Sing the Sorrow

Music and lyrics

Musically, Sing the Sorrow is a departure from the hardcore punk and horror punk genres featured in the band's previous material. While the album does feature elements of hardcore punk and punk rock, the album also features elements of post-hardcore, alternative rock, gothic rock and emo. The album is more experimental than previous AFI albums. The album includes instruments other than guitar, bass and drums, including instruments such as piano and strings. Lyrically, the album is darker and more poetic than previous material. The album includes a hidden track containing a spoken word poem accompanied by piano keys and distorted synth sounds. The song "Death of Seasons" is noted for featuring elements of techno.

Release

It was released on March 11, 2003 through DreamWorks Records. From June to August 2003, the group went on the 2003 edition of Warped Tour.

Special limited edition

A special limited edition was released that included the short film Clandestine on DVD, directed by Norwood Cheek. It also contained a 60-page booklet featuring extensive artwork and lyrics as well.

The film is eight minutes in length and stars all four band members. The film contains references to imagery and concepts from the album. The film focuses on the four band members trying to obtain a mysterious box which bears resemblance to the Sing the Sorrow album cover. The film features two alternate soundtracks, one by Hunter Burgan and the other by Jade Puget. Only 20,000 copies were pressed.

Extra tracks

Extra tracks are featured on several international versions of the CD release. US editions of the CD release included links to the bonus tracks "Synesthesia" and "Now the World" on a "secret site" that is now defunct.

All versions of Sing the Sorrow contain a spoken poem and the song "This Time Imperfect" as a hidden track. After a brief silence, piano music begins to play as Jade Puget's younger brother Gibson speaks the first third of the poem. After the poem is concluded, the hidden track "This Time Imperfect" fades in, featuring a guitar playing backwards and extensive sampling.

Reception

Critical response to Sing the Sorrow was very positive. The review aggregator Metacritic scored the album an 81 out of 100, based on 11 reviews, with the mention of "Universal Acclaim". E! Online called it "[a] well-crafted mix of hardcore bluster, determined melody and anthemic grandness that boasts depth and texture rarely heard from the Warped Tour ilk." Alternative Press awarded the album a perfect score, saying that, "Sing the Sorrow soars with the kind of melodies hit singles are made of, yet it somehow persists with AFI's esoteric darkness." Allmusic awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars and wrote: "Emerging in early 2003 with Sing the Sorrow, it's clear the molting process AFI began with Black Sails in Sunset is complete," and concluded that, "Whatever factions of the band's longterm fans might think of their major-label affiliation, Sing the Sorrow represents a coalescing of the band's sound." Rolling Stone awarded the album a 4 out of 5, claiming that "Sing the Sorrow is not exactly a concept album, but it does have a singleness of dark purpose that builds in momentum as the disc progresses." In further support, The New York Times rated Sing the Sorrow as the tenth-best album of 2003. Conversely, Entertainment Weekly awarded the album a 'D,' commenting that "The songs combine the most pretentious and overworked elements of their influences." The New York Times listed the album as one of the best of 2003.

It ranked #77 in the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's List of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time. The album's lead single "Girl's Not Grey" received a 2003 VMA for the 'Best MTV2 Music Video' category. The track is also a playable track on the video game Rock Band 2, and a downloadable track for the video game Guitar Hero 5 and iPhone/iPod touch application Tap Tap Revenge. "The Leaving Song Pt. II" was also made available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series. "Dancing Through Sunday" was featured as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. "Miseria Cantare" was used in the trailer for the 2014 short film Interference, which premiered at the Roxbury Film Festival.

Singles

Three singles, each with an accompanying music video, were released from Sing the Sorrow: "Girl's Not Grey", "The Leaving Song Pt. II," and "Silver and Cold." "Girl's Not Grey" was the highest charting single, reaching #7 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, #33 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and #22 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single, "The Leaving Song Pt. II" charted at #16 on the Alternative Songs chart, #31 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, #27 in Australia, and #43 in the UK. The third and final single, "Silver and Cold" reached #7 on the Alternative Songs chart and #39 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Track listing

All tracks written by AFI.

B-sides and unreleased songs

All songs recorded during the Sing the Sorrow sessions unless otherwise noted.