Ok when I first reviewed this, the CD had only just come out with little fan-fair or announcement. I had many questions about the poor choices made regarding the presentation on this album. Only now, 7 months after its release, did I do a bit of research to find out the harsh truth that answered all my questions. Why were there records missing from this set- Why were the songs all jumbled up- Why had the band not mentioned this release- WELL because the Record Company (Warner Bros.) had a tantrum when the band tried to leave them, then went ahead and threw together this 'best of’ mess WITHOUT CONSULTING THE BAND in an attempt to damage sales of their latest release “The Stage”. That's why the band never promoted this. That's why the presentation is so poor/cheap. And of course that's why the other 3 albums are missing because they weren't with Warner Bros. When they were created. So, knowing this, make an educated choice on whether you want this CD or not. I enjoy it because it's Avenged Sevenfold but feel really guilty about supporting this horrid behaviour from a professional record producer.
The following was my original review: “Elephant in the room. 3 albums are completely excluded from this set. Why- Their original debut album is regarded as an 'experiment’ with a different record label, different band line-up and VERY different (bad) sound. Their second album "Waking the Fallen” is unique and arguably their best work, definitely a favorite of both the band and fans alike, but it's a little intense compared to the bulk of their music so I get why they left that out, though this “Best of” album could have really benefited from it's inclusion. Personally I don't care much for the recent “The Stage” release so I have no problems with that CD being absent from this collection. Right, now on to the positives. For starters it is AWESOME to finally have the 2 tracks from the Black Ops game series on disc for the first time as I believe they are some of their best work. Personally two of my favourite tracks and are responsible for introducing me to Avenged Sevenfold. It's also nice to have a bit of the little known “Diamond in the Rough” album on here, just for a tad bit of diversity. As for the track list, it's very familiar to any Avenged Sevenfold fan. Obviously most of their singles are here and the selection is as good as it could be (except it's missing 'Scream’). Although one little nit-pick that could be a major negative factor for some people is the order in which the tracks are presented. In most 'Best of/Greatest Hits’ CDs the songs are usually put in the order they were released/presented on their original albums. As someone who listens to the CDs front to back it's a tad off-putting hearing them out of order and I especially despise having 'Hail to the King’ shuffled round in front of 'Shepard of Fire’ as I believe SOF is a perfect intro into HttK. But again that's just me. In fact, while typing this review I begin to like this CD less and less. Like the songs are all here, but the choices in the presentation are baffling. Like why split it into two discs- To separate the passing of Jimmy 'The Rev’- Then why have tracks with him featured at the end of disc 2– Why shuffle all the tracks out of order- Why have the good idea of leaving the slow tracks at the end of disc 1 only to have one smack bang in the middle of disc 2!- Look, this isn't a good starting point for someone looking to get into Avenged Sevenfold, but it is a fine addition to any fans collection and the bonus songs at the end of disc 2 are awesome. (Seriously though, having 2 discs is annoying, especially as it doesn't contain anything from half their albums)"