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A Little Piece of Heaven (song)

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"A Little Piece of Heaven"
Song by Avenged Sevenfold
from the album Avenged Sevenfold
A-sideScream[1]
ReleasedOctober 30, 2007
Recorded2007
Studio
GenreAvant-garde metal, dark cabaret
Length8:01
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)James Sullivan[2]
Producer(s)Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold track listing
10 tracks
  1. "Critical Acclaim"
  2. "Almost Easy"
  3. "Scream"
  4. "Afterlife"
  5. "Gunslinger"
  6. "Unbound (The Wild Ride)"
  7. "Brompton Cocktail"
  8. "Lost"
  9. "A Little Piece of Heaven"
  10. "Dear God"

"A Little Piece of Heaven" is a song by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. It is the ninth song from their self-titled fourth album. Though not released as a single, the song is one of the band's most popular. In December 2007, the song received an animated music video. The song was written by the band's drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, and features him on dueling lead vocals with M. Shadows.

Background

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"A Little Piece of Heaven" was written by drummer The Rev.[2][3][4] The song's demo was titled "Big Bear", and featured The Rev doing all the instruments and vocals.[5] It was originally intended to be on a Halloween EP, but once the band's record label heard it, they insisted it be on the album.[3]

Lyrics and music

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"A Little Piece of Heaven" is about a man who, fearing that his proposal to her will be rejected, murders his girlfriend. He then eats her heart and rapes her corpse. The girlfriend then returns from the dead and murders him and eats his heart. The man then also comes back from the dead to make things right. The two reconcile, get married, and together they begin killing others.[6][7][8]

The song’s introduction interpolates Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms.

The National described the song musically as avant-garde metal.[9] Songwriter The Rev stated the song was inspired by the works of Danny Elfman and his band Oingo Boingo.[6][10] The band worked with brass and string sections for the song.[4][6][11]

Members of the band have compared the song to "an eight-minute movie".[6]

Music video

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In December 2007, an animated video directed by Rafa Alcantra[12] was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven".[11][13] The video for the song features a man who, after having his marriage proposal rejected, murders his girlfriend. Due to the song's subject matter, Warner Brothers initially only released it to registered MVI users over the internet.[14] However, it was later released to YouTube on October 26, 2009.[15]

Critical reception and legacy

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Kerrang and Return of Rock ranked "A Little Piece of Heaven" at number 1 and number 3 respectively on their lists of the greatest Avenged Sevenfold songs,[16][17] while Classic Rock History ranked it at number 5[18] and Louder Sound ranked it at number 11 on their respective lists.[19] It was voted as the best Avenged Sevenfold song in an official song tournament during March Madness.[20]

The music of the song has been compared to the bands Mr. Bungle[21] and My Chemical Romance,[22] as well as Broadway show tunes.[23][9][24] It has also been described as the band's take on "Bohemian Rhapsody".[25][26] The members of Fearless Vampire Killers had the song in their list of the best Avenged Sevenfold songs, calling it "Like a rock opera within one song".[27]

The song has also been compared to the film scores of composer/musician Danny Elfman, specifically his scores to the films The Nightmare Before Christmas[28] and Beetlejuice.[29]

A live performance of the song was featured on the live album Live in the LBC.[30]

Personnel

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All credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[31]

Avenged Sevenfold
  • M. Shadows – lead vocals
  • The Rev – drums, co-lead vocals, piano, percussion
  • Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, spoken word
  • Synyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Johnny Christ – bass guitar, backing vocals
Session musicians
Production
  • Produced by Avenged Sevenfold
  • Engineered by Fred Archambault and Dave Schiffman, assisted by Clifton Allen, Chris Steffen, Robert DeLong, Aaron Walk, Mike Scielzi, and Josh Wilbur
  • Mixed by Andy Wallace
  • Mastered by Brian Gardner
  • Drum tech by Mike Fasano
  • Guitar tech by Walter Rice
  • 'Fan Producers for a Day' (MVI) by Daniel McLaughlin and Christopher Guinn

