AFI Albums (9)
What The Critics Say
Goth-punk firebrands AFI follow up their smash 2006 effort, Decemberunderground, with the propulsive blast of alterna-glam that is 2009's Crash Love. Sticky with epic swaths of melodic rock and just enough swaggering goth-itude to please the emo-tweens, Crash Love is less mannered than its predecessor and reveals a band exploding with a creative power pop and metal spark. Though lead singer Davey Havok's glitter-goth persona is well intact, it seems tempered here with a bit more punkish muscle and '80s pop croon. These songs have madly obsessive hooks along with a sparkling production that never sacrifices the hard rock energy at the core of each song. In that sense, such tracks as "Too Shy to Scream," with its tribal drumbeat homage to Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes," and the swooning romantic anthem "Veronica Sawyer Smokes" come as double ice cream scoops of sugary rock bliss. Think equal parts solo Morrissey and the Raspberries and you are pretty close. Similarly moving is the pyrrhic mid-album rock ballad "Okay, I Feel Better Now," with Havok's cries of "I died for the last lie/And the heartbreak for the first time/I could not take 'til I made you cry." However, AFI are anything but saccharine, and tracks like the epic fist-pumping leadoff single, "Medicate," with its slabs of distorted Jimmy Page-esque lead guitar lines, and the equally blood pressure-raising "I Am Trying Very Hard to Be Here" are both kick-butt rockers and dancefloor-ready rave-ups. Ultimately, AFI have lightened up the band's darkly sexy vibe on Crash Love and delivered a yearning, perfect pop/rock crush of an album. ~ Matt Collar, All Music Guide
'I Heard a Voice: Live from Long Beach Arena'
Release Date 11/13/2007
Tracks 18
Label Tiny Evil
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What The Critics Say
Everyone loves a good singalong, especially when the person leading it is Davey Havok. AFI's appearance at the Long Beach Arena in September of 2006 is chronicled on I Heard a Voice, which could well be an abbreviation for a longer title, something like, "I heard a voice -- or rather, several thousand voices singing as one." There is indeed plenty of audience participation that takes place on the album, but cheers, chants, and a chorus of fans lend themselves well to AFI's performance, enhancing the experience rather than diminishing it. Call it AFI with the Long Beach/Southern California Concert Chorus, if you will. The set list for the concert focuses mainly on songs from AFI's more recent releases, Decemberunderground and Sing the Sorrow, which on the surface would account for the crowd's enthusiasm. But it quickly becomes apparent that the fans in attendance for this show weren't just there to hear the radio-ready "Miss Murder" (though they get a rousing version of the song at the end of the show). Everyone seems to know the words to all the songs -- not only the simple choruses like, "Hey!" or "Oh!" but verses, cues, even the tones in which all of these elements are delivered. Havok not only recognizes this, he revels in it along with the fans, allowing plenty of interludes during his vocal duties in which the audience takes over. This, in addition to the occasional spoken word aside, makes for a warm, engaging and fun interplay between the people on-stage and the ones in the seats -- and the crowd is actually pretty good. That said, they won't be replacing Havok any time soon; he's certainly no slouch on this album, and delivers a performance that is earnest, theatrical, and ultimately cathartic. In other words, his vocals translate just as well live as they do in the studio. The same can't be said for all of the songs themselves, particularly several from Decemberunderground, which lose some of their magic and polish in a concert setting. It's not the fault of anyone in the band, by any means, who perform with their typical fire and enthusiasm. It's more a device of Decemberunderground's production and effects -- the songs just sound fuller on a studio release. Those who hoped for bigger, louder, arena versions of, say, "The Missing Frame" may be disappointed, but it's no reason to disregard the entire album. On the other side of the coin, however, there are times when the band seems to stick a bit too closely to the studio versions of their songs by way of minimal (if any) variations on the original sounds and themes from their previous discs. It's technically sound and makes the pieces instantly recognizable (perhaps an intentional nod to newer fans), but it cuts down a bit on the spontaneity and excitement factor that is supposed to mark a live show. Things do start to ratchet up a bit toward the end of the disc (starting with "Death of Seasons") as AFI approaches the home stretch and loosens up a bit. After some call and response with the crowd, the band brings things to a close with a version of "Miss Murder" that is looser but no less intense than the original. What makes it work is the audience, who follows Havok's every word and roars in approval with the song's completion. Their inclusion from beginning to end shows that more than anything, I Heard a Voice is a gift to the fans, who AFI thanks repeatedly throughout the disc, an acknowledgement that they are the ones that fuel the band's fire inside. ~ Katherine Fulton, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
