AFI - The Art of Drowning

 The Art Of Drowning
AFI-The Art Of Drowning *****


The Art Of Drowning may be AFI's very best album, certainly many of the bands fans would agree. Drowning was the bands first album with new guitarist Jade Puget and Hunter on bass. 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. August 30, 2007

 Another AFI Masterpiece
The Art of Drowning is yet another masterpiece by AFI. 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 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. July 12, 2007

 A goth punk masterpiece
This one's pretty much flawless. The band's fifth LP and it still stands up as my favorite, which isn't to discredit the others. 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. April 2, 2007

 One of Punk's greatest albums...
"The Art of Drowning" is easily one of the greatest punk albums I've ever heard. This album is also what I consider to be the first of 3 amazing albums. While some AFI fans maintain that "Black Sails" is their best album, I disagree. Its good, no question, its just not my personal favorite. On the other hand, "The Art of Drowning," "Sing the Sorrow," and "decemberunderground" form a trilogy of AFI albums if you will. All being must owns, and defining moments in their career. I'm not going to break down and analyze each song on the album, but there is not a bad song to be found. Standout tracks are, The Lost Souls, The Nephilim, Ever and a Day, Smile, The Days of the Phoenix.

What I've come to love about this album is the emotion and hectic nature of it. This is most assuredly old school AFI, yet I find it more accessible than some of their older stuff. So its a nice balance, with alot of screaming and in your face fast paced riffs, yet it still has great melody and harmony to it. Anyways, its a fantastic album, and if you like punk, then no doubt its already in your collection, since this is Punk through and through. If not, and your a fan of AFI's newer albums, then check out "The Art of Drowning" and give it some time to grow on you if it doesn't strike a cord with you immedietly. This is one of those albums that just gets better with age. November 17, 2006

 AFI goe out with a bang!
AFI's Art of Drowning, is their last good CD in my eyes. The era before Sing the Sorrow is a different one, its dark, gloomy, but still rocks. AFI died in my eyes when Sing the Sorrow was released. But the last song, Morningstar could of been tacked onto Sing the Sorrow, and it would of been in there perfectly. Don't bother with Sing the Sorrow or DecemberUnderground (their WORST album to date). If you want to see AFI shining in their true last days, buy The Art of Drowning. July 21, 2006

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