Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold (2007)

Avenged Sevenfold is a Heavy Metal/Metalcore (early works)/Hard Rock band from Huntington Beach, California. They formed in 1999 and consisted of M. Shadows (Vocals, real name is Matthew Sanders), Synyster Gates (Lead Guitar, real name is Brian Haner Jr.), Zacky Vengeance (Rhythm Guitar, real name is Zachary Baker), Johnny Christ (Bass, real name is Jonathan Seward), and until December 28, 2009, The Rev (Drums, real name James Sullivan). They are currently signed to Warner Brothers Records and are working on their fifth album, with Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy as their drummer, as he was The Rev's favorite drummer.

Avenged Sevenfold's fourth full length album "Avenged Sevenfold" was the last album to feature The Rev. It debuted at #4 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album consists of ten tracks which include "Critical Acclaim", "Almost Easy", "Scream", "Afterlife", "Gunslinger", "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", "Brompton Cocktail", "Lost", "A Little Piece of Heaven", and "Dear God". The album has also had three tracks released through the game Rock Band (those being "Almost Easy" as an on disc song for Rock Band 2, and "Critical Acclaim" and "Afterlife" available as downloads). The album starts off with a heavy hitter, that being "Critical Acclaim". It starts with, of all things, and Organ solo (played by M. Shadows) before Synyster comes in with short guitar introduction before Zacky Vengance comes in and harmonizes with him. The tracks themselves vary, some are slow, others fast paced, one has M. Shadows being auto-tuned (the track "Lost"), a few have orchestra sections, others have female vocals, and some sound like a country song. The album overall was quite good, not as good as Waking the Fallen or City of Evil, but still good.

Overall, the album was good from start to finish, but some of the songs seemed out of place, and the auto-tuning of M. Shadows seemed unnecessary. If you're into Guns n Roses, Pantera, Metallica, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, Bullet for My Valentine, 36 Crazy Fists, and Atreyu, you should check the album out. The album was released on October 30, 2007 and is available on Amazon and iTunes.

Overall Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0

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Quiet Riot - Metal Health (1983)

Most of you have probably heard of Quiet Riot, but incase you haven't, they were a 4 piece Heavy Metal band that formed in 1973. Their last line-up consisted of Kevin DuBrow (Vocals), Carlos Cavazo (Guitar), Rudy Sarzo (Bass), and Frankie Banali (Drums). Their most famous guitarist, Randy Rhoads, died in 1982 in a plane crash, while their founding vocalist, Kevin DuBrow, died in 2007 as a result of a Cocaine overdose, the band then spilt in 2008 as a result of his death. Their last album was signed to Chavis Records, while their album Metal Health was signed to Epic Records. And now to the review.

Metal Health was Quiet Riot's first album not to feature Randy Rhoads. After their album Quiet Riot II, he left to go join Ozzy Osbourne's band, and as mentioned before, died in a plane crash in 1982. The album consists of 10 tracks including "Metal Health", "Cum on Feel the Noize", "Don't Wanna Let You Go", "Slick Black Cadillac", "Love's a Bitch", "Breathless", "Run For Cover", "Battle Axe", "Let's Get Crazy", and "Thunderbird", which was a tribute song to Randy Rhoads. As I listened to this album, the first two tracks themselves, everyone has listened to these at some point, while the rest of the album I hardly ever heard of before. After the first two tracks, the quality of the tracks began to fade. It almost got hard to listen to after the first two tracks. (mind you, this is an album that has gone 6 times Platinum, and is one of the reasons that Metal went main stream). But some of the tracks stuck out as more arena rock type songs, those being Slick Black Cadillac, Run for Cover, and Let's Get Crazy. The one ballad on the album, Thunderbird, actually makes sense when you think about it, as it was about Randy Rhoads. There was also an instrumental track on the album, that being Battle Axe, which consisted of a bunch of scales and arpeggios. It was a great album in the beginning, a semi-decent album in the middle, and an okay album by the end.

Overall, this is one of Quiet Riot's most famous albums with two of their most famous songs on it. If you've ever heard Metal Health or Cum on Feel the Noize, then you should have this album. I'd recommend it to you if you're into Hair Metal more than Heavy Metal, cause it takes on a Hair Metal feel, also if you're into Arena Rock, you should check this out. It was released on February 8, 1983, and is available on Amazon and iTunes.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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