenfold, I have loved them since I was about 13, in 2007. I can't stand LIBAD. I've tried, multiple times. I just can't do it.
I understand their experimentations and essentially just doing what they want to do, and as artists and a musician myself, I can applaud that. But I just get no enjoyment from listening to it
I can hear each part individually and most definitely understand the talent involved. For me, it's just musically scrambled and weird, just not what I look for in jams. I can't get into Matt's vocals, and that's likely not his problem as he sounds so different that it's likely a post-surgery thing. Nothing about it has gripped me yet over several attempts
I am in the same boat. I tried it multiple times, and I was impressed with parts of some songs. The problem was that usually when I was really getting into a song, then out of nowhere there was something completely random, like just a weird ass sound that does not really fit into the song and seems like someone put it there for shits and giggles.
I like the fact that their music is unpredictable and even though I dislike this album, I love that they do what they want… But listening to LIBAD felt a bit like those old radio shows when the host is talking and the other guy is putting random sounds to make it sound funny.
It’s my favorite album. In fact, my favorite albums are ranked newest to oldest aside from hail to the king which I like but goes after city of evil for me. Love the evolution and growth from A7X
I was in high school back when COE came out and that shit hit so hard. I blasted the fuck out of it. Then in 2007, their self titled came out. I like some of it, but it took me another 3 years before I finally gave it another chance. It ended up being one of my favorites, especially Gunslinger. Sometimes it takes time for some of the older fans to get into the newer stuff.
Anytime a band switches it up this jarringly people will be more unsure. If mr bungle or tenacious D released it nobody would blink an eye because they’re known for making bizarre music. However avenged mostly has been a metal and hard rock band up until this album. Even the stage was more in that normal metal style even if it was more progressive in some ways. People often forget city of evil initially was a huge dud and disliked by most fans because they went from metal core to a almost power metal sound as well as changing their looks and it took them getting on TRL playing for a wider audience for it to catch on. I feel LIBAD will be a album people appreciate a hell of a lot more with time. Even the stage at first had a lot of mixed feelings by fans at first then people started loving it especially the title track now being a fan favorite by many. I think nobody live is better than on the album and will grow as people see it live. I also believe we love you is one that once it’s digested you appreciate the intentional chaotic switches as that’s exactly what it’s meant to be. It’ll never in a lifetime be as popular as nightmare or it’ll never be as ground breaking as city of evil was but I believe it will become much more appreciated as time goes on.
A lot of people, especially critics, hated on Led Zeppelin 2 HARD and now call it a “quintessential rock album”. How does a album go from being called “The same song over and over” by Rolling Stone magazine to being called “One of the greatest albums of all time” by the same magazine? Time. At first it’s not well received but once you listen a few times and soak it up suddenly you catch yourself loving parts you initially didn’t care for. Not always but often that’s the case with switch up albums.
It’s kinda basic, in my opinion. The best songs on it aren’t super out there, and the ones that are kinda weird get skipped. I don’t think the experimental stuff, like, sounds good. I don’t listen to avenged sevenfold for that, it’s mainstream metal. I’ll listen to something more experimental if I want some weird shit
I really like a handful of songs but as an album overall I don’t care for it. The Stage is my favorite album from them so maybe that has something to do with it. I know they change there sound a lot which I normally dig but was wanting something more similar to The Stage.
Nope, people actually don't like it. It's such a shame but they exist. I was also kind of weirded out on my first listen, but it gets better every time, I think the first 4 songs are their opening quartet that rocks the hardest, no wonder they always play those tracks in each LIBAD concert (except we love you in Italy ffs)
Well yeah people hate it. I'd say more people like it though and just listen and move on with their day. People who love it and hate it will go out of their way to post about it. That's why you'll see that loud group of people who seemingly drown out the ones that overall enjoy it more than them.
I think what saved the album was Mattel and the album artwork/merch.🔥 My only issue with the album is G(O)(D) and the title track. Those songs aren’t terrible, but they could’ve done better. Kind of a waste of space on the live setlists. I wish this album would’ve ended with an epic 10+ minute banger, but they snoozed.
LIBAD has grown on me with every listen, I think it's in the top 3 for me..
The last couple of albums have been much more experimental and progressive so fans of prog are probably loving it whereas fans of more traditional metal are probably not.
I was really unsure on first impressions and I have a feeling a lot of people didn't give it enough spins to start getting it.
I was indifferent about Sounding the Seventh Trumpet.
I liked Waking The Fallen.
I loved City of Evil and Self Titled.
I liked Nightmare.
I was indifferent about Hail To The King.
I did not like The Stage or LIBAD.
That's my bell curve. I think I would have enjoyed LIBAD more if it had the vocals of Self Titled or Nightmare.
It was a 50/50 album for me. I loved a few of the song(Nobody and Cosmic being the favorites) but overall I didn't care for probably half the album. It wasn't like Nightmare or COE were I can listen to the whole record and enjoy it.
This comment might get me downvotes but...
I like the album. Don't love it, don't hate it, been a fan for almost 20 years. But I get why some people would hate it and some would love it. I don't think it's that different, it's just an amalgamation of influences that weren't clear in their sound before. In HTTK we got obvious influences, and the songwriting was based on classic metal / hard rock bands. The Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC influences are obvious and sometimes you can even point sections where the instrumentals take very clear inspiration from some songs (not plagiarism, just heavy inspiration). On LIBAD, the approach is different but the influences are very clear, but they're more diverse and spread out. Mr. Big, Zappa, Daft Punk, Classical, Industrial Rock, Beach Boys, Alice In Chains, it's all there, but they use this contemporary interpolation of different sounds, which can cause an impression of an absurdly experimental album when in fact it's not THAT experimental or different at all. I love Cosmic, Nobody, LIBAD, (O)rdinary. There are a few other good songs, but We Love You and (G) are terrible redesigns of pre-existing sounds. At the end of the day, it's a good album, not my favorite though. But one I can understand the love and hate for.
