Customer Reviews

Sing the Sorrow

5 star:		(808)
4 star:		(141)
3 star:		(43)
2 star:		(40)
1 star:		(49)

 

 

Leaving Nitro, and signing with Dreamworks, AFI changes their style somewhat and not for the worst. Thought to have sold out by many of their long-time hard core fans, AFI enters new territory on their musical journey with Sing the Sorrow. AFI has done anything but "sell out." I've been a fan since Black Sails in the Sunset, and this album did not dissapoinment me in the least. It's true their first single, "Girl's Not Grey," is probably their most radio friendly song ever, but it's still AFI and it definetly isn't anything close to pop. These guys have been around a while now, and they're finally getting the respect and recognition they deserve.

This entire cd is simply incredible. Every song is outstanding. The lyrics are great and Davey delivers them beatutifully with high emotion, making you forget everything but the music. I can't recommend this cd highly enough. AFI owns.

It begins with "Miseria Cantare- The Beginning." An opening with Davey proclaiming "you are now one of us." Then "The Leaving Song Pt 2" which is the second single and one of my favorite songs on the cd. "break down and cease all feeling...burn now what once was breathing...reach out, and you may take my heart away." Awesome. Couldn't stop singing this one for months. "Bleed Black" is more upbeat, and Davey screams through much of the song. "Silver and Cold" is one of the slower songs on the album. It's neat. "Dancing Through Sunday" is probably the fastest song of all and Davey yells most of the song. Very awesome. "Girl's not Grey" is the first single, and the song that opened many people's eyes to AFI whom had never heard of the band before. Good song, but not one my favorites personally. "Death of Seasons" seems to be an album favorite for many, with Davey yelling through the verses and beautifully singing the chorus - "I watch the stars as they fall from the sky. I held a fallen star and it wept for me. I feel the fallen stars encircle me now as they cry." - some of my favorite lyrics from the album. "The Great Disappointment" is one of my favorite songs. The line "While I waited I was wasting away" is very catchy, and carries the song. "Paper Airplanes (Makeshift wings)" is simply amazing and is high energy from beginning to end. Very awesome song. "This Celluloid Dream" is another of my favs, beginning with Davey's signature "oh." I really like Jade's guitar on this track, and I found myself singing this one a lot. "The Leaving Song" is soft and slow, but the lyrics are great and this song shows just how great Davey Havok's voice is to listen to. "...But Home is Nowhere" is the last song, and there is a lot of yelling in this one. Also, "This Time Imperfect" is at the end as the hidden track, and it's soft and slow.

Really, after listening to this cd for months, I have to say that this is AFI at their best.

Is it punk? Is it goth? Alternative? Metal? Play this CD for 10 different people and I bet few of them will agree on how to categorize it. And that's one of the things that makes it great. If you were an AFI fan from their early days of three-chord songs on Answer That and Stay Fashionable, then this likely wouldn't appeal to you. This is not punk in the sense that their earlier CDs were (and yes, I have heard them). But the punk influence is still there, particularly in the vocals on "but home is nowhere" and "Bleed Black." To someone who only listens to pop on the radio, they would think this is punk. To someone who thinks Crass is real punk, they obviously wouldn't. If you look through the one-star reviews, a lot of them are from people who are mad that AFI "sold out" to sign to a major label and no longer sounds like they did when they were writing about breakfast cereal. Nor is this goth, per se, but if you only read the lyric sheet and looked at a photo of the band in this era, you might assume they are goth.

Okay, on with the review: this CD is amazing. I grew up listening to old punk and goth, and yet my days of wanting to listen to those exclusively are mostly over. Life has gotten too complicated for me to invest time and energy into being concerned with categorization or "selling out." AFI appeals to that part of me that liked those styles of music, because I can still hear those influences. My favorite songs on this CD vary almost by the day, and I love each of them best at different times. From the atmospheric call to arms of "Miseria Cantare" to the incredibly energizing and almost bouncy "This Celluloid Dream," there's enough variety here to keep it interesting. It's not like listening to the same song over and over. "...but home is nowhere" is positively epic. The lyrics are worthwhile to read and commit to memory, dark and almost poetic at times. If, like me, you grew up listening to The Cure, Bauhaus, Joy Division, etc. you might just love this CD. Davey Havok and the guys in AFI are combining varied influences in an interesting, complex way. The passion in this music is undeniable. After I got this CD, it was almost three weeks before I even wanted to listen to anything else, just because I kept discovering something new with subsequent listens. All of AFI's CDs have something to offer, and I really like all of them for different reasons. But this one is a true masterpiece and a great introduction for anyone considering checking out AFI.

