While Avenged Sevenfold is no doubt a good band, it appears that they may have peaked in terms of their mainstream popularity. Well, I guess you could doubt their goodness but that would end up in an argument over the value of their worth that will likely never be resolved.

What do I mean by this? Well, it seems that after the mainstream explosion of City of Evil there has been a building backlash against them, the same that happens to pretty much any band/artist/film that gets too big too fast. It is through no fault of their own, it is just the nature of the beast. To their credit, Avenged Sevenfold charges forth with their die hard fans, and that is definitely who this set is aimed at.

I was one of the millions who discovered them with City of Evil. I absolutely love that album. I went back and picked up Waking the Fallen and found I loved that as well, it was a distinctly different sound but you can see the logical progression that City of Evil was. I have also gone and listened to Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, which is also a solid album, pretty much in line with Waking the Fallen.

That brings me to their self-titled album that was released in 2007. I have to say that I felt let down with it. I was hoping for something along the quality of City of Evil following the progression begun with Waking. What I found was an album that had some good moments but felt a bit rushed and too much along the same ground as City of Evil. Now, with some time between its release and now, my views have softened somewhat and while it will never be my favorite, it is not all that bad.

Those softening feelings have been helped along with this two-disk release. This covers the band on two fronts: their charismatic live show and their quality leftovers from the studio. Whether you want live stuff or more new tunes, this will fill the bill for any A7X fan.

The set begins with a 75-minute live set shot April 10, 2008 at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, CA. This set makes up the Live in the LBC side of the package and it shows the band in fine form as they rip through their set, comprised almost exclusively of tunes from their last two albums. Only one song comes from the first two releases in the form of "Unholy Confessions" from Waking the Fallen.

Article Author: Chris Beaumont

Christopher Beaumont spends much of his time writing about music and movies when he isn't indulging in them. He is always ready to talk about his favorite form of entertainment and offer up recommendations. Follow: Twitter and Tumblr. Visit: Critical Outcast. …

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