Avenged:
less solos
By
Brian Spiegel
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
Warner Brothers Records released Avenged Sevenfold’s new album, “City
of Evil,” over summer 2005. Although the band, that originated in Huntington
Beach, has released two previous albums under an indie label, this is its first
major label production.
Warner Brothers describes the album as “an 11 -song collection that gives
a middle finger to the idea of categorization.” However, a great album
requires more than just major label backing.
It is always debatable what makes a good song great. Maybe production by Brian
Eno or Daniel Lenois will take it up a notch. Drums by Dave Grohl of the Foo
Fighters can make any song a winner.
Avenged Sevenfold, on the other hand, has found a way to make good songs weaker.
The secret: guitar solos. Tons of guitar solos—by the barrel full—bought
in bulk from Price Club. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with guitar
solos, you just have to know how to use them.
For example: Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver’s axe-man Slash
knows how to keep a guitar solo within context and not wear the listener out.
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame used different
inputs and the occasional allen-wrench to make his solos artistically intriguing.
The problem with “City of Evil” is that Avenged Sevenfold has a
great formula; they only clutter it with solos and repeated choruses. “Bat
Country,” an ode to Gonzo journalism Hunter S. Thomson, and the band’s
first radio single, is fast and catchy.
But after the initial rush, it lags
following a guitar solo and unnecessary calming of the chorus. It is not that
the song falls apart, it is just about a minute too long. It’s like driving
80 mph in your car and then making your way slowly through a bottle neck.
Without regard to the solos the band’s songs are catchy. Less abrasive
than their rivals in Atreyu (which could either be a good thing or a bad thing,
depending on your opinion) the band sets up a playful feel with their “throw-in-the-kitchen-sink” opening
of “The Beast and the Harlot” and the quick pace feel of the split
second guitars and double-pedal drums of “Burn It Down.”
All this is why Avenged Sevenfold may be the next great white hope of the record
industry and the first hardcore band to break big. Let’s just try and
control the guitar solos people.
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