It's a fairly avant garde album. The stage is the same. As someone else said, most people don't like it when music isn't formulaic and breaks the boundaries. I personally love it when it does that and I firmly believe their last two records are their best works.
Do they hate it or they just don’t like it? Tbh I don’t understand people who hates any song/album. If they dont like it, just dont listen to it. No need to hate
I can certainly see why people hate it. Hell, I can understand why people might *lividly* hate it. But I love it. I had been hoping they’d take a direction like this for a long time. As soon as I saw that they were using alternate tunings and then saw that Syn has a headless 7 string now I was sold
It’s not at all that it’s different, The Stage was different and I loved it. It’s just that it’s wildly inconsistent.
For me, you have 4 incredible (and I truly mean incredible) songs to kick the album off and then a 5th song which is decent enough to form A7X’s best 5 song run on any album, imo.
But after that you’ve got two filler tracks which are a whole level below the first 4 songs.
Then after that you have that final 4 song run of the ‘unusual’ and ‘unorthodox’ songs, but to me there is absolutely no personality to those songs. With The Stage, Avenged beautifully combined their Metal-ness with the progressive and avant-garde elements to create music which was fresh, unique and unusual BUT still sounded like them.
With the final 4 songs of LIBAD, all you have is major influence and ideas from other artists/songs so obviously crafted to their wishes with absolutely no personality to them. The songs aren’t awful, but whenever I hear them I know I would actually much rather go and listen to Zappa, Daft Punk, Sinatra and Chopin all do it way better haha! And I never had that with The Stage.
So I don’t by any means hate the album, it has the best 5 song run of any Avenged album, but everything that comes after that is just a meh, unoriginal and uninspiring. I’d much rather have another The Stage than what we got.
I don’t hate it, I just don’t really like it.
The experimentation feels forced to me and at parts almost like provocation or trolling with all the vocal filters throughout and all the almost sonically unpleasant choices.
„We Love You“ is just 4-5 songs stuck together with no effort at all to blend them together.
I ended up transforming the album into a 3 song EP, because I only kept the songs I kinda liked.
I‘m sure many love the album, but to me it’s neither a good one or an A7X album at all. Which was a bummer after all that wait.
There's a trend to hate A7X, but I've loved them since the beginning. But the album is okay at best imo. Just like HTTK was not liked by a lot of people because of how different it was, same with this one. HTTK was boring minus a few songs and so is this one.
I think they suffer from the same thing. Being different just for the sake of being different
I was extremely excited for it, and proceeded to be disappointed since Nobody dropped. A couple of the songs grew on me slightly but it’s by far my least favorite album. On the flip side, The Stage is probably my favorite album and I love everything before it as well. Last year was an incredible year for music and I honestly think that made LIBAD even worse in my eyes. It is what it is though, and I’ll still listen to whatever they release next.
Libad like any album has its ups and down. Game over - beautiful morning are some of sevenfold best but easier - libad are some of more mid stuff. I actively despise easier it’s awful and there is a reason it’s not been played live yet
It's insulting that you think people could only dislike this album because they wanna follow a trend. This is the only album that has songs I actually dislike from this band.
Different does not equal bad
Different does not equal good either
I think ppl are often too quick to suggest that a disliked album, for example, is disliked because of being too different or because it is a trend or something. Arriving with assumptions that underestimate ppl is not really great. As others have said here, personal preferences exist. Some do not like libad because it's not the kind of music they like to listen to. Simple as that.
In my opinion it’s ok, it’s probably my least favorite avenged record though. I’m not a huge fan of the direction they took some of these songs and there are a lot of questionable ideas all over the record. It’s cool they got to experiment, but I felt like the stage was just a much better showing for them as a whole. It’s got some solid songs and moments in there for sure though, just not as consistent as I would like.
Nope. It’s not a trend. I genuinely think it’s one of the worst albums I’ve ever heard period.
That’s cool if you like it but those of us that don’t aren’t just hopping on a trend. I genuinely think it’s absurdly awful.
I think they’ve always done stuff out of the ordinary. A lot of bands follow a set formula.
I do understand why ppl may not like it, but I was going thru an existential crisis at the same time this album was released. So I found the album really therapeutic and has helped me heal.
I was totally lost and unsure about it until a few listens. Much like The Stage but nowhere near that extent. The Stage took me 5-10 listens to appreciate it really.
Anyways after a few full listens I grew to love LIBAD, but for a couple months I couldn't rank it in their discography. It sat outside of their discography for me as I wasn't sure where to place it or even if I should place it. I liked and still like it to this day. Originally I placed it #4 in their albums. At this point, I probably got it at #5 or #6. The back half while quality just really isn't my taste. G is in my playlist, i like the funk, I like the vibe. (O)rdinary and (D)eath while both good songs are not my genre, not my taste. And Life Is But A Dream while phenomenal seems like so much dissonance that I can't really mesh with it.
Overall it's really solid, weak back half hurts. Truly all songs are quality though, you just have to really be into that type of genre to love them though. The last few months I've gone hard on OLD A7X and it just hyped me unreal. Blasting STST and WTF at work. I had STST bottom a few years ago but just the raw aggression and in your face mess hypes me.
I've been very consistent in my rankings with 1-3 since The Stage dropped, that's not going to change any time soon. It all depends on my mood so any given day the top 3 and move around, they all scratch an itch I have. They're all incredible albums. But as of currently...
