# “They said, ‘We feel shafted. You didn’t let us know’”: What Avenged Sevenfold learned from The Stage

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/they-said-we-feel-shafted-you-didnt-let-us-know-what-avenged-sevenfold-learned-from-the-stage/
- Published: 2026-11-03T10:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T10:29:58+00:00
- Original publisher: Louder
- Original article: https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/avenged-sevenfold-the-stage-lessons-learned-m-shadows
- Topics: Americas, Art, Business, Culture, Entertainment, Markets, Music, World

## Key points

- *The Stage* was released as a surprise in 2016.
- Some fans felt left out by the sudden launch.
- The band learned to communicate more with listeners.

## Summary

Avenged Sevenfold’s 2016 album *The Stage* marked a major change in the band’s release strategy: they announced it with little warning and made it available immediately. Singer M. Shadows says the surprise launch was intended to create excitement, but the band learned that leaving fans uninformed could make them feel excluded.

After the album, some fans told the band, “We feel shafted. You didn’t let us know.” Shadows says they took that response seriously and recognised the value of bringing listeners along with them. The article presents the experience as a lesson in balancing surprise with communication.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.