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Avenged Sevenfold - Nobody | Song Analysis & Detailed Breakdown
49 Plays1 year ago
Laz analyses and dissects Avenged Sevenfold’s brand new single “Nobody” from the upcoming album ‘Life Is But A Dream…’
You can also watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7mfJVCp_TzbPNZNMMemJuw
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Transcript
Introduction to Song Analysis
00:00:07
Speaker
Hello there and welcome back to Minds of Metal. My name's Laz, and today I'm bringing you a full song analysis of Avenge Sevenfold's brand new single, Nobody, which is coming out from their new album released on June 2nd, called Life is But a Dream, which we're very excited for here in Minds of Metal.
00:00:28
Speaker
So the way I'm going to be doing it today is I'm going to be hitting play from the song through my ears and then running you through each section. I've considered doing the reaction style video where I put the video in the corner but
00:00:40
Speaker
I don't know, I'm not a fan of that. We have copyright issues here in the UK, which makes it hard for us to put these videos out all the way we want, et cetera. And I think the video might be a bit distracting as well, because I want to focus really deeply on the song and the mini characteristics we hear within
Exploring the Song's Instrumentation
00:00:55
Speaker
it. So I'm about to hit play on the song now. Hit play along with me, and we're going to go through the song. So I'm starting it in three, two, one. So first off, we get that very heavy guitar, very produced, lots of effects on it.
00:01:12
Speaker
Big heavy riff though. Big. Sorry if I'm shouting because the music is quite loud. Then we get the hi-hats coming in. Very hip-hoppy hi-hats. And then when the main riff comes in more production, it reminds me of a mastodon sounding riff. Very progressive.
00:01:32
Speaker
We go down into the verse and we hear Em's voice. Now he sounds like he's singing at the top of his range, but he doesn't sound entirely comfortable. And I know he's come under a lot of criticism for the vocals in this song. I like the harmonizing that comes in after that. Double layering. If you listen, there's not a lot of instruments going on in this verse. It's just that guitar riff and some drums, very sparse.
00:01:57
Speaker
and get the new section with the hi-hat rhythm moving over to the right cymbal, which is interesting. Another, just another texture added. Now I love this part, the pre-chorus. You just got bass, drums and violin, no guitar in a heavy metal track. I think it's really cool. I love Em's voice here, I really like the melody. And it doesn't need anything else, chorus.
00:02:25
Speaker
You've got lots of tension in the notes, then released. It's like the notes, they hang on to it for a bit.
Unique Textures and Vocals
00:02:32
Speaker
Beautiful street picking. So you've got the tension. And then the tension released. Really lovely chord choices. Sparse notes again, there's not too much going on in this chorus.
00:02:47
Speaker
Then you get the horns coming in. Really lovely. They're mixed interestingly. They don't sound horny. My friend said they sounded like his dog's barking, which I thought was quite funny. And the backing vocals coming in. But the backing vocals are louder. They are the band. They move that to the back. And the backing vocals become louder, which is interesting. Normally you'd have the backing vocals sing a bit lower. And the sweep picking continuing. So fantastically played.
00:03:14
Speaker
the gospel jazzy vocal harmony part, beautifully layered. We said in the video, we didn't think it was just M shadows, we thought it was multiple of them, beautifully sung. Then the electric voice, hearing nobody, we're back into that heavy, slow, sludgy riff for verse two. I noticed with the verse, the kick and the drums, they're being very simply, the kick and the snare, there's not much going on. Complexity comes in the cymbals though,
00:03:43
Speaker
there again without going to the right cymbal. But the kick and snare just stay very simple, really effective. Now check out Prechorus 2 and tell me if you can hear the difference from Prechorus 1. No bass. You've got the drums and the strings but they've taken out the bass as well which is brilliant because why would you take something? Normally you want to add stuff to build the layers but they've taken it out and it works so well. Chorus
00:04:09
Speaker
And the guitar notes, the choices of the sweep picking helps accentuate that resolution. Going back in. Fantastic choices of notes, especially what he's doing on the guitar. Horns come back in, sounding really good. Adding that extra leg, giving it a bolstering. Although no backing vocals this time, which is interesting. Now into the post chorus with the strings coming in for a bit of extra texture and layering.