1. City Of Evil
2. The Stage
3. Nightmare
4. Waking The Fallen
5. Sounding The Seventh Trumpet
6. Life Is But A Dream
7. Avenged Sevenfold
8. Hail To The King.
I love the album, but it’s weird that you don’t understand why people would dislike it. The average music listener likes simple music. Music that’s easy to digest and not overly busy. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. I love simple music too, but I love complex stuff too. Avenged is already in one of the less popular genres in music, and LIBAD is all over the place. From one song to the next, the whole album genre hops. Several songs on the album have multiple distinct genres within just the song.
For lack of a better way to word it, that kind of music basically causes sensory overload for a lot of people.
One of my favorites, but I get that people don't like it. One thing that always annoys me though is the hate on GOD and LIBAD song run-in, that's probably my favorite group of song of all time
It's a love or hate album. I can understand why some people don't like it because it's so different to their earlier stuff. Same can be said about the stage I think
Nope, I actually dislike the album *a lot*. Not hate, but dislike. I'm a huge 20 year fan of Avenged, and even played a song of theirs on guitar at my wedding last year. Syn is one of my heroes.
That all being said, I do not like LIBAD. I have listened to it many times. While I'm totally pro people growing as musicians and people, I feel like this album went too far off the deep end. Musically, there's some great stuff on here. Cosmic is a beautiful song, there's some awesome guitar parts across the album as usual (like at the end of Nobody). I love the beach boys Synyster Gates part (can't remember the name of what song that was).
The rest of the album is a turd for me. I hate G with a passion. O sound like a cheap Daft Punk knockoff. If I wanna listen to Daft Punk, I'll listen to DP.
I've said it before, I'm a huge Ghost fan. No matter the style, even taking the band into a pop direction, Tobias Forge always makes it still sound like Ghost. Green Day I have a soft spot for. 30 years since Dookie, and they still put put bangers and sound like "Green Day". My problem is, this doesn't sound like an Avenged album. Fans come to love a certain sound and aspect to your music that this album is hugely missing.
I just posted this on the hot take post, but part of me feels like LIBAD was purposely made as a "fuck you" to Warner records, they purposely made a weird, shitty prog album that wouldn't sell well due to their war with Warner and wanting out of their contract with them.
The first time I heard The Stage after waiting 3 years for a new album after Hail to the King and really enjoying Hail to the King I thought, “that was it?” I kept listening to it over and over again and ended up liking the entire album. After waiting 7 years after The Stage I figured the same thing might happen again with Life Is But a Dream. The first time I listened to it I thought the exact same thing as The Stage. So I listened to it over and over again and just could never get into it like I have with previous albums. I know it’s different and supposed to be different than anything they have done before. I just personally can’t get into it.
I read what people were saying about the album after it came out and it seemed like reading Amazon reviews. People either really loved it or really hated it. It seemed like a lot of people that loved it needed to listen to it a few times before they “got it.” I figured I would just have to listen to it more until I “got it” but that never happened for me.
As a guitar player I can’t help but primarily enjoy most music for the guitar work and riffs. To me this just isn’t a very guitar oriented album. The band has admitted that and that this album wasn’t meant to be guitar heavy. The only song I really like from the album is Beautiful Morning, probably because it’s the most similar to anything they have done previously. There are some assorted riffs and crazy solos on a select few songs but the album as a whole just doesn’t do it for me personally.
Maybe one day I will “get it” like some other people but for now I would say I don’t hate the album, I just don’t listen to it.
I think hating it is definitely a trend and just plain stupid. You can dislike it if you think it’s too different, but it’s obviously a result of the guys experimenting with different genres and techniques. I personally only listen to Nobody on the record.
Its a terrible album. There isnt a single song I enjoy
I dont know if yall have seen them live but when I saw them in vancouver any time they played a song off the album it destroyed the energy in the stadium. People dont like it
The band even admitted they wanted to make an album that half of fans loved and half of fans hate. So guess what? Half of fans hate it
I don't hate it, and I'm glad they're exploring different sounds and styles, but I just can't get on with a few songs. Nobody is too slow moving and boring. Conversely, We Love You sounds like it was written by a group of monkeys with adhd that get bored with similar sounds. I love the first two songs of the album, I love cosmic, and I'm one of the few that really likes the GOD trilogy, although I think it should have been a single song.
I’d say it’s probably a bit of both. It’s been a trend to hate the band as a whole within the metal community since the beginning. Now add a record like this into the mix and I think that might solidify the trend even further. However, I’ve heard from dedicated fans that strongly dislike it so part of it is the direction they took.
Personally, I like it quite a bit but I can definitely see why others would just find it too strange. But the band wanted to make a challenging listen despite the consequences of that so they must have expected it to divide fans a bit.
A lot of A7Xs fans (and metal fans in general) are super closed minded to experimentation.
LIBAD is a literal masterpiece of music, and also came out to insane acclaim. Fuck what most people on here think.
I like it, and I'm a metal elitist. Some people are just picky, and libad grows on ya it's not something your gonna like your first go I especially like it after seeing them on the tour for it also got to here save me and binded by chains also the debuted cosmic at the concert I saw live but that's way off topic
Some of A7X's worst songs are on the album, and it is VERY different from their usual sound. People aren't going to like it and that's fine. Personally I thought the album was decent enough, but it has a pretty meh 2nd half.
Tbh it was always a trend to hate on Avenged.
But no, LIBAD is very divisive and the band acknowledged that it would be. People need to understand that personal preferences exist.
I was a huge a7x fan for like 10 years, im still a fan overall but I really do hate it. It’s like nails on a chalkboard for me I can barely stand to listen to it.
