"Dear God" is a
country rock
Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...
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 was released as the fourth single from their
self-titled fourth studio album, and is the closing track on the album.
Overview
"Dear God" was released as the fourth single from the album. The song was a deviation from the band's usual
heavy metal style, taking on more of a
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
feel. Johnny Christ stated that the inspiration for the song came from the band's friendship with country act
Big & Rich
Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a sol ...
. Their influence can be heard in the background vocals of
MuzikMafia member Shanna Crooks.
Track listing
Charts
Personnel
All credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
;Avenged Sevenfold
*
M. Shadows – lead vocals, backing vocals
*Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, acoustic 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
Brian Elwin Haner Jr. (born July 7, 1981), better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. He ranks No. 9 on ''Guitar World''s best m ...
– lead guitar, backing vocals
*Johnny Christ – bass guitar, backing vocals
;Session musicians
*
Lap,
pedal steel
The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...
and
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin.
...
by
Greg Leisz
Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, banjo, lap steel and pedal steel guitar.
Biography
Leisz grew up in the garage ba ...
*Additional vocals by Shanna Crooks
;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
Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...
by
Brian Gardner
Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance-p ...
*
Drum tech by Mike Fasano
*Guitar tech by Walter Rice
*'Fan Producers for a Day' (
MVI) by Daniel McLaughlin and Christopher Guinn
References
{{Authority control
2008 songs
Avenged Sevenfold songs
American country music songs