References

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  1. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold – Scream". Discogs. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Credits / Avenged Sevenfold / Avenged Sevenfold". Tidal. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "The Story Behind The Song: Avenged Sevenfold's A Little Piece Of Heaven". Louder Sound. Metal Hammer. November 26, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Carter, Emily (November 24, 2020). "Hear Avenged Sevenfold's A Little Piece Of Heaven In The Style Of The Phantom Of The Opera". Kerrang. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  5. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Presents Breakdown: Halloween Edition – A Little Piece of Heaven". AvengedSevenfold.com. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d Epstein, Dan (December 2007). "AVENGED SEVENFOLD TALK SELF-TITLED RECORD, ROWDY PAST, DRINKING COBRA BLOOD". Revolver Mag. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  7. ^ Staff, Revolver (February 20, 2019). "FAN POLL: TOP 5 GREATEST HEAVY-METAL LOVE SONGS". Revolver Mag. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  8. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo (September 10, 2020). "50 DISTURBING SONGS THAT PEOPLE LOVE". Noise Creep. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Avenged Sevenfold ready to get heavy in Abu Dhabi". thenational.ae. May 3, 2012.
  10. ^ Gibson, Caren. "BEST AVENGED SEVENFOLD SONGS: 20 ESSENTIAL GOTHCORE TRACKS". This Is Dig. Dig!. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Childers, Chad. "14 Years Ago: Avenged Sevenfold Start to Define Their Identity on Self-Titled Album". Loudwire. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  12. ^ Sciarretto, Amy (September 19, 2013). "10 Best Avenged Sevenfold Videos". Noisecreep. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  13. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Merchandise". Blabbermouth. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  14. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Presents Breakdown: Halloween Edition - A Little Piece of Heaven". YouTube. October 31, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  15. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold – A Little Piece Of Heaven [Official Music Video]". YouTube. October 26, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  16. ^ Law, Sam (May 29, 2020). "The 20 greatest Avenged Sevenfold songs – ranked". Kerrang. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  17. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Songs Ranked". Return of Rock. January 23, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  18. ^ Kamau, Eric (September 16, 2021). "Best SongsTop 10 Avenged Sevenfold Songs". Classic Rock History. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  19. ^ Alderslade, Merlin (February 5, 2020). "The 20 best Avenged Sevenfold songs ever". Louder Sound. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  20. ^ "AVENGED SEVENFOLD MARCH MANIA SONG TOURNAMENT". AvengedSevenfold.com. March 1, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  21. ^ Lymangrover, Jason. "Avenged Sevenfold Review by Jason Lymangrover". All Music. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  22. ^ "album review: 'avenged sevenfold' by avenged sevenfold (RETRO REVIEW)". Spectrum Pulse. July 3, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2022. The only problem is that the only thing the song reminded me of was MCR's 2006 album The Black Parade.
  23. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012.
  24. ^ "The Top Ten Avenged Sevenfold Songs". LWOS Life. July 12, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  25. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Self Titled Album Songs Ranked". Return of Rock. October 4, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2022. The track is their Bohemian Rhapsody, and it has the symphony to prove it.
  26. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Bahas Proses Rekaman 'A Little Piece Of Heaven' dalam Mini Dokumenter: Ini Bohemian Rhapsody Versi Kita". HAI-Online.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  27. ^ Kemp, Kier (August 3, 2015). "The 11 best Avenged Sevenfold songs chosen by Fearless Vampire Killers". Louder Sound. Metal Hammer. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  28. ^ Shultz, Brian (December 18, 2007). "Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (2007)". Punk News. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  29. ^ Hill, Stephen. "Every Avenged Sevenfold album ranked from worst to best". Louder Sound. Metal Hammer. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  30. ^ ""LIVE IN THE LBC & DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH" COMING TO STREAMING SERVICES". AvengedSevenfold.com. January 17, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  31. ^ Avenged Sevenfold liner notes. Warner Brothers. 2007. p. 9.
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