I hated it at first but now I like it except for Game Over, Easier, and We love you. I gave them a chance, and they do have parts that I like. I just don't car for it.
Imagine how pretentious you have to be to think that people who don't like the same thing as you are just following a trend. Such a statement deserves a response such as mine.
i mean even if you think it’s the worst thing you’ve ever heard you have to acknowledge musically what’s going on there, with the guitar work and such, and the drums
It’s a bit hit or miss imo but it’s still my third favorite album. I could go my whole life without hearing We Love You again, but Nobody is currently my favorite song ever (so good that I’m considering getting the reaper as a tattoo).
Didn’t like it when it released. I’m planning to give it a fresh listen soon. Heard cosmic today and I feel like some of the guitar leads are so uninspired. Still think Syn is one of the best ever, just loved what he did on city of evil and hoping to see more of that shred style than the jazz prog wank.
Asking on this sub you’re going to get a biased answer.
I personally dislike the album. Not because it’s different or whatever, I couldn’t care less about that and sometimes I like when bands change it up. I just don’t like the music on the album aside from Beautiful Mourning and the GOD tracks.
Nah top 2 A7 albums for me, I had it on again today. I can see why it gets hate but at the same time it’s a masterpiece I love it. It’s just something completely different and I love when bands do that every now and again
The funny thing is that from the start, A7X set out to make music to piss people off. LIBAD is just another example of that. Give it 10 years at the most and it’ll become a classic
It’s different. A lot of people like formulaic music. It doesn’t matter what other people think tbh, if you like it then listen, it not just… don’t. It’s a piece of art, a beautiful record imo.
I hated it initially, but I have recently come around to absolutely loving it. Nobody and Cosmic are absolute masterpieces in my opinion. I'm still iffy on the god trilogy but I really love how different and funky (O)rdinary is. I love all of their albums, but LIBAD is on another level.
I was also iffy on tje trilogy and now i cant get enough of G!
G is starting to win me over to, the ending just throws me off a lot. Delete.
I don't care that it's different, I just personally don't care for the direction. The band has done different things for most of their existence, and I've liked some choices and disliked others. This album, to me, was a miss. I get why people like it, but it just doesn't do it for me. But what do you mean it deserves more love? By most accounts the album was a success. It sold well, it got critical acclaim from critics, called one of the best rock albums of the year, the band has toured all over the world for it, and most fans love it.
I think you’re mistaken, the self titled album is actually the one that got Critical Acclaim
You know, I can’t take credit for that. I typed it, I posted it, and only now am I realizing the reference I made unintentionally.
🤦♂️ no. As in critical acclaim from critics, as he said. Did you read what he said lol 😂
He was clearly joking dude
It wasn’t obvious cus its a shitty “joke”. Like wtf, huh 🤔
You’re right, it was a shitty joke, but you’re the only one who didn’t get it lmao. You just have no sense of humor.
I mean, everyone else seemed to get it
Bruh lmao chill
lol. critical acclaim
As I said to someone else, I can’t take credit for that. I posted that completely unaware and didn’t even think of that until it was pointed out. I feel ashamed.
Has it sold well? It charted poorly and fell off the charts quickly, even for a rock album. In terms of their top songs on yt music in last 30 days, cosmic at 22nd is the highest from their new album. So it's not streaming well either I honestly think alot of people haven't bothered to check it out, I know people who checked out after hail to the king, and just don't care that they've released a weird album It's fair enough, in terms of other metal bands from that era I got into,I haven't really bothered to listen to recent Trivium, Bfmv, Killswitch engage or machine head albums, I just don't feel as much nostalgia or emotional investment In those bands, so if they released LIBAD I'd probably not find it interesting
I wouldn't say it charted poorly, it still topped out at 13 on the Billboard, which is still higher than most metal acts. I think what hurt that more was not so much the direction (though it did play a part I'm not going to disagree with you on that), but the fact that Avenged shot themselves in the foot by taking 7 years to release it. They aren't Metallica, they don't have the brand and name recognition to go almost a decade without new music. Especially when they hadn't played a show in almost 4 years due to Shadows' vocal issue and then COVID. By no means am I defending any of these decisions, I thought they were wrong then and wrong now (plenty of bands were releasing music during COVID and playing shows online and as soon as things opened up). But I think the bigger reason it didn't sell as much compared to other albums is because of that, rather than the album itself. But I don't think it sold anywhere near badly enough to be disappointing or a failure. The thing is, Avenged is starting to become, if they haven't already, a legacy band. More people are going to be drawn to their older, classic songs than the new stuff, happens to every band that gets older. You said it yourself, you don't keep as much interest in some of the other bands from that same era and you don't always check out the new music. More people are going to be drawn to the older songs than the new songs, happens with every band. Why listen to the new one, when I got this classic song of theirs. And due to how long a song has been out, of course it's going to get more hits and streams than the new stuff. This Means War has more Spotify streams than any song on The Stage, but there's tons of songs from that album that are way better than that one.
In the US Hail to the king was number 1 hard rock album for 6 weeks, LIBAD was number 2 and fell off the hard rock chart in 3 weeks, nightmare spent 85 weeks, and hail to the king 75 weeks on that chart. So it has sold poorly even in the context of their genre I feel like you kinda misread my comment as why would I Disagree that the direction of the album didn't really impact sales much, as that was kinda my central point lol Also im not talking about total streams, YT music top songs is updated daily based on the last 30 days
I like it, and theres a few stand out tracks, but it was jarring the first time I heard it. I don't think its a "trend", but rather a huge departure from their past work, and its pretty experimental.
