"Almost Easy" is a song by American
heavy metal band
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead gui ...
. It is the second song as well as lead single from their
self-titled fourth album. The song is one of the band's most popular tracks, and has been certified Platinum by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
.
Background
"Almost Easy" was written by band drummer
The Rev
James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), also known by his stage name The Rev (shortened version of ''the Reverend Tholomew Plague''), was an American musician, best known as a founding member of the heavy metal band Aven ...
.
The song first premiered at a concert in Virginia during Avenged Sevenfold's appearances during 2007's
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...
. The song was officially released on September 18, 2007 through online music stores such as
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
and
URGE.
Appearances
The song was included on
''Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' soundtrack. Originally, it was planned to be on the 2007
''Transformers'' soundtrack; however, it was not finished in time. The song is available as downloadable content for ''
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock'' as of March 6, 2008, and featured again as part of the Avenged Sevenfold track pack for ''
Guitar Hero 5
''Guitar Hero 5'' is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment and the ninth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internationally in ...
''. The song is also featured in ''
Rock Band 2
''Rock Band 2'' is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to ''Rock Band (video game), Rock Band'' (2007) and the second installment in the Rock Band, ''Rock Band ' ...
''.
The song was also featured on 2007 racing video game ''
Need for Speed: ProStreet''.
On the ''
Diamonds in the Rough'' album an alternate mix of "Almost Easy" is included. This version, mixed by
Chris Lord-Alge
Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic range compression for molding mixes that ...
, included triggered drums, alternate vocals, and louder guitars and pianos. This is the version featured in ''
Need for Speed: ProStreet''.
In December 2008 it was announced that the USC Trojan Marching Band would perform the song at the Rose Bowl halftime show on January 1, 2009.
Music video
The band released a video for "Almost Easy" with director
P.R. Brown. The video debuted on
Fuse's ''The Sauce'' on September 24, 2007 and
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
's Unleashed on October 1, 2007.
The video shows the band playing on a barren
wasteland whilst they appear to be aflame. Over a ridge, a huge crowd of hundreds of people appear, walking in a
zombie
A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...
-like fashion towards the band, only to stop at a large gaping hole and jump downwards, into what appears to be
Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
. Special effects show some parts where the people have
skull
The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate.
In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...
s for faces.
At the end of the video, when the last person jumps down the cavern, the camera zooms out from the band, showing that the hole the people were jumping into was actually the eye of the band's logo, the "Deathbat". The band stated in an interview with Fuse host Steven Smith on Steven's Untitled Rock Show that the inspiration for the video came from a
Wendy's
Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...
commercial they saw in Asia in which a large crowd is running toward the same hamburger.
M. Shadows then said "Wouldn't it be cool if we (Avenged Sevenfold) were playing in a fiery blaze and a bunch of people were running towards us," an idea that would eventually become the video. As of April 2020, it has over 40 million views on YouTube.
Track listing
;
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
single
;UK single
# "Almost Easy" – 3:54
# "
Walk
Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...
– 5:20
# "Almost Easy (live)" – 3:53
;UK promo single
# "Almost Easy" – 3:55
;UK single
# "Almost Easy" – 3:56
# "Almost Easy (live)" – 3:53
Note: All versions have exactly the same album version of "Almost Easy" (except for the live version). Simply, each version has one more second of silence at the end.
Personnel
Avenged Sevenfold
*
M. Shadows – lead vocals, backing vocals
* Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
*
The Rev
James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), also known by his stage name The Rev (shortened version of ''the Reverend Tholomew Plague''), was an American musician, best known as a founding member of the heavy metal band Aven ...
- drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals
*
Synyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals
* Johnny Christ – bass guitar, backing vocals
Session musicians
* Piano by
Greg Kurstin
Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and contributed to five songs that pe ...
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
Charts
Certifications
References
{{authority control
Avenged Sevenfold songs
2007 singles
2007 songs
Warner Records singles
Thrash metal songs
Songs written by The Rev
Music videos directed by P. R. Brown