00:04:39
Speaker
It just adds a lovely bit of padding there, emphasizing the chord choices, but also their movement as well. The horns carry on though, which is interesting. Is there some backing vocals there as well, like a choir going on very faintly? Could be keyboards.
Guitar Solo and Song Dynamics
00:05:00
Speaker
nobody back to the nobody parts the electronic very electronic voice unusual didn't expect this from avenged with that heavy sludgy riff and then we just change completely to the solo with the strings coming in very haunting you know um there's a technique i forgot what it's called where you play that and it's just sitting there holding on those notes
00:05:26
Speaker
and then we get sin solo come in. High hats again, notice the high hats, because they're still there, still doing their thing. Now check out the complex kick and snare patterns that Brooks is playing during the solo. The solo is fantastic by the way, there's no choices articulating the playing is fantastic. The drums change, the kick gets even more complicated and the bass is following.
00:05:54
Speaker
Listen to where this bass falls. Place a fill. And falls on a very odd note. There it is. You hear that tension, the dissonance, all going very jazzy, very jammy, all under this fantastic solo. And you've got the cello accompanying it as well. The drums fall into a bit more of a pattern now.
00:06:24
Speaker
the bass still choosing odd notes, still playing different rhythms, very cool, fantastic solo, excellently played, masterful by Sinister Gates, maybe one of his best solos, I mean there's definitely recency bias because this song is brand new but I loved it and then the strings see us out haunting cello and I'm assuming this is going to lead us into
00:06:47
Speaker
the album when it comes out. But yeah, fantastic. Wow, I love this song because it sounds so big and filled with stuff. But actually, let me just pause the song. When you analyze it and get into it, you'll realize that certain sections, there's not much going on. Take the verses. You've got one riff.
00:07:12
Speaker
and that's it there's nothing really going on crazy changes up the high hats to go to the right symbols later on um think about the pre-choruses the first pre-chorus is just strings bass and drums and the second pre-chorus no bass just the strings and the drums just fantastic because like i said when you're on a when you're on a song when you're writing a song
00:07:32
Speaker
I want the songs to take me on a journey and I want to go up. I want to add things to it. And when I hear something in one pre-chorus, I think that's cool. The next pre-chorus, there should be something else different to make it more interesting. But instead of adding, they've removed and it works so well. And his voice really thrives in that pre-chorus. I think it sounds
Production Critique and Listener Engagement
00:07:50
Speaker
fantastic. I love the chorus in general, because just such, again, simplicity. It's not the notes you play, it's the space you leave. And with the chorus,
00:08:00
Speaker
sound the guard just holding one chord and the chords they're choosing they're not they're not dissonant chords they're not chords that are creating tension but yet there is a release and a resolve when you get to that third one really beautifully resolved there and sounds lovely
00:08:24
Speaker
The difference between the heavily layered sections, like that post chorus, where he's singing after the second chorus and the strings come back in, the difference between that section and the pre-chorus, in terms of sound, it doesn't sound that different. It still all sounds big. It still all sounds filled out. I know people have had issues with the production on this. That's been criticized on this new song. But I think it's a really, really good song. And I've been chatting with my mates about it the last 12 hours, really.
00:08:53
Speaker
I think we all agree that I wouldn't want an album filled with this stuff. I still want some old heaviness back. I want to hear songs like Afterlife. That for me is where Avenged are at their peak because they're writing accessible pop choruses in a heavy metal environment. And it's just fantastic that album.
00:09:12
Speaker
So I would welcome more stuff like this. I love that they're experimenting. You know, we said this on the video. I don't need to go over it again, but we love that they're experimenting with these different sounds, these different attitudes. And I will take songs like this, but I don't want to have them full of it. But there you have it. That is your song analysis for an Avenged Seven Folds brand new song.
00:09:30
Speaker
called Nobody, which is off their upcoming album, Life is But a Dream, due for release on the 2nd June, 2023. Hope you've enjoyed this. Hope you found it interesting. Let me know your thoughts about the song in the comments. Get involved in the discussion. And don't forget that if you don't have time to watch the video, we've got a dedicated podcast available to you so that you can listen on the go. Thank you very much for joining me. Have a metal day.