Song: "Welcome To The Family"
Artist: Avenged Sevenfold
Album: "Nightmare"
Year: 2010
Place Of Origin: Huntington Beach, California
Years Active: 1999 - present
WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:
Here's what the band had to say about "Welcome To The Family". "We have a song, “Welcome to the Family” — we realized for the first time in our lives that people go through this every day around the world. There is someone very close to them that they’re losing, every day. That song is, We know how you’re feeling. Welcome to our lives. That was a really heartfelt song that was written out, it’s a song that Jimmy actually came to us with musically, and I’m pretty sure he actually said “welcome to the family” when he demoed it out. And then we wrote the lyrics and made it what it is now." There ya go! I can't say it any better than the guys that wrote the song!!
AVENGED SEVENFOLD DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):
2001 - Sounding The Seventh Trumpet (Good Life Records)
* did not chart on the Billboard 200
2003 - Waking The Fallen (Hopeless Records)
* #10 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2005 - City Of Evil (Warner Bros. Records)
* #30 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum
2007 - Avenged Sevenfold (Warner Bros. Records)
* #4 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2008 - Diamonds In The Rough (Warner Bros. Records)
* #24 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum
2010 - Nightmare (Warner Bros. Records)
* #1 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2013 - Hail To The King (Warner Bros. Records)
* #1 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2016 - The Stage (Capitol Records)
* #4 on the Billboard 200
2017 - Live At The Grammy Museum (Capitol Records)
* did not chart on Billboard 200
MY THOUGHTS ON AVENGED SEVENFOLD:
When Avenged Sevenfold formed as a band back in 1999, they were very much a metalcore outfit. That style would be prevalent on their first two albums and though they did have some success with their sophomore album, 2003's "Waking The Fallen", it was their third album, 2005's "City Of Evil" which really propelled Avenged Sevenfold on the musical path to stardom. This album was their first release on a major label, Warner Bros., and it was also the first album that saw their style shift from metalcore to more of a heavy metal/hard rock sound. The screaming, gutteral vocals were a thing of the past at this point and hit singles like "Bat Country" and "Beast And The Harlot" made "City Of Evil" their very first platinum selling album. This was the beginning of a major run for Avenged Sevenfold as their next four album releases charted in the top 4, while three of them have been certified gold by the RIAA. Though success has followed the band since 2003, all was not great for the band. On December 28, 2009, their longtime drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan passed away. The tragedy nearly caused the band to break up. Thankfully, the guys soldiered on and used The Rev's memory as inspiration to continue making music. The band's most recent release was an EP in 2018 titled "Black Reign". Avenged Sevenfold is a really good band. They kinda get a little bit of shit because they have walked in heavy metal circles as well as punk rock circles. Evidence of that is that they were regulars on the punk rock Warped Tours, yet they just as easily fill the bill when they've played the metal Ozzfest. The genre jumping has sometimes led people to criticize the band for not being "metal" enough or not being "punk". I say, who gives a shit?!! I'll be honest, I'm not a really big metal guy. I am much more punk rock than metal and I actually got introduced to Avenged Sevenfold through punk rock circles. Now, to be honest, the first time I heard Avenged Sevenfold was their "Waking The Fallen" album. That metalcore sound really didn't do it for me as i'm not a big fan of that type of music. Luckily, I gave the boys another chance and "City Of Evil" got me hooked no doubt. The band's follow up album to "City Of Evil", 2007's self-titled "Avenged Sevenfold" is my favorite album by the band but really from "City Of Evil" on, all of the albums have been really good. Vocalist M. Shadows is much better now that he doesn't sound like a "Grover" vocalist. To each his own, and I do still listen to bands that do clean and dirty vocals but, I'm kinda getting sick of the gutteral screaming. I find the vocalist all sound the same when they do that. I'll take clean vocals, or vocals that are scratchy or raspy but i'm kinda done with dudes that sound like Cookie Monster!! The band also features a dual guitar attack that is reminiscent of early 80's metal acts like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Guitarists Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance often incorporate harmonizing guitar solos in Avenged Sevenfold's songs that harken back to those two legendary metal acts. All in all, for modern heavy metal/hard rock bands, Avenged Sevenfold is definitely a top tier act and the good news for fans of the band is that it appears the boys are hard at work on a brand new album which hopefully will see the light some time in 2020.
SIMILAR ARTISTS:
Bullet For My Valentine
Atreyu
Stone Sour
Breaking Benjamin
Three Days Grace
TEN AVENGED SEVENFOLD SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:
1. Dear God
2. Beast And The Harlot
3. The Stage
4. Afterlife
5. St. James
6. So Far Away
7. Carry On
8. Almost Easy
9. Unholy Confessions
10. Hail To The King
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