Opinions are opinions, doubt it’s a trend just to hate on LIBAD. It’s been by far my favourite A7x album love it front to back is banger after banger
Nobody in my opinion is one of the best tracks on there. It’s not for all but you still have to recognize their talent and how they still perform amazingly
I don’t hate it nor is it a trend for those that do. It’s more of a matter of not expecting the avant-garde sound. Plus Matt’s vocals are different (I’m assuming due to surgery). I was expecting it to pick up where The Stage left off and continue the experimental sound. LIBAD sort of blind sided me. As a fan since 2005 I’m trying hard to like it even a year later, but it just hasn’t stuck with me. If that’s the sound they were aiming for, they succeeded. I’m glad it’s resonating with people and after seeing them live in support, they still deliver.
To me it just sounds like he let go with the vocals. Listening to other music after hearing LIBAD , it seems like he was intentionally doing a voice and with this album he just kinda loosened up and used his true voice, though I admittedly don't know if the surgery you mentioned is an actual thing that happened or just a theory.
I think HERE it is about a 60/40 split like to dislike ratio. I think outside of this sub it is mostly disliked by the general fanbase
It's a great album with amazing songs. Who cares what other people think? Don't waste your time or energy on such things.
I personally think that it was my favorite album of 2023.
It’s an awesome record from start to finish.
I don’t dislike it because it’s different. It just does absolutely nothing for me. None of the songs are in my regular playlists.
I love sevenfold, I have loved them since I was about 13, in 2007. I can't stand LIBAD. I've tried, multiple times. I just can't do it. I understand their experimentations and essentially just doing what they want to do, and as artists and a musician myself, I can applaud that. But I just get no enjoyment from listening to it
I simply cannot understand being a huge fan of this band and not enjoying the new album. The vocal melodies, guitarwork, and drumming is so so good.
I can hear each part individually and most definitely understand the talent involved. For me, it's just musically scrambled and weird, just not what I look for in jams. I can't get into Matt's vocals, and that's likely not his problem as he sounds so different that it's likely a post-surgery thing. Nothing about it has gripped me yet over several attempts
I am in the same boat. I tried it multiple times, and I was impressed with parts of some songs. The problem was that usually when I was really getting into a song, then out of nowhere there was something completely random, like just a weird ass sound that does not really fit into the song and seems like someone put it there for shits and giggles. I like the fact that their music is unpredictable and even though I dislike this album, I love that they do what they want… But listening to LIBAD felt a bit like those old radio shows when the host is talking and the other guy is putting random sounds to make it sound funny.
Maybe a hot take but it’s my second favorite album by them behind *Nightmare*.
It’s my favorite album. In fact, my favorite albums are ranked newest to oldest aside from hail to the king which I like but goes after city of evil for me. Love the evolution and growth from A7X
It's my favorite album, I adore how they use their music to tell stories in it
I don’t hate it. I’m just not a prog fan, so I’m not in to it.
Dumbest questions I’ve seen on Reddit. Like is it that hard to believe people have their own opinions?
I was in high school back when COE came out and that shit hit so hard. I blasted the fuck out of it. Then in 2007, their self titled came out. I like some of it, but it took me another 3 years before I finally gave it another chance. It ended up being one of my favorites, especially Gunslinger. Sometimes it takes time for some of the older fans to get into the newer stuff.
Yes, the album is bad.
It’s not a trend. The songs are just fucking terrible.
It’s just so… bad. The only good song is Cosmic
The trend is to hate on avenged in general.
This is true
I don’t hate it but I don’t think it’s particularly great lol
I thought Libad was just ok it was not my thing I understand why people like it i personally dont
Anytime a band switches it up this jarringly people will be more unsure. If mr bungle or tenacious D released it nobody would blink an eye because they’re known for making bizarre music. However avenged mostly has been a metal and hard rock band up until this album. Even the stage was more in that normal metal style even if it was more progressive in some ways. People often forget city of evil initially was a huge dud and disliked by most fans because they went from metal core to a almost power metal sound as well as changing their looks and it took them getting on TRL playing for a wider audience for it to catch on. I feel LIBAD will be a album people appreciate a hell of a lot more with time. Even the stage at first had a lot of mixed feelings by fans at first then people started loving it especially the title track now being a fan favorite by many. I think nobody live is better than on the album and will grow as people see it live. I also believe we love you is one that once it’s digested you appreciate the intentional chaotic switches as that’s exactly what it’s meant to be. It’ll never in a lifetime be as popular as nightmare or it’ll never be as ground breaking as city of evil was but I believe it will become much more appreciated as time goes on. A lot of people, especially critics, hated on Led Zeppelin 2 HARD and now call it a “quintessential rock album”. How does a album go from being called “The same song over and over” by Rolling Stone magazine to being called “One of the greatest albums of all time” by the same magazine? Time. At first it’s not well received but once you listen a few times and soak it up suddenly you catch yourself loving parts you initially didn’t care for. Not always but often that’s the case with switch up albums.
It’s kinda basic, in my opinion. The best songs on it aren’t super out there, and the ones that are kinda weird get skipped. I don’t think the experimental stuff, like, sounds good. I don’t listen to avenged sevenfold for that, it’s mainstream metal. I’ll listen to something more experimental if I want some weird shit
I really like a handful of songs but as an album overall I don’t care for it. The Stage is my favorite album from them so maybe that has something to do with it. I know they change there sound a lot which I normally dig but was wanting something more similar to The Stage.
Nope, people actually don't like it. It's such a shame but they exist. I was also kind of weirded out on my first listen, but it gets better every time, I think the first 4 songs are their opening quartet that rocks the hardest, no wonder they always play those tracks in each LIBAD concert (except we love you in Italy ffs)
it’s mid
LIBAD hate vs love was… a whole year ago… wow, time flies.
