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New Album Discussion/FirstVS.Changing Impressions/Easter eggs/Favorite song from LIBAD?

Daniel Verde

Local Dive Bar Favorite
Nov 11, 2019
102
1
87
Hey everyone, I have been listening to LIBAD a lot since it came out. The album continues to grow on me more and more each day. I thought it would be cool if people shared their initial impressions, and if their opinion of the album has changed after multiple listens. To kick start the discussion, maybe share which songs stand out to you and why, let us know if you have a favorite too! Maybe you discovered something new about the album that you didn't notice initially?

As most of us here are guitar players, we probably all had a moment where we realized the album isn't going to be an hour long master class in how to be an amazing guitar player. Granted, Syn still manages to showcase incredible skill throughout LIBAD. For me, this was a shock to the system. But, I've always praised A7X for keeping each album fresh. No two albums are identical, and they always knock it out of the park. So I didn't want to sleep on LIBAD or write it off for being different.

Here's why I'm in to the album.
I found that after a several listens the album became less strange to me. What was initially bizarre just seemed commonplace, it simply made sense and felt natural. I often find myself waking up first thing in the morning and one of the songs is stuck in my head. I love waking up like this. I feel truly inspired, and I'm picking up my guitar more than I had been lately.
By extension, I've always dreamt of a collab between Buckethead and Daft Punk... I've said for the longest time if those two artists did a show together, that would be the ultimate thing for me. LIBAD clearly pays homage to Daft Punk amongst other artists, and while not going for a Buckethead style song, LIBAD is avant-guard to the point that I could draw comparisons to Bucket's work (namely Syn using synthesizer-like effects through his guitar, or things like whaling on the whammy bar in Game Over with a similar fashion to how Buckethead utilizes his kill-switch). Anyway, the album does something I've always imagined, combining the styles of artists that would otherwise never be associated with each other. It doesn't take shape in exactly the same way I'd imagine Buckethead and Daft Punk collaborating, but the elements of ostensibly different artists are brought together in an eclectic master piece.
Furthermore, I think that there's a lot of deep thought that went in to this album, some of which is initially clear, and some of which might go over our heads. On my first listen to Mattel, hearing the lyrics, "Good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight" made me raise an eye brow and ask myself if that was a reference to Truman Show. Matt has since confirmed it was. I think it's cool that this music album references important works of art from other mediums such as film. The album apparently takes inspiration form the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, which I read in high school and thoroughly enjoyed. But get this, LIBAD doesn't just reference movies and literature, it also draws upon the magic of commercials.
I was just listening to Game Over today, and I noticed there's a Folger's Coffee easter egg thing that I didn't catch until today. Everyone knows the line, "The best part of waking up is Folger's in your cup." Leave it to A7X to turn a stupid commercial in to a cool-whacky line from a song in the form of, "The bestest part of waking up (mundane ideation), this dark roast got me (so fucked up)." I can help but simultaneously laugh and rock out to that line. Fucking brilliant!

One final note before I open the floor, my favorite song is (O)rdinary and here's why. It's a Daft Punk song that tells the story of a robot coming to life. After all, who here doesn't feel their heart strings pulled at the end of Terminator 2 when the T-800 says, "I know now why you cry." That's why this is the best song on the LIBAD!
 

Christian Schulze

Hot Topic Tourer
Rockstar Student
Nov 11, 2019
715
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Spain
5
Right there with you brother!


This album I must say is my favorite A7X album so far.

I’ve always liked bits and pieces here and there of their previous albums, but never loved an album in its entirety. Here comes Life is but a dream…and I fell in love from the first listen to my now 10th listen.

What makes me love this album is its cohesion.

I know it sounds weird saying cohesion when for some people this album is all over the place. But for me this album does something that Mr. Bungle and up to a certain extent Jazz does too! It demands your attention!

If you know how to listen, this album will take you through a rollercoaster of emotions and surprises. And that rollercoaster of existentialism is the theme throughout the album, which is why it is so cohesive to me. It’s like a beautiful chaos, and I am all in for it.