AFI is a band lucky to own fiercely loyal fans who embrace -- and ultimately expect -- the gradual transformation the band has undergone with each album since 1999's Black Sails in the Sunset. Where many bands get called out for signing to a major label or even just maturing their sound over time, AFI fans have chiefly stayed devoted to their ever-evolving goth-punk heroes. With that in mind, Decemberunderground comes as AFI's follow-up to their ambitious major-label smash Sing the Sorrow. Due to the clever production tricks employed on that album, fans might expect even more intricate arrangements, sound effects, and sonic landscapes to emerge from the wintry packaging of Decemberunderground. To an extent this is true, but it's more that the cloudy gloom permeating their career thus far has lifted, allowing a relatively tighter and lighter overall album to emerge. Take the band's traditional prelude for instance: this time it's infused with stirring strings and an uplifting dance-pop beat that is a far cry from the dark and eerie call-to-arms chants of previous albums. And though "Kill Caustic" (and later "Affliction") brings AFI's earlier hardcore punch, if you thought "Girl's Not Grey" was poppy, check out this record's lead single, "Miss Murder." Despite a slightly ominous undertone, the glam-tinged song is damn near playful and sunny amid bouncy rhythms, vaguely industrial beats, background "hey!"s (courtesy of AFI's fan brotherhood, the Despair Faction), and a bassline that could have been swiped from Green Day. The band further dips its hand into new wave exploits ("37mm"), truly stirring choruses ("Summer Shudder"), stark electro vibrations ("Love Like Winter"), and the customary ballad ("Endlessly, She Said"). AFI even comes as close as they probably ever will to sounding like U2 in "The Missing Frame." Somehow, the guys have managed to combine hardcore instincts with dark emo-coated lyrics, synth shimmies, gothic aesthetics, and electronic beats into a sound that still remains wholly AFI. So maybe that's why fans have stuck by the band over all these years. Even as the guys stretch and flex their songwriting muscles, they never fail to remember where they came from, instead using their past work as the foundation to their essential growth. Decemberunderground may have more fully realized doses of pop and electronic music present, but the core of AFI's sound never strays too far from what listeners have grown to love about them in the first place. ~ Corey Apar, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
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.'" ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Punk rawkers AFI exude another powerful disposition on their fifth album, The Art of Drowning. Issued on Dexter Holland's Nitro Records, AFI's quick and haughty, spiraling guitar riffs and crashing percussion make for another mishmash for single-fisted anthems for punk revivalists and enigmatic pop kids raging against the machine. Nothing short of Pennywise, D Generation, and Powerman 5000, AFI is rowdy with their old-school-inspired rants like "Ever and a Day" and "Of Greetings and Goodbyes." Frontman Davey Havok casts a rough demeanor, but certainly not anything intimidating because punk rock became friendly after the war of early-'90s grunge. The snarl and sweat are not as fashionable as it once was, but the attitude remains the same. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
'Black Sails in the Sunset'
Release Date 5/18/1999
Tracks 12
Label NIT
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What The Critics Say
A.F.I. continue to grow musically on their fourth full-length album, Black Sails in the Sunset, which features a guest vocal from the Offspring's Dexter Holland. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
'Shut Your Mouth & Open Your Eyes'
Release Date 11/11/1997
Tracks 14
Label NIT
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What The Critics Say
A.F.I.'s second album features lots of warp-speed hardcore riffing topped with one-note melodies and lyrics dealing with various types of personal disillusionment (sample: "I can't be a part of your modern world"). The California quartet valiantly tries to keep hardcore alive, but doesn't put an individual stamp on the music to make it essential listening. ~ Andy Hinds, All Music Guide
'Answer That & Stay Fashionable'
Release Date 8/1/1995
Tracks 17
Label Wingnut
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What The Critics Say
The California foursome's second album betters its predecessor due to fuller production, but A.F.I.'s hurtling hardcore is still undistinguishable from countless similar bands. ~ Andy Hinds, All Music Guide