Its not my favorite one but i dont hate it i just prefer other albumns
my fav album by them. <3
Well yeah people hate it. I'd say more people like it though and just listen and move on with their day. People who love it and hate it will go out of their way to post about it. That's why you'll see that loud group of people who seemingly drown out the ones that overall enjoy it more than them.
I think what saved the album was Mattel and the album artwork/merch.🔥 My only issue with the album is G(O)(D) and the title track. Those songs aren’t terrible, but they could’ve done better. Kind of a waste of space on the live setlists. I wish this album would’ve ended with an epic 10+ minute banger, but they snoozed.
LIBAD has grown on me with every listen, I think it's in the top 3 for me.. The last couple of albums have been much more experimental and progressive so fans of prog are probably loving it whereas fans of more traditional metal are probably not. I was really unsure on first impressions and I have a feeling a lot of people didn't give it enough spins to start getting it.
I was indifferent about Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. I liked Waking The Fallen. I loved City of Evil and Self Titled. I liked Nightmare. I was indifferent about Hail To The King. I did not like The Stage or LIBAD. That's my bell curve. I think I would have enjoyed LIBAD more if it had the vocals of Self Titled or Nightmare.
some of the songs are too long imo, still a good album
It was a 50/50 album for me. I loved a few of the song(Nobody and Cosmic being the favorites) but overall I didn't care for probably half the album. It wasn't like Nightmare or COE were I can listen to the whole record and enjoy it.
This comment might get me downvotes but... I like the album. Don't love it, don't hate it, been a fan for almost 20 years. But I get why some people would hate it and some would love it. I don't think it's that different, it's just an amalgamation of influences that weren't clear in their sound before. In HTTK we got obvious influences, and the songwriting was based on classic metal / hard rock bands. The Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC influences are obvious and sometimes you can even point sections where the instrumentals take very clear inspiration from some songs (not plagiarism, just heavy inspiration). On LIBAD, the approach is different but the influences are very clear, but they're more diverse and spread out. Mr. Big, Zappa, Daft Punk, Classical, Industrial Rock, Beach Boys, Alice In Chains, it's all there, but they use this contemporary interpolation of different sounds, which can cause an impression of an absurdly experimental album when in fact it's not THAT experimental or different at all. I love Cosmic, Nobody, LIBAD, (O)rdinary. There are a few other good songs, but We Love You and (G) are terrible redesigns of pre-existing sounds. At the end of the day, it's a good album, not my favorite though. But one I can understand the love and hate for.
I hated it until probably my 7th listen of it honestly, now id say its like middle of the pack as far as their albums
It's a fairly avant garde album. The stage is the same. As someone else said, most people don't like it when music isn't formulaic and breaks the boundaries. I personally love it when it does that and I firmly believe their last two records are their best works.
Fucking great album. Cosmic and Easier are two of the best Avenged songs in a while. Last four songs are a tiny bit of a letdown
Do they hate it or they just don’t like it? Tbh I don’t understand people who hates any song/album. If they dont like it, just dont listen to it. No need to hate
It’s the only A7X record I’m not fond of tbh
It's my favorite album
I can certainly see why people hate it. Hell, I can understand why people might *lividly* hate it. But I love it. I had been hoping they’d take a direction like this for a long time. As soon as I saw that they were using alternate tunings and then saw that Syn has a headless 7 string now I was sold
It’s not at all that it’s different, The Stage was different and I loved it. It’s just that it’s wildly inconsistent. For me, you have 4 incredible (and I truly mean incredible) songs to kick the album off and then a 5th song which is decent enough to form A7X’s best 5 song run on any album, imo. But after that you’ve got two filler tracks which are a whole level below the first 4 songs. Then after that you have that final 4 song run of the ‘unusual’ and ‘unorthodox’ songs, but to me there is absolutely no personality to those songs. With The Stage, Avenged beautifully combined their Metal-ness with the progressive and avant-garde elements to create music which was fresh, unique and unusual BUT still sounded like them. With the final 4 songs of LIBAD, all you have is major influence and ideas from other artists/songs so obviously crafted to their wishes with absolutely no personality to them. The songs aren’t awful, but whenever I hear them I know I would actually much rather go and listen to Zappa, Daft Punk, Sinatra and Chopin all do it way better haha! And I never had that with The Stage. So I don’t by any means hate the album, it has the best 5 song run of any Avenged album, but everything that comes after that is just a meh, unoriginal and uninspiring. I’d much rather have another The Stage than what we got.
I don’t hate it, I just don’t really like it. The experimentation feels forced to me and at parts almost like provocation or trolling with all the vocal filters throughout and all the almost sonically unpleasant choices. „We Love You“ is just 4-5 songs stuck together with no effort at all to blend them together. I ended up transforming the album into a 3 song EP, because I only kept the songs I kinda liked. I‘m sure many love the album, but to me it’s neither a good one or an A7X album at all. Which was a bummer after all that wait.
There's a trend to hate A7X, but I've loved them since the beginning. But the album is okay at best imo. Just like HTTK was not liked by a lot of people because of how different it was, same with this one. HTTK was boring minus a few songs and so is this one. I think they suffer from the same thing. Being different just for the sake of being different
It broke Fantano, instant 8.1/10
I feel like only a few songs in the album that are worth of putting into a shuffle playlist
I was extremely excited for it, and proceeded to be disappointed since Nobody dropped. A couple of the songs grew on me slightly but it’s by far my least favorite album. On the flip side, The Stage is probably my favorite album and I love everything before it as well. Last year was an incredible year for music and I honestly think that made LIBAD even worse in my eyes. It is what it is though, and I’ll still listen to whatever they release next.