After two years of anticipation, AFI fans have gotten what they've been so dedicatedly waiting for. Sing the Sorrow is AFI's first album released on DreamWorks Records and will never be forgotten; simply because of the elegance portrayed throughout the entire CD.
AFI starts the CD off with a brilliant chant, "Miseria Cantare (The Beginning)", causing older fans to reminisce on the legendary, "through our bleeding, we are one" hymn. Then, soothingly, "The Leaving Song Pt.2" begins with Jade's hypnotic guitar riff. Davey even speaks in Spanish, leading the song to sound even more amazing. Tracks like, "Bleed Black", "Girls Not Grey", "Paper Airplanes (Makeshift Wings)" and "This Celluloid Dream" are indeed very catchy. I'd be lying if I said I didn't dance as these songs progressed into further bliss. Not only has Davey's lyrics gotten darker and more mysterious, he's been so beautifully yelling in fast paced songs such as, "Dancing Through Sundays" and "Death of Seasons". But fortunately, AFI hasn't left out the greatness of melody. "Silver and Cold", and "The Great Disappointment" remind me that AFI is truly one of the most talented bands ever, that brings purity into every form of art they pursue. Together, the four guys convey genuine melodic vibes into the album. Not to mention, the post-"Morning Star" with "The Leaving Song". And as if that isn't enough, AFI poetically ends the album with the immaculate "This Time Imperfect" -- which honestly leaves me infatuated with the band more than ever.
This is without a doubt, the album of 2003! Sing the Sorrow has it all; the yelling, the darkened lyrics, to-die-for bass lines, piercing drum beats, unique guitar riffs, the fast techno clip in "Death of Seasons" and a lot more. AFI fans won't be disappointed with this album at all!

After patiently waiting for a follow up to the 2000 release of the album "The Art of Drowning", AFI's newest album arrived in stores on March 11, 2003. On my drive to the local music store that day, I was asking myself what AFI could possibly have in store this time after several fantastic albums aside from "The Art Of Drowning" such as "Shut Your Mouth And Open Your Eyes" or "Black Sails In The Sunset". I soon found out quickly after purchasing the album. AFI are by far one of my favorite bands, and they prove why by delivering another passion filled roller coaster ride in the form of a CD. The sounds featured on the disc are a beautiful mixture. Some songs will go from a raging barrage of aggression to a soothing bridge that permits the listener's heart rate to slow down just enough to go back to another wall of passion filled music. The emotion on this album is amazing, and it really shows that the members of the band are pouring their hearts and souls into the music. When Davey screams and sings his heart out, you can feel it. When Jade delivers an amazing guitar part or a guitar solo you truly experience everything. When Adam delivers pounding drumbeats and Hunter rips through the music with a sonic energy, you can't help but see and feel every portion and every emotion that was put into the creation of their vision for this album. The music on this album is indescribable and each song has it's own soul, so because of that this album is phenomenal and leaves you feeling as if you've experienced something truly amazing. So while other fans may cry "sell-out" because of their switch from NITRO Records to Dreamworks Records, I'll stay true to this band because there is nothing wrong with evolution, and I am eager to see what AFI evolves into next.

AFI's first major label release is nothing less than a masterpiece. "Sing the Sorrow" is more or less saga with underlying themes of love, abandonment, death, and resurrection. The songs all seem to be intricately connected which results in a very tight album.

