M. Shadows admitted that Avenged Sevenfold‘s 2008 track “Girl I Know” makes him “wince” in a recent discussion online.
The song was included on the band’s album Diamonds in the Rough, which featured a collection of b-sides and unreleased material from their earlier studio sessions. Originally issued as a CD in 2008 along with the live DVD Live in the LBC, Diamonds in the Rough became available on streaming services in January of 2020 and was issued as a limited-edition clear vinyl the following month.
“Girl I Know” is apparently not a fan-favorite, according to some posts on the Avenged Sevenfold Reddit page.
“I can’t speak for everyone, but I hate it because the riffs are generic and the lyrics are cringeworthy. It sounds like a typical 2000’s hard rock song,” one person wrote in a discussion post specifically about the song.
“It’s their take at Iron Maiden’s ‘Acacia Avenue’ and it’s great but not as great as Maiden’s,” another person added.
A new post by someone on the page shows a screenshot of a comment Shadows made about the song himself on Discord.
“I think I’m like everyone here… It’s like looking at an old picture of yourself and you wince… ‘Girl I Know’ is the pinnacle of that. Others to certain degrees,” the singer wrote.
Avenged Sevenfold, ‘Girl I Know’
The screenshot doesn’t show what comment Shadows was responding to, so it’s unclear whether the discussion started about that song in particular, or if he was asked which of the band’s songs are among his least favorite.
This isn’t entirely surprising as the vocalist has named “Girl I Know” as one of his least favorites in the past. During a 2017 AskAnythingChat video, he named it as one of his least favorites, adding that “the lyrics are incredibly cheesy.”
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What, he dislikes the opening lines, “Let me tell you about a girl I know /
That comes alive when you take off her clothes”?
He further added that his least favorite Avenged song that made it onto one of their studio albums is “Unbound (The Wild Ride),” which is from their 2007 self-titled album. Maybe it’s coincidence that most of the Diamonds in the Rough songs were also recorded during their self-titled album sessions?
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