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AFI Album: “Sing the Sorrow [Bonus Track]”
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Sing the Sorrow [Bonus Track] |
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Release Date:2003-04-28
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Type:Unknown
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Genre:Today's Big Hits, Emo, New School Punk Rock
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Label:Universal
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Explicit Lyrics:Yes
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UPC:4988005333025
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Review - :
{^Sing the Sorrow}, their {@DreamWorks} debut, isn't the wholesale departure from {$AFI}'s roots that some longtime fans griped about. It is merely the next step on a path that began with 1999's {^Black Sails in Sunset}, the first album to feature guitarist {$Jade Puget}. Assuming the role of principal songwriter, {$Puget} wrapped vocalist {$Davey Havok}'s gothic tendencies in songs that put a finer point on the aggressive {\hardcore} of {$AFI}'s earlier material, and massaged hooks from a morass of crashing rhythm, {\punk rock} riffs, and {$Havok}'s opaque lyrics. The backing of {@DreamWorks} meant that {$AFI} could now hire major-league production to tweak what {$Puget} had started. And they did. Work on {$AFI}'s major-label bow began in August of 2002 at L.A.'s {@Cello Studios}, with {$Butch Vig} ({$Nirvana}, {$Smashing Pumpkins}) and {$Jerry Finn} ({$Green Day}, {$Rancid}) at the helm. Emerging in early 2003 with {^Sing the Sorrow}, it's clear the molting process {$AFI} began with {^Black Sails in Sunset} is complete. {$Vig} and {$Finn} kept the band's nucleus of pummeling California {\hardcore} but stretched the songs lengthwise to incorporate greater lyrical introspection for {$Havok} and even more attention to melody than on previous efforts. Oscillating between churning verses and intersecting solos and riffs, {&"The Great Disappointment"} is like junior-varsity {$Fugazi}, while the heroic {\emo} chord changes of {&"This Celluloid Dream"} transform {$Havok}'s preening wail into a sensitive croon, and single {&"Girls Not Grey"} is a car-radio singalong of pure genius. It's true that the anthemic backing vocal choruses of material like {&"Girls Not Grey"} and {&"Bleed Black"} make the songs more {\pop} than {\hardcore} or even {$Havok}'s beloved goth. And the distorted synth and drum programming on {&"Silver and Cold"} and {&"Death of Seasons"} is a cheeky production trick that isn't very successful when married to the songs' upbeat choruses. But neither the producers nor the band went overboard. Just when the strings, piano, and rainstorm effects threaten to turn {^Sing the Sorrow} into a {$My Dying Bride} album, there is a burst of {\hardcore} like {&"Dancing Through Sunday"} to recall California pioneers of the genre like {$Dead Kennedys} or {@SST} transplants {$Hüsker Dü}. Whatever factions of the band's longterm fans might think of their major-label affiliation, {^Sing the Sorrow} represents a coalescing of the band's sound. And that's fine with {$AFI}. "People have always either hated us or loved us," guitarist {$Puget} told {/MTV.com}. "And the reactions tend to be pretty extreme on both sides, but the hatred is just as cool because people are actually reacting. It's either, 'F*ck those guys,' or 'I f*ckin' love {$AFI}. They rock.'" [A Japanese version added a bonus track.] ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
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![AFI Album: “Sing the Sorrow [Bonus Track]”](http://www.poprockbands.com/covers_yaA/afi/2003_170_170_Sing%2520the%2520Sorrow%2520%255BBonus%2520Track%255D.jpg "AFI Album: “Sing the Sorrow [Bonus Track]”")
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