(Rock/Pop-punk) Afi: Sing the Sorrow
 

The album got alot of hype, and alot of kids seemed to be really excited about it, so I thought I'd give it a listen....

*sigh*

While a few tracks are somewhat interesting, the over-all product is repetitive and predictable. It seems that they have a very set formula....They seem to use the pop-punk up-tempo beats that they'll throw in there and the painfully cheesy pop-choruses as "filler" for many of the tracks that, themselves, seem to be filler.

Up-points of the CD included the dreary "Leaving Song Part 1 (track 11, not to be confused with the current single). The two singles aren't bad compared to the rest of the album, a sure sign of a bad CD.

"Death of Seasons" seems to be a desperate attempt to hold onto their harder edged roots, but it soon falls into yet again another typical AFI pop chorus.

"The dissapointment" is just that: a dissapointment. It starts out decent enough, with a nice little bass line followed pretty closely by the drummer, with a decent vocal entrance, however it is ruined when the vocalist decides to shoot for those over-used high-notes he seems to adore for the chorus.

It's possible that they are capable of more than this, but that in of itself makes "Sing the Sorrow" that much more pitiful.

EDIT: I received a few complaints about this review, and I realize that it was a bit insensetive. I didn't mean anything personal against the band, I just didn't enjoy the album. I apologize if I offended anyone, I didn't mean to disrespect.

Buy Black Sails in the Sunset, undoubtably one of the best, ummm, pop-hardcore-horror punk albums in the last 10 years.
It PWNS Sing the Sorrow.

Yeah, so does shut your mouth and open your eyes

i actually liked the CD. i thought 'this celluloid dream' was one of th best songs on there, i like all of davey havoks lyrics on every CD, and i think as a guitar player, jade came out alot more on this one. :)

the cd was actually my first afi album and i havent had it out of my stereo since i got it. you forgot to mention 'dancing through sunday' as the best song. the solo rips

Well...I was quite disappointed with the CD. Having listened to the older AFI songs, the new ones just don't compare. Black Sails in the Sunset was great, but my personal favorite is The Art of Drowning. "The Days of the Phoenix" is a great song. But most of the other songs were good. There were a few alright moments in Sing the Sorrow. But overall, I'm glad I never purchased it. I think the fact that they went to a different label for this record had an impact on their music. They sent out this album with the intent of going mainstream. So those people who enjoy the poppy sound of Good Charlotte and Simple Plan will love this CD. There is just so much lacking from it. I enjoyed them better when they didn't want to go mainstream. And Davey's hair was niftier when it didn't look similar to a chics hair.

I really like this review. It's critical but honest, and frankly it inspires me to investigate AFIs older material...

AFI Sing the Sorrow review
 

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by behemoth [/i]
[B]I really like this review. It's critical but honest, and frankly it inspires me to investigate AFIs older material... [/B][/QUOTE]


To be honest, I really liked this album, Although some lyrics seemed to be spooky for the sake of sounding spooky, others were really well thought out and complimented the guitar.
I have heard of all AFI's older stuff and will probably buy some retro albums. I'm interested in hearing how Bands change their sound as they progress higher in the business (i.e. Cheshire Cat-Take off your pants etc). Any opinions?

I like this album and (IMO) is still better than their first two albums which were made when they were still a 'street punk' sounding band, which I don't really care for anymore, but whatever.

My friend and I talked about this album and both agreed it was great, but it just doesn't fit with the sound of AFI from their past like the gothic-punk-rock sound that appeared in the albums 'Art of Drowning' and 'Black Sails in the Sunset'.

Re: AFI Sing the Sorrow review
 

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by AlkaliSkiba [/i]
[B]
I have heard of all AFI's older stuff and will probably buy some retro albums. I'm interested in hearing how Bands change their sound as they progress higher in the business (i.e. Cheshire Cat-Take off your pants etc). Any opinions? [/B][/QUOTE]

Except for, unlike Blink-182, AFI was a really cool local band when I was younger, and now they suck sh[i][/i]it!