When it comes to my favorite songs on the album, I have to go with Mattel and G. Both of them in my first listen struck me with “Wow” moments. In Mattel it’s the piano at the end of the song that hit me as a pleasant surprise. In G, it was the female vocals, it came out of left field for me and surprised me so much that I immediately fell in love.

Then we go to Easier, which for me has arguably one of the heaviest riffs ever written by Avenged.

All in all, Avenged sevenfold made me forget that Life is but a dream comes from the song Row your boats…..or however it’s called XD.

And with this album dealing with our mortality and what it means to be alive it struck a chord with me.
 
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Little Laguna05

Free Bird Player
Feb 16, 2023
225
1
160
19
2
Hmm, I would say I need some adjustments my favorite A7x album has to be nightmare, but I do think there are a lot of things to look for in this album now that they are more mature as a band, not saying they were never mature but they have moved on from their old sound I would say, I love their old sound I have always been a fan of the 2000s hard rock sound, but this album has its place along the rest and I think that I would need way more time before I can say its my favorite
 

bxsimpson13

New Student
Jun 2, 2022
23
35
Wisconsin
2
Hmm, I would say I need some adjustments my favorite A7x album has to be nightmare, but I do think there are a lot of things to look for in this album now that they are more mature as a band, not saying they were never mature but they have moved on from their old sound I would say, I love their old sound I have always been a fan of the 2000s hard rock sound, but this album has its place along the rest and I think that I would need way more time before I can say its my favorite
Nightmare was also my favorite album (maybe tied with WTF) but after about 15 listens to this new one, I can safely say that I enjoy this album as a whole better than any other album ever, besides Appetite for Destruction. I think it's great, partly because lots of the songs remind me of Muse, who are my second favorite band (Ordinary sounds a lot like Bliss to me).

The best song is easily Cosmic, which is my new favorite guitar solo, now surpassing Afterlife. But the whole song is also very beautiful, and it's one of the only songs that's ever made me actually feel anything emotionally.

Overall, this album is easily a 10/10.
 

Daniel Verde

Local Dive Bar Favorite
Nov 11, 2019
102
1
87
Hmm, I would say I need some adjustments my favorite A7x album has to be nightmare, but I do think there are a lot of things to look for in this album now that they are more mature as a band, not saying they were never mature but they have moved on from their old sound I would say, I love their old sound I have always been a fan of the 2000s hard rock sound, but this album has its place along the rest and I think that I would need way more time before I can say its my favorite
Honestly, if you're not super in to LIBAD instantly, that's ok. Give it some time, you might go back to it in the future and be surprised how much stronger of an impression it will make. It's not my favourite A7X album (I honestly don't think I could pick just one anyways), but it's truly outstanding. My only advice is listen to the album from start to finish, it really is meant to be listened to in this manner.
 
Synner Endless Summer Collection

Daniel Verde

Local Dive Bar Favorite
Nov 11, 2019
102
1
87
Nightmare was also my favorite album (maybe tied with WTF) but after about 15 listens to this new one, I can safely say that I enjoy this album as a whole better than any other album ever, besides Appetite for Destruction. I think it's great, partly because lots of the songs remind me of Muse, who are my second favorite band (Ordinary sounds a lot like Bliss to me).

The best song is easily Cosmic, which is my new favorite guitar solo, now surpassing Afterlife. But the whole song is also very beautiful, and it's one of the only songs that's ever made me actually feel anything emotionally.

Overall, this album is easily a 10/10.
Love Cosmic!
 

Little Laguna05

Free Bird Player
Feb 16, 2023
225
1
160
19
2
Nightmare was also my favorite album (maybe tied with WTF) but after about 15 listens to this new one, I can safely say that I enjoy this album as a whole better than any other album ever, besides Appetite for Destruction. I think it's great, partly because lots of the songs remind me of Muse, who are my second favorite band (Ordinary sounds a lot like Bliss to me).

The best song is easily Cosmic, which is my new favorite guitar solo, now surpassing Afterlife. But the whole song is also very beautiful, and it's one of the only songs that's ever made me actually feel anything emotionally.

