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The Art of Drowning

AFI - The Art of Drowning Audio CD

A fair review of the AFI "The Art of Drowning" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all AFI reviews here, or go back to the AFI tabs.

Band: AFI
Title: The Art of Drowning
Rating:

Release Date: 2000-09-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Initiation 2: Lost Souls 3: Nephilim 4: Ever and a Day 5: Sacrifice Theory 6: Of Greetings and Goodbyes 7: Smile 8: Story at Three 9: Days of the Phoenix 10: Catch a Hot One 11: Wester 12: 6 to 8 13: Despair Factor 14: Morningstar 15: Battled

one of their best
i am a huge fan of AFI and i believe that this CD is one of their best and would recommend it over any of their new stuff, i am not saying that their new stuff is bad though but this is their best.

Some of the best melodic punk in years
This is arguably their best disc (my personal favorite is still "Black Sails", though). If you're interested in getting into punk, or even if you're already familiar with it, AFI is pretty much a must-have band. From the very beginning, you're treated to a high energy and surprisingly creative punk album.

The production is a far cry from the raw, lo-fi days of bands like Discharge, but it's also pretty far from being over-produced (a trap too many modern punk groups fall into). It's a nice balance of clear and high quality sound, with just enough warmth to make it feel like a well-produced garage practice session. Basically, this is the sound all of today's punk bands should go for.

The music is about as creative as a band can get with three chords. They alternate between surprisingly explosive, aggressive tracks ("Smile" is still one of the fiercest songs they've ever recorded) and intensely emotional ballads (the amazingly beautiful "Morningstar"). AFI are one of those rare bands where all the lyrics are catchy, not just the choruses (although nearly all have a catchy chorus that is destined to be stuck in your head). One thing this album isn't lacking in is passion and urgency; Davey's vocals often crack under stress, the group frantically shouts out backing vocals, and the music is nearly constantly at high speed. They do a nice job of rounding out those emotions with some more tender moments, a few of which are some of the most memorable songs the band's ever recorded (check out the end of "A Story at Three", which breaks down the song almost completely to Davey's wailing and then builds it right back up, even more powerful than before).

If you're even remotely interested in this band or style, you'll probably love this disc. Even the haters could probably find something to like.

The Art Of Drowning
Drowning was the bands first album with new guitarist Jade Puget and Hunter on bass. AFI-The Art Of Drowning *****

The Art Of Drowning may be AFI's very best album, certainly many of the bands fans would agree. As the original two left to start a new band. This marked new direction for the band. Slightly more commercial and less punk, and slightly more melodic and less hardcore, but that does not mean it is a bad thing as you can tell by the accusation that this may be the bands very best album. The elements of Punk, Hardcore, Melodic, and Commercial are all here all the elements that up to this point made the band great. They had not yet fell in love with techno.

Songs like 'The Lost Souls' 'Ever And A Day' and 'Days Of The Phoenix' are among the bands all time best songs, and contain some of Davey Havoks greatest vocals. The power of his vocals on this album is over welming. Jade Pugets guitar playing is double that of the original player, and brang new life to the bands style and musical ability. 'Catch A Hot One' 'Smile' and 'Sacrafice Theory' are all classic AFI. Many of the songs on the album feature backup vocals from Lars Fredrickson which is became a major voice in the pop punk movement of the 1990s and Nick 13 of Tiger Army who shared a practice pad with Davey Havok when both bands were just starting out.

The Art Of Drowning is an album that fans of both new and old AFI can enjoy but most importantly The Art Of Drowning is and album the true fans of all of AFI's music love and it is truly a great album and one of the truly great punk-ish albums of the 1990's.

Another AFI Masterpiece
On this album, they continue their horror punk sound, but add a bit of a pop touch, which I personally have no problem with. The Art of Drowning is yet another masterpiece by AFI. The songs here are very catchy, an Davey's voice is incredible.

This album does contain one of the only AFI songs I don't like: A Story At Three. I dunno, I just don't like it. But it also contains some of my favorite AFI songs, such as The Lost Souls, Of Greetings and Goodbyes, Catch a Hot One, Wester, and The Despair Factor. I don't know why everyone hates Battled so much. I think it's a great song. It almost sounds like something off Shut your Mouth and Open Your Eyes(my favorite AFI album).

So if you're an AFI fan, this album is essential. If you're a horror punk fan, this album is essential. Just get it.

A goth punk masterpiece
The band's fifth LP and it still stands up as my favorite, which isn't to discredit the others. This one's pretty much flawless. I enjoy all the Jade Puget-era AFI records. Yes, even Sing the Sorrow and Decemberunderground are albums that I love. And if you haven't caught up with older AFI, this and the All Hallow's EP are great choices to begin with. It is amazing how the group has progressed. I bet if I first heard this group through Answer That and Stay Fashionable and/or Very Proud of Ya, I would've never known that they had the ability to make something that sounds so good as this.

Every song is awesome. The intro, "Initiation," kind of reminds me of NIN's "Help Me I Am in Hell" in the beginning, until the track's distortion and other instruments start kicking in. What a nice introduction. Even hints at their industrial influence are here, as on the rhythm breakdown on "The Despair Factor. " The first three full songs are pretty good, but just about everything AFTER that blows those out of the water. Tracks 5-10 is one of my favorite album sequences. I sometimes repeat this part of the album because I like that part so much. You get some nice hardcore guitar riffs on "Smile" and if you're into their new stuff, you'll like the catchy "Days of the Phoenix. " Davey Havok writes some pretty interesting lyrics. There are quite a bit of mid-tempo tracks on this album, which is about half of the tracks. There's the Offspring-ish "whoa-oh"s through many of the songs, and most of it will have the mmph to catch you on to this one.

I practically recommend this to people who are new to AFI, and the one's who've been into them for awhile, well they probably own this already. People who don't really know what the band's about should give this a try; it may change their opinion of the band. This is proof that the band was much more than a fad, and are not just scene, they get their popularity because the fans love them so much. For a good reason -- their music is amazing.

You can see a complete list of all AFI discography, or go back to the AFI tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.