The Art of Drowning (album)

The Art of Drowning is the fifth studio album by American rock band AFI. It was released on September 19, 2000, through Nitro Records. Between June and August 2001, the group performed on the Warped Tour.[10]

The Art of Drowning
Studio album by
AFI
ReleasedSeptember 19, 2000
RecordedFantasy Studios, Berkeley, California
Genre
Length48:33
LabelNitro
Producer
  • Chuck Johnson
  • AFI
AFI chronology
All Hallow's E.P.
(1999)		 The Art of Drowning
(2000)		 The Days of the Phoenix EP
(2001)
Singles from The Art of Drowning
  1. "The Days of the Phoenix"
    Released: 2000
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Alternative Press[6]
Decoy Music[7]
Ox-FanzineFavorable[8]
Punknews[9]

The album was listed by Alternative Press as one of the ten most-influential punk albums of the year 2000.[11] The album was included in Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics list at number 40.[12]

Track notes

The lead single, "The Days of the Phoenix", experienced moderate airplay on modern rock stations, the most notable being KROQ-FM. A music video was released for the song and was shot in a venue in California called 14 Below. It was directed by Marc Webb. "The Days of the Phoenix" was released as an EP in 2001, which peaked at #152 on the UK Singles Chart. "Wester" and "6 to 8" were also released in the form of promotional singles.

When asked about the track "Smile" in an interview, Davey answered,

Hate humanity? Yep, sure do. There's such a lack of responsibility for one's actions in the world, a selfishness, and a great destruction in the way people live their lives. It's all instant gratification, and who cares how my instant gratification affects those around me, or on a small personal level or a global level. The way people treat each other is truly disgusting, and we've created an environment through advances in science and technology that allows for a very septic society to thrive. And we breed and breed, and all the wrong people breed while all the right people don't want to have children because they don't want to place them in this world.

The Art of Drowning also features AFI's first use of electronic music in the beginning of "The Despair Factor". The track eventually inspired the name of the band's official fan club, The Despair Faction.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Initiation"0:39
2."The Lost Souls"2:42
3."The Nephilim"2:35
4."Ever and a Day"3:06
5."Sacrifice Theory"1:58
6."Of Greetings and Goodbyes"3:04
7."Smile"1:31
8."A Story at Three"3:53
9."The Days of the Phoenix"3:27
10."Catch a Hot One"2:54
11."Wester"3:02
12."6 to 8"4:21
13."The Despair Factor"3:54
14."Morningstar" (The song "Morningstar" ends at 3:25. After 7 minutes of silence (3:25 - 10:25), begins the song "Battled".)11:30
Vinyl/digital editions
No.TitleLength
9."Dream of Waking"3:03

Bonus tracks, B-Sides, unreleased tracks, etc.

All tracks recorded during the Art of Drowning sessions unless otherwise noted.

  • "Battled" is featured as a hidden track on the CD format of the album.
  • "Dream of Waking" is featured as track 9 on the A-Side of the 12" vinyl edition of the album. It was later released on the Nitro Records Punkzilla compilation. It also appears on the iTunes version of the album.
  • "A Winter's Tale" was recorded during the Art of Drowning sessions. It was featured on The Days of the Phoenix EP, and later on the AFI compilation.

Personnel
  • AFI - vocals (background), producer
  • Davey Havok - lead vocals, lyrics
  • Adam Carson - drums, percussion, backing vocals
  • Hunter Burgan - bass, programming, keyboard, backing vocals
  • Jade Puget - lead guitar, programming, keyboard, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
  • Nick 13 - rhythm guitar, vocals
  • Lars Frederiksen - backing vocals
  • Dexter Holland - backing vocals
  • Chris "X-13" Higgins - backing vocals
  • Darcy Vaughn - Viola
  • Thadd LaRue - Vocals (background), Assistant
  • Chuck Johnson - Producer, Engineer
  • Frank Rinella - Assistant Engineer
  • Eddy Schreyer - Mastering
  • Andy Ernst - Mixing
  • Alan Forbes - Artwork
  • Jamie Reilly - Layout Design

Chart positions
ChartPosition
Billboard 200 174
Heatseekers 9
Top Independent Albums 12
Top Heatseekers Pacific 2
Top Heatseekers Mountain 1

Release and reception

In an AllMusic review, MacKenzie Wilson says "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.".[13]

Notes
  • The inner-edge of the CD case reveals a hidden message: "Battled". This is the name of the hidden track on the CD edition.
  • "The Despair Factor" contains the lyrics "My whole life is a dark room... one big dark room," which is a line originally spoken by Winona Ryder in the film Beetlejuice.
  • The official AFI fan club, the Despair Faction, gets its name from the song "The Despair Factor." It contains perks such as exclusive merchandise, a free digital magazine, and a message board community.
  • The song "Wester" was featured in Winter X Games Snowboarding 2000.
  • The song "The Days of the Phoenix" refers to the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, California. Petaluma is near Ukiah, California, where the band originated, and the band played the venue often in their early years.
  • The song "The Nephilim" was featured in the 2004 video game MTX Mototrax.
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References
  1. "A.F.I. The Art of Drowning". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 113 (18): 65. 2001. ISSN 0006-2510. A.F.I. The Art of Drowning - The best of East-Bay (SF area) hardcore.
  2. Wadharmi, Ewan. "A.F.I. - The Art of Drowning". Hybrid.
  3. Yancey, Bryne (October 22, 2013). "AFI - Burials". Punknews.org.
  4. Gross, Joe (April 2003). "Nü Day Rising". Spin. Vol. 19 no. 4. SPIN Media LLC. p. 102. ISSN 0886-3032.
  5. "The Art of Drowning - AFI". AllMusic.
  6. "AFI - The Art Of Drowning - Reviews - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-21. Retrieved 2012-03-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Hiller, Joachim (December 2000 – February 2001). "Reviews: AFI / The Art of Drowning CD". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  9. Punknews.org. "AFI - The Art Of Drowning". www.punknews.org. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  10. Vanhorn, Teri (March 13, 2001). "Warped Tour Adds Rollins Band, Lists Dates, Cities". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  11. "AFI News HQ". afinewshq.com. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  12. "Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics: 49 - 25". Rock Sound Magazine. July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  13. Wilson, MacKenzie. "The Art Of Drowning - AFI". allmusic.com. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
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