Overall, this album is easily a 10/10.
Mmm I am very emotional when it comes to listening to music, given I came into this genre at 14 years old and finding out I had cancer and then throughout these last few years there are a lot of these songs that mean a lot, for instance I started listening to So Far Away a Little after my chemotherapy treatments were done and I can’t help but feel the pain in the lyrics ESPECIALLY in Syn’s solo it very touching.. and then like LIBAD I cried tears of joy listening to nobody and I think beautiful morning because I felt a lot of joy
 

bxsimpson13

New Student
Jun 2, 2022
23
35
Wisconsin
2
Mmm I am very emotional when it comes to listening to music, given I came into this genre at 14 years old and finding out I had cancer and then throughout these last few years there are a lot of these songs that mean a lot, for instance I started listening to So Far Away a Little after my chemotherapy treatments were done and I can’t help but feel the pain in the lyrics ESPECIALLY in Syn’s solo it very touching.. and then like LIBAD I cried tears of joy listening to nobody and I think beautiful morning because I felt a lot of joy
Man, I hope that you're better now, or will be soon. Cancer definitely sucks a lot.

Also, I don't think understanding it is necessarily an age thing, because I'm 16 but think that LIBAD is amazing. You just have a little different music taste, which is fine. Even the band said that the new album isn't meant to be liked by everyone.
 

Jeremy Healey

Hot Topic Tourer
Legend+
Legend
  • Nov 11, 2019
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    Newfoundland and Labrador
    14
    I listened to the live YouTube video release of Nobody on my way home from work on my lunch break and was absolutely floored. I thought “what the fuck is this??!!?” And I expressed my dislike of it to my friends / band mates. I listened to it once more when I could on Apple Music, and then left it alone for weeks. Couldn’t care for it at all.
    Then a little while later “We Love You” was debuted over Discord and I had a listen then. My reactions for that one were much more positive and I thought it was pretty cool. It was around this time that the main riff of Nobody started ringing in my head. I had to listen to it again, and now it’s one of my favourites on the album.
    After being able to enjoy those songs for what they are and how different they are, I can truly say I love this album. I now have the vinyl of it and often play it while I pick away at things in my shed lol
     
    Synner Endless Summer Collection

    Little Laguna05

    Free Bird Player
    Feb 16, 2023
    225
    1
    160
    19
    2
    It’s the same like Asking Alexandria, they had all these albums where they were fucked up, doing drugs, drinking, and having orgies.. they had the album Like A House On Fire, and it was their first album they did together sober, and people were pissed, and then they came out with See What’s on The Inside, and I could relate to that album. From what I know of almost every band has done drugs fucked girls and drank excessively pretty sure gates still drinks… quite a bit I’m not sure but the point is there is going to be a point in a bands lifetime like A7x or AA where you mature as a band and write with different people or different producers, or you make an album that sounds nothing like the rest of them and that album is what will keep the band or artist going, or it could be their last album and they wanted to go out different. It is really up to you the listener to break those songs down and tear them apart lays by layer to figure out if you really like it, so far the 2020’s have been nothing but change we just have to adapt. If you don’t want to adapt to those few artist then fucking don’t, leave your “NON-OFFENSIVE” review/ comment and go on about your day.
     
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    MerkTheDon

    New Student
    Jun 23, 2023
    3
    6
    Michigan
    18
    OK I decided to listen to this album, for literal days straight, then listened to all of the other albums, before coming back to listen again. First off, You can just hear, and feel the growth of the band through each album. This one feels like it's what they have always wanted to do. add in B.W's drumming style, like his random blast beats at the most perfect time, to co-verse with Syns noodling.. it's the chefs kiss.. with that My Favorite Album was "City of Evil" (Nightmare close second) and I realized when listening to it yesterday. What's missing are the yells that Rev was famous for.. I feel like even after he passed they still did the yells.. but in this one they just did the instruments for background noise. (Not talking about Screams or Growls, but Revs random pleas with Matt).. other than that. LIBAD is now my 2nd Favorite Album.. SYN better get his flowers for this one! 🙌