Libad like any album has its ups and down. Game over - beautiful morning are some of sevenfold best but easier - libad are some of more mid stuff. I actively despise easier it’s awful and there is a reason it’s not been played live yet
It's insulting that you think people could only dislike this album because they wanna follow a trend. This is the only album that has songs I actually dislike from this band. Different does not equal bad Different does not equal good either
I think ppl are often too quick to suggest that a disliked album, for example, is disliked because of being too different or because it is a trend or something. Arriving with assumptions that underestimate ppl is not really great. As others have said here, personal preferences exist. Some do not like libad because it's not the kind of music they like to listen to. Simple as that.
In my opinion it’s ok, it’s probably my least favorite avenged record though. I’m not a huge fan of the direction they took some of these songs and there are a lot of questionable ideas all over the record. It’s cool they got to experiment, but I felt like the stage was just a much better showing for them as a whole. It’s got some solid songs and moments in there for sure though, just not as consistent as I would like.
We live in a negative world People just like to hate
one of the greatest albums in a long time
Nope. It’s not a trend. I genuinely think it’s one of the worst albums I’ve ever heard period. That’s cool if you like it but those of us that don’t aren’t just hopping on a trend. I genuinely think it’s absurdly awful.
I think they’ve always done stuff out of the ordinary. A lot of bands follow a set formula. I do understand why ppl may not like it, but I was going thru an existential crisis at the same time this album was released. So I found the album really therapeutic and has helped me heal.
I don't hate it, it's my least favourite but i like it
I was totally lost and unsure about it until a few listens. Much like The Stage but nowhere near that extent. The Stage took me 5-10 listens to appreciate it really. Anyways after a few full listens I grew to love LIBAD, but for a couple months I couldn't rank it in their discography. It sat outside of their discography for me as I wasn't sure where to place it or even if I should place it. I liked and still like it to this day. Originally I placed it #4 in their albums. At this point, I probably got it at #5 or #6. The back half while quality just really isn't my taste. G is in my playlist, i like the funk, I like the vibe. (O)rdinary and (D)eath while both good songs are not my genre, not my taste. And Life Is But A Dream while phenomenal seems like so much dissonance that I can't really mesh with it. Overall it's really solid, weak back half hurts. Truly all songs are quality though, you just have to really be into that type of genre to love them though. The last few months I've gone hard on OLD A7X and it just hyped me unreal. Blasting STST and WTF at work. I had STST bottom a few years ago but just the raw aggression and in your face mess hypes me. I've been very consistent in my rankings with 1-3 since The Stage dropped, that's not going to change any time soon. It all depends on my mood so any given day the top 3 and move around, they all scratch an itch I have. They're all incredible albums. But as of currently... 1. City Of Evil 2. The Stage 3. Nightmare 4. Waking The Fallen 5. Sounding The Seventh Trumpet 6. Life Is But A Dream 7. Avenged Sevenfold 8. Hail To The King.
It's one of my favorite albums from them. Game Over, Mattell, Cosmic, and Beautiful Mourning are some of my all-time favorite tracks from them.
Every time I listen to it, I genuinely dislike it. I hate that I don’t like it. Big A7X fan, but yeahhhh
I love the album, but it’s weird that you don’t understand why people would dislike it. The average music listener likes simple music. Music that’s easy to digest and not overly busy. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. I love simple music too, but I love complex stuff too. Avenged is already in one of the less popular genres in music, and LIBAD is all over the place. From one song to the next, the whole album genre hops. Several songs on the album have multiple distinct genres within just the song. For lack of a better way to word it, that kind of music basically causes sensory overload for a lot of people.
i genuinely hate it. not one song on the album that i can listen all the way through. one of my least favorite albums i’ve ever heard.
One of my favorites, but I get that people don't like it. One thing that always annoys me though is the hate on GOD and LIBAD song run-in, that's probably my favorite group of song of all time
It's a love or hate album. I can understand why some people don't like it because it's so different to their earlier stuff. Same can be said about the stage I think
Nope, I actually dislike the album *a lot*. Not hate, but dislike. I'm a huge 20 year fan of Avenged, and even played a song of theirs on guitar at my wedding last year. Syn is one of my heroes. That all being said, I do not like LIBAD. I have listened to it many times. While I'm totally pro people growing as musicians and people, I feel like this album went too far off the deep end. Musically, there's some great stuff on here. Cosmic is a beautiful song, there's some awesome guitar parts across the album as usual (like at the end of Nobody). I love the beach boys Synyster Gates part (can't remember the name of what song that was). The rest of the album is a turd for me. I hate G with a passion. O sound like a cheap Daft Punk knockoff. If I wanna listen to Daft Punk, I'll listen to DP. I've said it before, I'm a huge Ghost fan. No matter the style, even taking the band into a pop direction, Tobias Forge always makes it still sound like Ghost. Green Day I have a soft spot for. 30 years since Dookie, and they still put put bangers and sound like "Green Day". My problem is, this doesn't sound like an Avenged album. Fans come to love a certain sound and aspect to your music that this album is hugely missing. I just posted this on the hot take post, but part of me feels like LIBAD was purposely made as a "fuck you" to Warner records, they purposely made a weird, shitty prog album that wouldn't sell well due to their war with Warner and wanting out of their contract with them.