:thumb:

Re: Re: AFI Sing the Sorrow review
 

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by BirdsOfFires [/i]
[B]Except for, unlike Blink-182, AFI was a really cool local band when I was younger, and now they suck sh[i][/i]it!

:thumb: [/B][/QUOTE]

What are you smoking you crazy dude?,
AFI are miles better than Blink182,
Touche! :thumb:

i completely agree..i saw them live and they bored me...but that was at a festival

Since I'm not a huge fan of the whole 'street punk' I guess... I liked this CD more than their first two making this album my 3rd or 4th favourite by AFI...

Is Art of Drowning good?
I really wanna get it :thumb:

Truth be told, I'd have to give this a 5/5, coming from a metalhead standpoint. Keep in mind that the review rules said that 5/5 was something you'd play to convert someone. Well, I don't particularly care for punk. I think it all sounds the same, and the guitarists are (mostly) lousy. The same goes for the singers. That being said I loved this cd, and I want to look into some of their other stuff now. I think that this cd might just be the "gateway" to that which you call better. Art of Drowning is their best, eh? Well thanks to this album, I'm going to go pick it up.

I think AFI's best album is All Hallow's E.P. where they have three awesome original songs, esp. Fall Children and Total Immortal, and they have a cover of the Mifits Halloween.

If you sort of like AFI but want something a bit harder and darker then check out Son of Sam's only cd Songs From the Earth which has Davey Havok, directed by Glenn Danzig, and has members from Tiger Army and Misfits.

I'm an AFI fan, I've got Art of Drowning and Black Sails aswell. I thought Sing the Sorrow was an awesome album, and the songs arent the same at all, I think they are all original and great.

It got the "Ubers Poopers" review in my weekly journal, The NPC Limited.

This is by far the worst AFI album.

And I'm guessing the next one will even more horrible.

i want to kill the singer of this band he annoys me to much...but the band without the singer are good

[QUOTE=johnny six-guns]i actually liked the CD. i thought 'this celluloid dream' was one of th best songs on there, i like all of davey havoks lyrics on every CD, and i think as a guitar player, jade came out alot more on this one. :)[/QUOTE]

i thought it was a great album, and hunter's bass playing was pretty good.

Ive been a AFI fan since 1999 anf STS is by far the worst AFI album ever. I can only stand 1 song on the whole cd ( This Time Imperfect). If you are looking for good AFI id go with Shut Your Mouth And Open Your Eyes or Black Sails.

I thought this album was ****ing amazing
Not as good as the art of drowning but still

My dad was browsing through my CD collection and he came across "Sing The Sorrow". He looked in the CD booklet and started reading the lyrics. He thought I was suicidal, it was quite comical.

-The Raz

Is the songwriting and general feel of [I]Black Sails...[/I] on par with "God Called in Sick Today? If so, I'm going to get it. If not, then not. Thanks if you can advise me!

I totally disagree with your review. STS is by far one of my favorite albums. Theres nothin better then screaming along to Miseria Cantar - The Begining(sp?) Or just flat out scream to Death Of Seasons or Dancing Through Sunday. The chorus guitar fits the vocals in The Great Dissapointment so well how could you miss it? I'm seriously thinking about writing a STS review. Yours was short, didn't get anywhere and told me almost nothing about the album.

I have almost all of AFI's albums, and I think this is the most diverse. All of the other cd's have similar sounding songs. Like the first 5 on black sails have a very similar sound, and almost all of art of drowning sounds the same (they're still great cd's). But sing the sorrow has alot of different sounding songs on it. There's a big difference between miseria cantare, leaving song pt. II, bleed black, dancing through sunday, girls not grey, the great dissapointment, leaving song, and this time imperfect. I think this is their best cd. Each member of the the band has talent and it shows. I don't care if all the little goth middle school girls love this album, because its great, and I really think this album deserves more credit.