Lead singer Davey Havok comes to life at the beginning of the album with Miseria Cantare, a loud and primal intro to a turbulent CD. "Nothing from no where I'm no one at all..." his voice rises from the accompanied chants of "love your hate, your faith lost, you are now one of us". The lyrics are abstract and should be examined closely for a full understanding-it is not meant to be background music. The beginning of the CD is at a reflective state on what is to happen at the end. In the swaying melodies of "Bleed Black" the protagonist seems to be crumbling, "flowing", and "numbing". The somber breakdown gives away the tragic ending. "I know what died that night. It could never be brought back to life once again, I know. I know I died that night and I'll never be brought back to life." These lines refer to the hidden track "This Time Imperfect" the finale of the album where the listener is exposed to the protagonist's death. "I cannot leave here, I cannot stay. Forever haunted, more than afraid. Asphyxiate on words I would say. I'm drawn to a blackened sky as I turn blue." Tragically, the character dies and cannot finish the last line, "I'd show a smile, but I'm too weak. I'd share with you, could I only speak, just how much this hurts me...just how much this hurts me...just how much you..." In between these crucial events, the rest of the album unfolds beautifully. It seems as if the stormy and rainy introduction to "Silver and Cold" is where the protagonist's story actually begins. The song is about companionship and sacrificing one's self for it. From there the songs take off, expressing the urgency of fleeing. "What follows will swallow whole," is stated in "Girl's Not Grey". "Death of Seasons" shows the hatred involved: "Of late it's harder just to go outside, to leave this deadspace with hatred so alive. Writhing with sickness, thrown into banality, I decay. Killed by the weakness, but forced to return." Although this banal force is unclear and the reasons behind the difficulty to "go outside" or "to leave" are also a mystery, the task is attempting to understand. That is where the listener is actively involved and takes her enjoyment. "The Great Disappointment" is about a broken promise, the disappointment involved, waiting, and reflecting in a dreamlike state. This leads into "Paper Airplanes" which takes the listener into the protagonist's seclusion. "Anathema I will remain, forever will remain." Anathema, according to my dictionary is "one that is cursed or damned." As the CD begins to reach a closing, the gentle "Leaving Song" plays. This seems to be the end of hope and the beginning of a certainly doomed journey. "All the cracks will lead right to me and all the cracks will crawl right through me, and I fell apart as I walked away." "...But Home Is Nowhere" is the final real track. We have now reached the end. This is the last struggle. "I lay strewn across the floor, can't solve this puzzle. Everyday another small piece can't be found. I lay strewn across the floor pieced up in sorrow. The pieces are lost, these pieces don't fit. Pieced together incomplete and empty." The image of the wrought body laying on the floor remains with you as you reach the hidden track, "This Time Imperfect", where, like stated, the body is on its back and sees the blackened sky and passes away. As you can see, there are obvious connections from song to song throughout this album. The same electronic sounds rise after this song and the CD is meant to be repeated. The protagonist is brought back to life and is thrown into the cycle once again. This makes sense as now we hear "The Leaving Song Pt. 2". If the protagonist's journey began at "Silver and Cold", he would venture over the first leaving song, then be brought back to life to see the second.

However you want to look at it, "Sing the Sorrow" evokes wonder and raises questions. The inquisitiveness that is brought on is even elevated to a new high when watching "Clandestine", an obscure movie that is included with the DVD pack. If you have not experienced this album, you are missing out on something beautiful. Embrace the wonder of "Sing the Sorrow" and you will not be disappointed. The band is inviting you from their liner notes: "...to those who will, with us, forever sing the sorrow, to those who understand... we appreciate you wholly." The fun is in trying to understand.

It's funny reading so called AFI fans saying oh they sold out and what not. A million dollars says that if this album was on Nitro records you all would love it or if Answer that was on a major you would hate it. Since when does being on a major label mean your a sell-out? I guess all you knowledgeable people would know that every Sex Pistols, Clash, Ramones, X, Stooges album was on a major label as well as many other influental punk bands. Yes the sound is different on this album but every AFI album except for the first two sounds different from the previous. People are saying, oh Davey is fake and pretending to be goth and what not now. Their last few records were very dark records especially The Art Of Drowning, which is hailed as their best. Davey's lyrics have always been poetic and dark. Davey grew up listening to goth music like Sisters Of Mercy and Bahaus and it's not like his dark image or the bands dark image is new. They've had it for years. Is thw album overproduced? No because Nitro doesn't have as much money as their major label does to make it sound as crisp and clear.

If you were a fan of this band before and ditched them once they got big that makes you the sell-out, not them. They never elected to be all over mtv. It wasn't like they set out to do so. They had the blessing from Nitro to leave. Nitro records is owned by millionaire REAL sellout Dexter Holland of the Offspring who DID stab his label in the back so in reality they were working for a millionaire corporate .... anyways. Yes they are on MTV and yes kids are showing up to their shows that won't be devoted to them when something new comes along but it's nothing new. A true fan doesn't ditch their bands. AFI still plays small clubs for their fans and still are very down to earth guys and helping out the smaller bands. How on Earth does that make them a sellout? Sing The Sorrow hands down is one of 2003's best albums. It's a much much more mature album compaired to the childish almost pop punk sound and nature on their first two albums. Changing your sound isn't a form of selling out. Making the same record over and over and over is a form of selling out. AFI easily could've made the same record again as the last one but why would you want something you already own. There are already bands like SugarRay and The Offspring making the same songs over and over because that's what keeps their career alive. I'm willing to be the next AFI record will sound different from this one which might lead some tools who loved Sorrow to dub them sellouts. For all you little close minded elitists why not follow AFI's motto and Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes. This is an amazing record and if you dislike it NOFX keeps making the same exact record over and over again so you can go buy that.

The members of AFI have spent their respective careers growing and, as a result, changing. Some people don't like it, but others are able to recognize their growth and appreciate it. People complain that "Sing the Sorrow" doesn't sound like "The Art of Drowning"/"Black Sails In the Sunset", but when those two albums came out, people complained that they didn't sound enough like "Very Proud of Ya"/"Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes". Basically, AFI can't win with everyone.

"Sing the Sorrow", to me, marks a pinnacle in singer Davey Havok's maturity and experience as a musician, a writer, and a person. Davey's fans love him so because he is honest without being sappy. He uses thought-provoking vocabulary to lace together cinematic imagery. It is very silly and cliche to say Davey "feels your pain" but I know that's why I lot of fans love AFI/Davey - they feel he understands what it's like to be a dark person with an inner light. For all of the dark, gothic, melancholic imagery associated with AFI, especially with "Sing the Sorrow", I still find there to be a lot of hope, a lot of luminescence from the coupling of Davey Havok's singing/lyrics and the band's musical performance.

I would have to say that guitarist Jade Puget and bass player Hunter Burgan are at their most courageous on this album. Part of the most enthralling aspect of AFI is the talent of the individual members of the band. Four talented men come together to form this band, and they work perfectly together. "Sing the Sorrow" brings listeners their most intimate encounter with Jade and Hunter. At times in the past, even on AFI's "best" albums, the energetic guitar and bass players are sometimes over-shadowed by the power of Davey Havok's presence in the songs. But on "Sing the Sorrow" it is easy to listen as Jade and Hunter firmly make their position in the band known, without being overbearing. They were both experimental and brave, which is to be applauded.

Lastly, but certainly not least, drummer Adam Carson wraps the whole enchanting experience up in a rock-solid package. The power of the drums is, in my opinion, what gives AFI a violent shove into the goth-rock/punk categories. Adam is very controlled and strong, especially on "Sing the Sorrow". He, like Jade and Hunter, makes his abilities known without making anything sound out of place or aloof. As the only original member of AFI next to Davey Havok, Adam has every right to let his confidence be known and show through.

AFI have paid their dues to punk rock. They've secured a fan following more dedicated than most parent-child bonds. They've been a band recording music for over ten years and have yet to bore their listeners. "Sing the Sorrow" is an excellent step in the direction of no longer being the punk-rock boys many have grown attached to, but becoming the rock star men that we will admire. The album has a definite producer's touch, but not in the bad way that description may connote. It sounds clean. It sounds refined. It sounds deliberate. There are no accidental moments of amaze on "Sing the Sorrow" - if AFI wanted you to feel like your heart was about to explode, it does; if AFI wanted you to feel a cold hand slide across your neck, you do; if AFI wanted you to get up and dance and not be able to resist, you will.

I would not recommend "Sing the Sorrow" as the album to hear first out of the AFI collection. If a new listener were to pick up and love "Sing the Sorrow", it would likely taint AFI's previous albums for them. The new listener might never be able to appreciate the progression of AFI's sound. Any lover of AFI who has been around since the beginning could be disappointed with "Sing the Sorrow" if they are not able to be open to the experience, but the fans of this band tend to cozy up next to whatever morsel of musical endeavor AFI sends their way.

"Sing the Sorrow" is an unabashed album that AFI has every right to be proud of. It's skillful, technical, at some times lovely, at other times unkempt, catchy and alienating - ultimately, I don't know what else you could ask for. They went out on a limb and made an album that felt natural for them. They were intrepid and so is "Sing the Sorrow".

