AVENGED SEVENFOLD continues its expansion of new album "The Stage" with today's release: a cover of the PINK FLOYD classic "Wish You Were Here". You can now listen to it below.
Over the course of the past several weeks, AVENGED SEVENFOLD have been steadily adding new tracks to "The Stage" and transforming the album into an evolving body of work. They began with Mexican folk song "Malagueña Salerosa" and followed with a reimagining of MR. BUNGLE's "Retrovertigo", original track "Dose", a cover of Del Shannon's 1961 No. 1 hit "Runaway" (featuring a guest appearance by VANDALS guitarist Warren Fitzgerald and lead vocals by AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Zacky Vengeance), the band's version of the BEACH BOYS' 1966 smash "God Only Knows" and the group's rendition of the 1966 THE ROLLING STONES classic "As Tears Go By".
"We love the idea of putting out music in a non-conventional way," AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows told Billboard. "We also love making albums, so this allowed us to do both. This was all put into motion when we made the original recording for 'The Stage', so it all feels cohesive; We put out 'The Stage' and let it sink in for seven months, and now we can add to that piece of work. This way, throughout the cycle you'll be able to hear new music while going back to the original album.
"The idea of turning an album into a living piece of art and adding new installations is really intriguing," he continued. "It expands the journey."
Shadows added that AVENGED SEVENFOLD took inspiration from the way hip-hop and pop artists have taken to surprise and random releases of new material, sometimes with little or no notice, and sometimes simply releasing individual songs not related to any particular album or other project.
"We told all the kids we were going to evolve the record... It was just a matter of how," Shadows said. "Obviously it works in the (pop) mainstream a little better than it does in rock 'n' roll. You look at what Kendrick Lamar or Drake are doing, or any hip-hop or pop act. Their streaming numbers are through the roof. And you look at rock, and they're just not there. But we want to get new stuff out to people. We don't have the answers to all the big questions in the music industry, but we do have control of keeping ourselves artistically satisfied, and this just seemed fun to us."
"The Stage" was released at the end of October 2016 with almost no promotion beforehand.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD has confirmed the details of an early 2018 North American headlining tour with BREAKING BENJAMIN and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE. The trek will begin on January 12 in Nashville with shows booked so far through February 11 in Fargo, North Dakota.
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