So, what have we exactly learned?

Jimmy Sullivan. Chances are you don't know him by his name. Slim chance you would even know him by his nickname, "The Rev". Maybe, just maybe...you know his work behind the drum kit with the band Avenged Sevenfold. I did. I discovered this band some years ago. It was their musicianship and harmonies that grabbed my ear and refused to let go...the very things that seem to set them apart from all other contemporaries.

(language)

At the age of 28, Jimmy was found dead in his Huntington Beach home on, ironically, the 28th of December. Preliminary tests were performed and they were inconclusive as to the cause of his death. They are only saying "natural causes" at this point, pending further testing. That's the official word.

Unofficially, don't we think we know what happened here? I do. It's an old story. A story, in fact, at least as old as the tale of Robert Johnson at the crossroads. Death by excess. It was Robert Johnson himself that died at the end of a heroin needle. So many have indeed fallen since, and all equally tragic. This one really caught my attention. Why? First, a guy that's in that kind of shape at that age doesn't die from natural causes. And the story goes that A7x (as they are known in abbreviated form) we're not shy about talking about their "excesses". There's that word again.

I am truly saddened....for the senseless ongoing trend, and for the fact that I haven't seen a drummer of his type and skill level come around in a long, long time. In his playing perhaps the strength of John Bonham and the finesse of Neil Peart can be heard...with a bit of Tommy Aldridge flair thrown in for good measure. Rev's absence changes that A7x band forever.

Another throne now empty, another act's potential unrealized. Fans abandoned.

So, what was it that we've learned exactly from all who have gone before us and taught us these lessons? ...Huh??

I hope I'm wrong...but you and I both know I'm probably not.

~Zander