This review is part of a series looking back at significant albums on their anniversaries. Through the benefit of hindsight we will be viewing the album not just as it was released, but how it stands the test of time, as well as its place in the band’s discography and the genre in general.
Dreamworks Records – 11 Mar 2023
Reflecting on a roadmap twenty years gone (FFO: posthardcore, but also AFI)
Like any good anniversary review, I was reminded by a tweet. Gwarsenio Hall, host of Two Minutes to Late Night, released their latest cover celebrating the twentieth anniversary of AFI‘s first major label effort, Sing the Sorrow. In honor of the anniversary, I decided to pen this review.
In thinking about A Fire Inside’s storied career, I can’t help but draw comparisons to Black Flag. AFI is a band much like
Black Flag. The OC hardcore legends had two distinct phases1—first, their hectic hardcore punk phase in the late 70s, and then second, their metallic, proto-sludge phase in the early 80s. You can usually tell something about friends based upon which side of My War they prefer.
Similarly, AFI also has two phases of their career.
AFI’s first LP, Answer That and Stay Fashionable, was released in 1996. This record is best known for its humorous anthems “I Wanna Get a Mohawk (But Mom Won’t Let Me Get One)” and “High School Football Hero”. Shortly thereafter, the band signed with Nitro Records and released Very Proud of Ya. While AFI maintained some of the humor of their first release with “Cruise Control”, Davey Havok began maturing into the more serious East Bay hardcore with songs like “He Who Laughs Last” and “Perfect Fit”.
AFI’s third LP, 1997’s Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes, moved into darker, more serious territory. Throughout all 14 tracks, Havok sharpens his Danzig impression on stellar tracks like “A Single Second” and “Coin Return”. Soon thereafter, the band took a gothic turn on 1999’s Black Sails in the Sunset, as exemplified by the songs “Malleus Maleficarum” and “God Called in Sick Today”.
Much like Black Flag’s The First Four Years, you might release these albums as The First Four LPs. When listening to them sequentially, you have a California band slowly finding its sound, with its singer and lyricist finding his voice.
That culminates with 2000’s The Art of Drowning, which is AFI’s last full length on Nitro. Much like Black Flag’s Damaged, this is the apex of early AFI—an unskippable LP of sheer bangers. Across these fourteen tracks, the band perfects their melding of emotive East Bay hardcore and Glenn Danzig, starting with the intro “Initiation” and gliding through “Of Greetings and Goodbyes” and album standout “Days of the Phoenix”, ultimately concluding with “Morningstar”.
In 2002, AFI had outgrown their label and needed to follow up on their last LP. Much like Black Flag with My War, they were continuing to evolve as songwriters and musicians. In creating Sing the Sorrow, they released an album with one foot firmly placed in their past. But like Ginn, Rollins and Co. on My War, AFI continued to evolve into their next musical style that they would pursue through the next six albums.
Courtesy of the crisp production and guidance of Butch Vig and Jerry Finn, the AFI lads churned out a classic of the early aughts. It was not well received by many fans, including my 18 year old self. Back in the day, I took a cab to The Sound Garden in Syracuse where I dropped a pretty penny on the special limited edition. I’d hoped I would hear more of All Hallows EP and less of The Cure. With the benefit of twenty years of hindsight (and having resold the special limited edition for a far prettier penny about a decade later), I’m ready to revisit this record with fresh ears.
“Miseria Cantare – The Beginning” starts off Sing the Sorrow with big bells, bigger drums and raspy gang vocals, which lead into the album’s second single, “The Leaving Song Pt. II.” This slow burner highlights Havok’s vocals, which transcend the former Danzig impersonation. While Davey has clearly found his own unique voice, I once felt and continue to feel that Havok has replaced the earlier urgency and fury with a high pitched yowl.
On the album’s third and final single, “Silver and Cold”, AFI eschews their standard 4/4 time signature, waltzing and chugging their way in 6/8 time. Over the last two decades, I have apparently become a sucker for 6/8, and I found myself drumming along my keyboard on repeated listens. The chorus is catchier than I remember, and this is the only song to get stuck in my head.
The lead single, “Girl’s Not Grey”, was seemingly built for KROQ in flyover country. Unsurprisingly, the song was huge on my local modern rock station. Listening to it again evokes the same feelings that I have when hearing Turnstile on modern rock stations nowadays—I’m happy for the band’s success, but I can’t help that the band has better songs that should be assaulting the airwaves.
The second half of the album is a letdown, however. While Davey Havok shows he has some fire left in his belly on newfound favorite “Death of Seasons”, an apt moniker for this side of the wax is track 8—“The Great Disappointment”. These songs are slower and full of pianos and arpeggios. Most notably, they are the clear roadmap to the new several AFI full lengths, for which I have little love.
I reckon that sounds a bit like My War.
In the end, Sing the Sorrow is better than my eighteen year old ears ever gave it credit for. I would still prefer to listen to their earlier works, but I can’t fault the band for evolving away from my preferred tone. If you’re like me, you should give the album a listen and see if you think differently.
1 Let’s just agree that FLAG was the only Black Flag reunion.
Once hailing from the salty tundra of Syracuse, NY, Ben now calls the DC suburbs his home. He fell in love with punk after listening to Punk-O-Rama 3, Less Than Jake and MXPX in middle school. He loves to slam dance but is too large to stage dive.
When he’s not pretending to have exquisite musical taste, he’s raising two children, designing RPG products and practicing law. (Who knows if he’ll ever get the hang of it.)