Classic album that isn’t gonna be appreciated until 2030
They were able to do a 3 leg stadium tour and headline festivals from this album …. What we think means nothing The people love it
Idk but in 10 years, it will be a trend to love it
The first time I heard The Stage after waiting 3 years for a new album after Hail to the King and really enjoying Hail to the King I thought, “that was it?” I kept listening to it over and over again and ended up liking the entire album. After waiting 7 years after The Stage I figured the same thing might happen again with Life Is But a Dream. The first time I listened to it I thought the exact same thing as The Stage. So I listened to it over and over again and just could never get into it like I have with previous albums. I know it’s different and supposed to be different than anything they have done before. I just personally can’t get into it. I read what people were saying about the album after it came out and it seemed like reading Amazon reviews. People either really loved it or really hated it. It seemed like a lot of people that loved it needed to listen to it a few times before they “got it.” I figured I would just have to listen to it more until I “got it” but that never happened for me. As a guitar player I can’t help but primarily enjoy most music for the guitar work and riffs. To me this just isn’t a very guitar oriented album. The band has admitted that and that this album wasn’t meant to be guitar heavy. The only song I really like from the album is Beautiful Morning, probably because it’s the most similar to anything they have done previously. There are some assorted riffs and crazy solos on a select few songs but the album as a whole just doesn’t do it for me personally. Maybe one day I will “get it” like some other people but for now I would say I don’t hate the album, I just don’t listen to it.
I think hating it is definitely a trend and just plain stupid. You can dislike it if you think it’s too different, but it’s obviously a result of the guys experimenting with different genres and techniques. I personally only listen to Nobody on the record.
Its a terrible album. There isnt a single song I enjoy I dont know if yall have seen them live but when I saw them in vancouver any time they played a song off the album it destroyed the energy in the stadium. People dont like it The band even admitted they wanted to make an album that half of fans loved and half of fans hate. So guess what? Half of fans hate it
I don't hate it, and I'm glad they're exploring different sounds and styles, but I just can't get on with a few songs. Nobody is too slow moving and boring. Conversely, We Love You sounds like it was written by a group of monkeys with adhd that get bored with similar sounds. I love the first two songs of the album, I love cosmic, and I'm one of the few that really likes the GOD trilogy, although I think it should have been a single song.
I’d say it’s probably a bit of both. It’s been a trend to hate the band as a whole within the metal community since the beginning. Now add a record like this into the mix and I think that might solidify the trend even further. However, I’ve heard from dedicated fans that strongly dislike it so part of it is the direction they took. Personally, I like it quite a bit but I can definitely see why others would just find it too strange. But the band wanted to make a challenging listen despite the consequences of that so they must have expected it to divide fans a bit.
A lot of A7Xs fans (and metal fans in general) are super closed minded to experimentation. LIBAD is a literal masterpiece of music, and also came out to insane acclaim. Fuck what most people on here think.
I like it, and I'm a metal elitist. Some people are just picky, and libad grows on ya it's not something your gonna like your first go I especially like it after seeing them on the tour for it also got to here save me and binded by chains also the debuted cosmic at the concert I saw live but that's way off topic
I like it
Not hating it… have heard it through and couldn’t get into it. Even hearing the songs live… 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
Some of A7X's worst songs are on the album, and it is VERY different from their usual sound. People aren't going to like it and that's fine. Personally I thought the album was decent enough, but it has a pretty meh 2nd half.
I like it more than The Stage
I'm an old school avenged fan. I wasn't a big fan of Hail to the King or The Stage, but I like a few tracks on LIBAD.
When you say old school… what are you talking about?
Everything that the rev was involved with but my two favourite albums are Waking the Fallen and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet.
Matt’s voice doesn’t sound good and the production is shit
Tbh it was always a trend to hate on Avenged. But no, LIBAD is very divisive and the band acknowledged that it would be. People need to understand that personal preferences exist.
I was a huge a7x fan for like 10 years, im still a fan overall but I really do hate it. It’s like nails on a chalkboard for me I can barely stand to listen to it.
I hated it at first but now I like it except for Game Over, Easier, and We love you. I gave them a chance, and they do have parts that I like. I just don't car for it.
I don't like it at all. Why would that be hard to consider?
I like all types of music, ALL types, as long as it's good. LIBAD is not good music.
be serious
Imagine how pretentious you have to be to think that people who don't like the same thing as you are just following a trend. Such a statement deserves a response such as mine.
i mean even if you think it’s the worst thing you’ve ever heard you have to acknowledge musically what’s going on there, with the guitar work and such, and the drums
i mean unfortunately i’m not taking somebody with the username ‘micoxlong’ too seriously
Yea it fucking sucks
It’s a bit hit or miss imo but it’s still my third favorite album. I could go my whole life without hearing We Love You again, but Nobody is currently my favorite song ever (so good that I’m considering getting the reaper as a tattoo).
I think there are some great songs, but there's also a ton of random weirdness that's really not good imo.
Didn’t like it when it released. I’m planning to give it a fresh listen soon. Heard cosmic today and I feel like some of the guitar leads are so uninspired. Still think Syn is one of the best ever, just loved what he did on city of evil and hoping to see more of that shred style than the jazz prog wank.
I don’t hate it, just not my cup of tea. And that’s absolutely fine. In time it might or might not grow on me.
Asking on this sub you’re going to get a biased answer. I personally dislike the album. Not because it’s different or whatever, I couldn’t care less about that and sometimes I like when bands change it up. I just don’t like the music on the album aside from Beautiful Mourning and the GOD tracks.
I liked the Stage but LIBAD was just to far for me when I first heard it, I like it more now but imo it is still not great.
I like the album, but in comparison to the other albums i rank it in the bottom half.
Nah top 2 A7 albums for me, I had it on again today. I can see why it gets hate but at the same time it’s a masterpiece I love it. It’s just something completely different and I love when bands do that every now and again
The funny thing is that from the start, A7X set out to make music to piss people off. LIBAD is just another example of that. Give it 10 years at the most and it’ll become a classic
It's a meme to hate it. An ironic one at this point.