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Review Summary: Greed is the deadliest form of flattery Greatest hit compilations have been standard industry fare since the inception of the concept of a record label, and usually the band has little to no involvement in them bar throwing an extra new track that they don’t give two fucks about haphazardly in order to fill a contract quota. Due to the money crunch imposed on labels thanks to the advent of the internet, businesses continue to get even more greedy and the whole process suffers. Money trumps the message every time (see Nine Inch Nails vs Universal Records, Michael Jackson vs Sony Entertainment, every band ever vs Victory Records as proof of this), and is, to a point, a necessary evil in the musical distribution system. However; when a label goes out of their way to try and take down a band not just in the court of law, but behind the scenes as well, something needs to be done as a whole. The content of this compilation is irrelevant due to the underhanded tactics propagated by the distributor, and not one single red cent should go to Warner Brothers Records for their blatant attempt to ruin livelihoods in an effort to boost their bottom line and achieve a twisted, and maniacal form of vindication.
Context is necessary; Avenged Sevenfold announced that due to a “seven-year law” in their recording contract, that they would be parting ways with Warner Brothers Records due to most of the executives they started there with having left the company, and didn’t like the influence that the new staff was attempting to push onto their music. Naturally, a breach of contract lawsuit was filed on the part of Warner Brothers against the band. Capitol Records stood in, paid off Warner and as most of you know, Avenged Sevenfold’s new album “The Stage” was released in late October 2016. Before this surprise release, there was a high profile ‘leak’ of the details for the new album, it was supposed to be called “Voltaic Oceans” and had a slated release date of December 9th, 2016. Then the announcement from Warner Brothers came three days later; “Avenged Sevenfold: The Best of 2005-2013” slated for a December 9th release date. When “The Stage” dropped, Warner Brothers quickly changed the release date on various websites of the compilation to the date of The Stage’s surprise release in an attempt to capitalize on traffic, but then changed it back to December a little while later.
If you haven’t gotten the gist of WB’s actions, it’s a blatant attempt to sabotage the sales of the band’s new album through lazy pseudo-nostalgia marketing practices, and search engine manipulation via release date sharing. Not only this, but the tracks chosen for this compilation (particularly the lesser known tracks off of the Diamonds in the Rough B-Sides) are widely known to be the band members’ favorite tracks in particular as evidenced in a multitude of interviews. This release was born out of pure vindication, personal vitriol, and shameless avarice. The court of law is the place to settle ethical contractual based quarrels, not social media. The fact that we as musicians, as a music community continue to turn a blind eye to the almost hysterical business practices of various distribution agencies is absolutely appalling. I’m not proposing a boycott of Warner’s music; I’m proposing awareness, I’m proposing anything more than the current state of apathy. This is about sending a message, and moving towards a better systemic approach for the music community as a whole.
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Album Rating: 1.0 | Sound Off
This isn't a traditional "review", it's more about sending a message, raising awareness, and creating an important starting point for discussion. I'd also like to mention that this "review" is going to be shared by myself and a few others across various groups on Facebook, and other social media sites. Anyone else who wishes to do this same, the exposure of this would be appreciated!
Please let me know if you find any grammatical / syntax errors in the review for me to fix. Thank you!
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Nicely written
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the existence of this upsets me
| | | Album Rating: 1.0 | Sound Off
"Nicely written"
Thank you!
"the existence of this upsets me"
Me too man, Warner Brothers pulled a really dick move, multiple dick moves actually.
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Might as well have called this album "Objectivity Boost"
| | | Album Rating: 1.0 | Sound Off
@Arcade: Thank you! You know, if it was just a typical cash grab release I probably wouldn't have bothered. But Warner Brothers went out of their way to not only try to ruin / negatively impact this band's livelihood (both with this, the release date and the court case), but purposely chose the band's favorite tracks in order to piss them off and emotionally fuck with them. That's why I felt this deserved a scathing review.
@onion: Might as well have called this album "Warner Brothers executives are ethics-less dicks"
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that works too
sweet review. fuck warner
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Warner Bros is one of those labels stuck in the past, they have no clue about the current musical climate; and the only reason they're even remotely relevant is because of established branding + some big name acts carrying their weight for them.
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*standard industry FARE
but great piece, thoroughly enjoyed reading
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Ok, this gets a 5 from me, because fuck this band
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@Pump: Fixed that grammatical error, thank you!
@Xfing: I hope you're just trying to be edgy.
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Saw this in store and even the packaging looks bad
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lol
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"Saw this in store and even the packaging looks bad"
Doesn't surprise me, this was such a last second cash-in fuck up on WB's part, of course it's gonna look like shit.
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Excellent write-up, never really cared for this band aside from the odd song here or there but this is pretty despicable.
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"Excellent review, never really cared for this band aside from the odd song here or there but this is pretty despicable."
Thank you! Yeah, I'm not trying to say 'oh you people need to enjoy a7x' or anything like that, it's just something that musicians and music listeners alike need to come together to stop. Warner Brothers can't just get away with this without at least SOME backlash.
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Screw this release.
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The most obscene greatest hits album I've ever stumbled across is the one for Papa Roach where all the money spent on buying it goes straight to the record label and not a penny goes to the band
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Nice review my dude, fuck greatest hits albums
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I don't even like this band all that much but yeah fuck WB
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