Maps of Music

Waking the Fallen (2003)

Where the lyrics of Waking the Fallen take you, and where it was really made.

The album was certified gold in 2009, even though it sold only 3,000 copies in its first week of release.

Key places

Recorded at Third Stone Recording (2003)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — The album is credited as recorded at Third Stone Recording. The studio is listed in the release credits. The pin is set at city-center level, not at the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Second studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold
• Released 26 August 2003 through Hopeless Records
• First full-length album with lead guitarist Synyster Gates and bassist Johnny Christ
• Sold only 3,000 copies in its first week, yet certified gold on 15 July 2009
• Over 693,000 copies sold in the United States as of August 2014
• Certified Platinum in the United States and Gold in Canada and the United Kingdom as of 17 March 2021
• "Eternal Rest" appears on Kerrang!'s "666 Songs You Must Own" and was featured on the soundtrack of Saw IV (2007)

Background

• 18 January 2002: the band left Good Life Recordings and signed with Hopeless Records
• Debut album re-released 19 March 2002; the band appeared on the Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 4 sampler in April
• The band toured in support of the debut album that year and took part in the Vans Warped Tour
• September 2002: Dameon Ash left and was replaced by Johnny Christ
• With a new bassist in place, the group began recording the new album

Recording

• The first Avenged Sevenfold album recorded to a click track; Sanders recalled that this upset Sullivan
• The band frequently played Halo: Combat Evolved during the recording process
• Recorded at Third Stone Recording
• Engineers Ai Fujisaki and Fred Archambault; mixed by Mudrock
• Mixed at Track Record; mastered at Precision Mastering

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 1999 in Huntington Beach, California, by Matt Sanders, James Sullivan, Zachary Baker and Matt Wendt.
• Name taken from the phrase 'avenged sevenfold' in Genesis 4:24, referencing the story of Cain and Abel.
• Debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet was released in July 2001 on Good Life Recordings.

Members

• Current lineup: vocalist M. Shadows, guitarists Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates, bassist Johnny Christ, drummer Brooks Wackerman.
• Drummer James 'The Rev' Sullivan died in December 2009; Arin Ilejay later joined and left before Brooks Wackerman became drummer in 2015.

Career

• Shifted from metalcore on early albums toward hard rock, heavy metal and progressive metal.
• City of Evil (2005) was the major label debut and broke them internationally; the self-titled album followed in 2007.
• Nightmare (2010) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200; Hail to the King (2013) also reached number one.
• The Stage (2016) was a conceptual progressive metal album; Life Is But a Dream... (2023) is their eighth studio album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic's Robert L. Doerschuk gave a positive review, praising the guitar solo at the end of "Second Heartbeat" and the drumming of The Rev
• Billboard gave the album a positive profile, comparing the band to NOFX, Iron Maiden and Metallica
• Revolver's Eli Enis wrote that the band became a capital-M metal band with this album
• The album was highly acclaimed on release

Reappraisal

• Metal Hammer placed the album at No. 6 on its 100 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century list in 2016
• In 2020, John Hill of Loudwire included the album in his list of the Top 25 Metalcore Albums of All Time
• According to Loudwire, fans regard the guitar solo on "Second Heartbeat" as among the best in the metalcore genre

Records

• Certified gold on 15 July 2009, though it sold only 3,000 copies in its first week
• Over 693,000 copies sold in the United States as of August 2014
• Certified Platinum in the United States and Gold in Canada and the United Kingdom as of 17 March 2021

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Halo: Combat Evolved was played frequently during the recording process
• "Chapter Four" was included in the soundtracks of the NHL 2004, Madden 2004 and NASCAR Thunder 2004 games
• Johnny Christ had previously filled in on bass for the band on a earlier tour whenever Dameon Ash could not attend
• In March 2014, M. Shadows revealed plans for a 10th anniversary release, which became Waking the Fallen: Resurrected in August 2014

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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