Must Buy: Avenged Sevenfold Live in the LBC/Diamonds in the Rough

If you think Avenged Sevenfold suck, you are wrong.

If you think Avenged Sevenfold are devoid of songwriting talent, you are wrong.

If you think Avenged Sevenfold put on a boring live show, you are wrong.

Just last week the California rockers released Live in the LBC/Diamonds in the Rough. The DVD/CD package chronicles the bands headline appearance on the 2007 Taste of Chaos tour. That's the LBC part. As you can imagine, the DVD chronicles the band's live Taste of Chaos stop in Long Beach, California. Diamonds in the Rough is some rare, previously unreleased tracks. 

I saw Taste of Chaos 2007, so it is pretty cool to own a professionally shot DVD of the show. All the famous A7X songs are here including  "Afterlife," "Beast and the Harlot," "Critical Acclaim," "Gunslinger" and my favorite "Unholy Confessions."

A word about "Unholy Confessions:" I think this may be the most perfect Metal song of the entire decade. Of course we've got a couple years left - but it's going to take a lot to beat "Unholy Confessions" in my mind. If you're not familiar with the song, it's on the studio recording Waking the Fallen.

Live in the LBC  has great sound and beautiful cinematography.  I love the camera pans and all the different stage angles. The band looks beautiful in every light! Even more impressive is just how tight their live presence is on this DVD. I remember being impressed while at Taste of Chaos - but seeing the show again makes me even more appreciative of the band's skill - especially when it comes to intricate guitar work.

When I saw the Taste of Chaos tour, there was an honest to Glam blizzard in Ohio. I remember the band mentioning all the snow on the video that rolled right before they took the stage. Sure enough, all those pre-show videos are included in the DVD as "extra features." Pretty cool to hear Avenged Sevenfold talk about little old Dayton, Ohio on their DVD!

Diamonds in the Rough has some good cuts. It seems like everyone and his Glam brother has covered Pantera's walk... and Avenged Sevenfold are now on that list too. Thing is, their version is just darn good. The band also does more than justice to Iron Maiden's "Flash of the Blade." Other songs include "Girl I Know," "Crossroads," and "Tension."

Buy Live in the LBC/Diamonds in the Rough here.

Here's "Afterlife" live from Long Beach

Comments

[aXe mAn]

Ohh wow I thought I was on the wrong site at first...this is Bring Back GLAM right? haha...

But honestly, I'm not a fan of them Allyson. But I guess I'm wrong...

[Rob Rockitt, Hard Rock Hideout]

You should give them a chance Axeman. A7X has a lot of great music out there to discover.

[Lucifer]

I've never really liked avenged sevenfold. I've given them a fair chance and listened to a few of their songs, I've just never understood them.

[Valentine]

Ok, Allyson, I'm not generally one to disagree with you but if this video is any indication of the overall filming of the show, I'll pass, thank you.

I do like some of the Avenged Sevenfold stuff and they're a cool band to watch... if you could see more than 3 seconds of each shot...

I HATE - absolutely HATE - the new, MTV-inspired, fast cut school of video editing. Not only does it make me nauseous but I think it REALLY detracts from the show, the artist, and the song. I'm not saying there should be a framed, full stage shot all the time - hey, I understand artistic stylization as much as the next guy - but when the camera cuts around so much that it's a distraction instead of an enhancement then somebody needs to step back and take a look from a fan's perspective.

I'm sure they put on a hell of a show but I couldn't tell from this - I had to turn it off even before the midway point. Just my opinion.

[Kenny Ozz]

Im with Axeman and Lucifer. Allyson I just dont get it. I dont think the songs are well written and I dont like their style. There are plenty of "newer" metal bands out there better than these guys. 30 Seconds To Mars and Wednesday 13 just to name a few.

[Allyson B. Crawford]

30 Seconds to Mars sucks.

That is all.

- Allyson

[Kenny Ozz]

Youre CRAZY!!! Just listen to Jared Leto's voice. Hes incredible. And YES, he can do it live. If anything, 30STM is severely underrated. People assume they suck because of Leto's acting career because 99% of actors who make albums do. Jared is THE exception. They are one of the best bands in the last decade, hands down.

[Allyson B. Crawford]

Kenny,

My husband really likes 30 Seconds to Mars, so I've heard the songs. I just don't dig it - the way you don't dig A7X I guess.

Allyson

[Makel]

I want this really bad...
I love A7X.

[Rob Rockitt]

I can't say that I have heard 30 Seconds to Mars, so I can't comment there. The A7X album is really good. There are some wicked guitar solos on the new disc....let me repeat that ....WICKED GUITAR SOLOS....what new bands do that in 2008?

[Rob Rockitt]

New A7x album that is

[Rachel]

I think that A7X did a good job on DITR but im not a huge fan of some of the songs off the cd, such as thier cover of iron maidens song " flash of the blade". Personally I think Matt could have sung it his way and not so undersung like it was and I'm not on for Tension either it more sounds like an undersung rap to me only good part to this song was the bass and gutair at the start of it, other then that I love the cd beacuse it brings out more sides of these boys. I been a fan for a long time now and the people that don't like them oh well what has a7x always stood for they don't care if people hate them or like them they do it for the fans. To the person that was talking about 30STM's singer being able to sound as good live as the cd, Avenged has always sounded just the same live as they do on the cds