Since my brief history record with this record is important to how I feel about it today, I figure I should bring you up to date.
I first heard A.F.I. on the 2001 Warped Tour and liked them immediatly. Being a fan, in equal parts, of punk music and the darker pop sounds of the Cure, the Smiths, Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, I instantly saw a group that I could get into. I quickly purchased "The Art of Drowning" and the "All Hallows" E.P. and loved them and set my sights on a new record.
The day it came out my friend Russ and I drove an hour and a half to the nearest Best Buy where the record was going for $5.99 and each purchased a copy. We returned to my house and set down to listen to it. For the next hour and a half we listened to this sucker twice, never actually saying anything to one another while it was playing. When it was done, the stunned look on my face and his was the same: holy crap, this record is brilliant!
So for the next six months this was practically the only record I listened to, day in and day out, blaring it from my stereo at all hours of the day, preaching its genius from the rooftops to anyone who would(or wouldn't) listen to my incoherant babblings.
Then a funny thing happened. I stopped listening to it. I started listening more and more to the brilliance of the Smiths and the Cure and the Talking Heads and this record, battered and bruised from months of constant playing, collected dust in my C.D. stack. So much so that when hard up for cash I ran this record thru the good old skip fixer(this record had stopped working pretty early on) and sold it for $6.25 to the local C.D store(more than I paid for it!!!), and went on about my life.
At this point I should say that I am not of the screaming fan variety. With the exception of "Sing the Sorrow" the only other record I listened to so consistantly was Nine Inch Nails "The Fragile"(which i still listen to quite frequently). So after a good six months I found that not only did I miss "Sing the Sorrow", but I really wanted it again. So this is my review of the reaction of hearing it with fresh ears.
"Sing the Sorrow" isn't your older brothers A.F.I. Gone, for the most part, are the genreic hardcore riffs and attitude that marked their first few records. They have been replaced by arena heavy gloom pop, anthemic songs for dark nights and long days. The songs embrace electronic elements for the first time on tracks like the lead off "intro" track "Misera Cantare" and the excellent psudo-industrial breakdown to "Death of Seasons".
Each song comes equipped with an air tight meolody and choruses that demand to be screamed back at the band by twenty thousand people in a large arena. Jade proves to be one of rocks most inventive and talented guitar players, whether playing laid back riffs like the intro of "Girls Not Grey" or the breakneck solos that compliment a few tracks. Lead singer Davey Havek is one of rocks best frontman, recalling a more energetic(and not nearly as fat) Robert Smith with screaming abilities, a man stuck in a permanent state of sadness.
There really is nothing wrong with "Sing the Sorrow" with the exception of a few of the lyrics that seem to be there only to prove two things:
1. Davey Havek has a big vocabulary of multi-syllable words and uses them correctly most of the time("imbured" on "Girls not Grey" is used in the wrong context in every way).
2. Davey really wants you to do well on the verbal parts of your SAT/ ACT test.
After loving this record and then promptely forgetting it, I have now come up with a far more complacent feeling on it: This is a really good album, not brilliant, mind-blowingly flawless, but a strong, great listen that is sure to be remembered fondly. Now let's just see where they go from here, shall we?

I just got this cd yesterday and I am truly amazed. I have listened to the cd over and over nonstop. I own 4 of their other releases: Shut Your Mouth & Open Your Eyes, All Hallows E.P., Black Sails In The Sunset, and The Art Of Drowning, and this is better than all of them. But be warned: this is far different than the AFI you're used to. This is more of Davey singing rather than yelling, and Jade changes his style of guitar a little. Hunter, I'm happy to say, is still a freakin genious. You don't hear anything like "The Prayer Position" or "Weathered Tome" on this album, though. My personal favorites are "The Leaving Song Pt. 2", where Davey starts singing in latin, "Dancing Through Sunday", where Jade breaks out an awesome 80's hair band solo, and my total favorite "Death of Seasons", which features Davey screaming through the verses like I've never heard him before, and in the second verse the whole song goes techno and Davey is screaming over it. This album is magnificant. Although it is on a major record deal, although it is much slower than their other albums, and although it is less hardcore, I still beleive it is their best. They may have changed, but it was definetly for the better.

There's no denying that this an exceptional album. It is one of the best albums I've heard in a while. The music is enthralling, the lyrics are beautiful. But there's one problem. It doesn't sound like the AFI I have grown to love. Their style has changed, not for better, not for worse. It just changed. Now I'm not gonna bash them and say they sold out. I understand that as artists, they needed to explore new territories in their music (ie. the techno sample in Death of Seasons), not just stay in a rut making the same CD over and over again. But if you're purchasing this album with the thought that you are buying just another AFI album, you will be sorely disappointed. They are a very different band now.