Jump to content

A Little Piece of Heaven (song)

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Denniscabrams (talk | contribs) at 03:19, 9 November 2022. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"A Little Piece of Heaven"
Song by Avenged Sevenfold
from the album Avenged Sevenfold
ReleasedOctober 30, 2007
Recorded2007
Studio
GenreAvant-garde metal[1]
Length8:01
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)The Rev[2]
Producer(s)Avenged Sevenfold

"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

"A Little Piece of Heaven" was written by drummer The Rev.[3][4][2] The original version of the song was entitled "Big Bear", which was the name of the cabin the band were staying at when the song was written.[5] The "Big Bear" demo featured The Rev doing all the instruments and vocals.[6][7] 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.[8][7]

Lyrics and music

"A Little Piece of Heaven" is about a man who murders his girlfriend, eats her heart, and rapes her corpse. The girlfriend then returns from the dead and does the same to him. The two reconcile, get married, and together they begin killing others.[9][10][11]

Songwriter The Rev stated the song was inspired by the works of Danny Elfman and his band Oingo Boingo.[9][12] The band worked with brass and string sections for the song.[4][9][13] The song is supposedly inspired by Broadway show tunes, in which horns and orchestral strings replaced the band's lead and rhythm guitars.[14]

Members of the band have compared the song to "an eight-minute movie".[9]

Music video

In December 2007, an animated video was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven".[15][16][13] The video for the song features a man who, after having his marriage proposal rejected, murders his girlfriend.[17] Due to the song's controversial subject matter, Warner Brothers initially only released it to registered MVI users over the internet. However, it was later released to YouTube on October 26, 2009.[18]

The video was directed by Rafa Alcantra.[19]

Critical reception and legacy

"A Little Piece of Heaven" is one of the band's most popular songs, and is considered among their best by fans and critics alike.[20][21][22][23] Kerrang and Return of Rock ranked the song at number 1 and number 3 respectively on their lists of the greatest Avenged Sevenfold songs.[24][25] Louder Sound also ranked the song at number 11 on their ranking of the band's best songs.[26] It has over 130 million streams on Spotify[27] and 97 million views on YouTube.[28] It is the top rated song from its parent album on Metacritic.[29] It was voted as the best Avenged Sevenfold song in an official song tournament during March Madness.[30]

The music of the song has been compared to the bands Mr. Bungle[31] and My Chemical Romance,[32] as well as Broadway show tunes.[33][34][35] It has also been described as the band's Bohemian Rhapsody.[36][37] 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".[38]

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[39][40] and Beetlejuice.[41]

"A Little Piece of Heaven" has been played 313 times live by Avenged Sevenfold.[42] It is the band's ninth most performed song live overall, directly behind Buried Alive.[43] A live performance of the song was featured on the live album Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough.[44][45]

Personnel

All credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[46]

Avenged Sevenfold
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

  1. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold ready to get heavy in Abu Dhabi". thenational.ae. May 3, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Credits / Avenged Sevenfold / Avenged Sevenfold". Tidal. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  3. ^ "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. "Hear Avenged Sevenfold's A Little Piece Of Heaven In The Style Of The Phantom Of The Opera". Kerrang. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  5. ^ "Big Bear (partially found Avenged Sevenfold demo; 2007)". Lost Media Wiki. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  6. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Presents Breakdown: Halloween Edition – A Little Piece of Heaven". AvengedSevenfold.com. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Trivia / Avenged Sevenfold". TV Tropes. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  8. ^ "The Story Behind The Song: Avenged Sevenfold's A Little Piece Of Heaven". Louder Sound. Metal Hammer. November 26, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Staff, Revolver (February 20, 2019). "FAN POLL: TOP 5 GREATEST HEAVY-METAL LOVE SONGS". Revolver Mag. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  11. ^ "A Little Piece Of Heaven by Avenged Sevenfold". Song Facts. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  12. ^ Gibson, Caren. "BEST AVENGED SEVENFOLD SONGS: 20 ESSENTIAL GOTHCORE TRACKS". This Is Dig. Dig!. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Childers, Chad. "14 Years Ago: Avenged Sevenfold Start to Define Their Identity on Self-Titled Album". Loudwire. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  14. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold ready to get heavy in Abu Dhabi". thenational.ae. May 3, 2012.
  15. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Merchandise". Blabbermouth. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  16. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold: A Little Piece of Heaven". IMDb. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  17. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold: A Little Piece of Heaven". IMDb. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  18. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold – A Little Piece Of Heaven [Official Music Video]". YouTube. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  19. ^ Sciarretto, Amy (September 19, 2013). "10 Best Avenged Sevenfold Videos". Noisecreep. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  20. ^ "A LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN BY AVENGED SEVENFOLD". Teenink. September 1, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  21. ^ "Random Best Avenged Sevenfold Songs". Best Randoms. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  22. ^ "Best Avenged Sevenfold Songs". Metal Kingdom. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  23. ^ Kamau, Eric (September 16, 2021). "Best SongsTop 10 Avenged Sevenfold Songs". Classic Rock History. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  24. ^ Law, Sam (May 29, 2020). "The 20 greatest Avenged Sevenfold songs – ranked". Kerrang. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  25. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Songs Ranked". Return of Rock. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  26. ^ Alderslade, Merlin (February 5, 2020). "The 20 best Avenged Sevenfold songs ever". Louder Sound. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  27. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold". Spotify. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  28. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold – A Little Piece Of Heaven [Official Music Video]". YouTube. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  29. ^ "AVENGED SEVENFOLD by Avenged Sevenfold". Meta Critic. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  30. ^ "AVENGED SEVENFOLD MARCH MANIA SONG TOURNAMENT". AvengedSevenfold.com. March 1, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  31. ^ Lymangrover, Jason. "Avenged Sevenfold Review by Jason Lymangrover". All Music. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  32. ^ "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.
  33. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012.
  34. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold ready to get heavy in Abu Dhabi". thenational.ae. May 3, 2012.
  35. ^ "The Top Ten Avenged Sevenfold Songs". LWOS Life. July 12, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  36. ^ "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.
  37. ^ "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.
  38. ^ Kemp, Kier (August 3, 2015). "The 11 best Avenged Sevenfold songs chosen by Fearless Vampire Killers". Louder Sound. Metal Hammer. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  39. ^ Shultz, Brian. "Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (2007)". Punk News. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  40. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold". Sputnik Music. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  41. ^ Hill, Stephen. "Every Avenged Sevenfold album ranked from worst to best". Louder Sound. Metal Hammer. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  42. ^ "A Little Piece of Heaven performed by Avenged Sevenfold". Setlist.FM. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  43. ^ "Songs played total". Setlist.FM. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  44. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold – Live In The LBC & Diamonds In The Rough". Discogs. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  45. ^ ""LIVE IN THE LBC & DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH" COMING TO STREAMING SERVICES". AvengedSevenfold.com. January 17, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  46. ^ Avenged Sevenfold liner notes. Warner Brothers. 2007. p. 9.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Little_Piece_of_Heaven_(song)&oldid=1120842934"