I think STS is one of their best albums ( I also think all their other albums are some of their best, but still) and if you look at all their albums, they've been changing their sound from the beginning AFI took like 3 years making this one and i think thats why its so different. when I first bought the CD, i thought all the songs sounded pretty much alike, but after listening to it more, I felt more character with the individual songs. same with black sails

Actually, this cd is great. I say a 4/5 for this cd. I also HATE seeing them labeled pop-punk. Their lyrics are not catchy, they are poetic. Their best, though, is the Art Of Drowning.

Ok...AFI made an extremely big impact on STS by something called "overmixing". Switching over to Dreamworks did NOT change their sound by the least...As you can see(or hear for this matter)AFI tried something quite innovative and not tried before : they mixed in synths.....This phrasing of the songs made Davey Havok's voice quite "squeekier" and his voice was sometimes drowned out by the guitar....

As for my opinion, this is quite a good album and on musical terms it is very great...They have matured musically alot.

As for my favorite AFI cd, I would have to say Black Sails In The Sunset or All Hallows because they are the first two cds to introduce Jade in and the pressure must have been greatly intense, but the result was two of the best (I really can't put them into a genre) albums...

And lastly I think the reviewer put in his honest opinions and addressing their older albums...Good job :thumb: !

Reviewing without buying the CD :rolleyes: I think this albums pretty strong, so what if they've changed they still write some good songs though it is weaker than their other releases.

Overall I hated this cd. I would like the "old" afi to make a new cd. Their songs sounded the same and it got very monotonous, it didnt float my boat at all. Sorry guys (afi) but you need to go back to the way you were no offence.

Well I went out and bought this, [I]The Art of Drowning[/I], and [I]Black Sails in the Sunset[/I]. If you don't pay attention to the lyrics, they seem like another californian punk band, but even though I stopped listening to most punk about 3 years ago, I like these guys. Hooray for lyrical prowess! As for this cd, I agree that they've grown up but poppy choruses? Even the other albums have the classic multi-voice chorus singing half the time. Besides, it's not like Davey's lyrics have turned into tripe. Even his voice is more expressive, along with the other three bandmates' instrumentation. Ah well, I am but one small instrument. Thanks for the reviews, though!

I think this is a really good album (I wish I hadn't lost my copy!!). Davey Havok's voice is very cool for their particular style of music. I also have Black Sails in the Sunset and I find myself wishing he would cut the screaming and sing a little more often. Sing the Sorrow is more mellow and melodic and I enjoy every song. The addition of an occasional synthesizer was very well-placed and relevant. This is my favorite contribution by AFI so far.

While I do think that the Art of Drowning was a better album than their newest release, I like the diversity that the band captured on this album. The screaming on The Leaving Song Pt. II had me hooked for days. The aptly titled Silver and Cold left me feeling impacted. While I miss the charm of the old A.F.I. (Key Lime Pie is still one of the funniest songs ever) I'm open to the transition they're making.

StS owns you. I do own all of AFI's releases and I'm tired of people saying that they sold out. It's basically a continuation of AoD, which is a very good thing...

I really liked this CD. Although it may not stand up to some of their earlier stuff, I still think it is much much better than anything Blink 182 has put out. Celluloid dream and Silver and Cold are great original songs. I makes me mad to even hear them compared to Blink 182. Blink created their own style but so did AFI and they are nothing alike.

afi has changed...... A LOT....this cd was good and all but it was too mellow. i like their old stuff a lot better but this cd is still a well rounded cd...it has heave guitar parts and in like 4 or 5 songs later u hear an acoustic guitar... that just goes to show how much A.F.I. has evolved! even though i liked their old stuff better i think i am starting to like the new a.f.i
5/5!!

I used "Miseria Cantare - The Beginning" for a drama tableaux. I got some pretty high marks and the teacher said "the music was perfect".

i like the cd its the first afi cd i bought after hearing "days of the phoenix". i think the guitar is really good and so is the bass. Drummer is ok and the vocals are pretty good. i saw them live once. good show :chug: