Sing the Sorrow

But, you know, you can see how all that stuff comes together.

Yeah, and for anybody who is less familiar with the discography, this is the first of, I think, five Nitro-released records, because Sing the Sorrow is technically still co-released with Nitro.

Did it have some upstream deal at that point or something like that?

Something like that, yeah.

I was not at this show.

Kyle was at this show.

um at the uh on the sing the sorrow tour um which is wild given how different they sounded at that point in their career uh but uh that is uh time where kyle got punched in the nose in the pit oh uh and i believe broke his nose uh so He will never forget that, and I will also never forget it as a result.

But yeah, I don't know.

Um, with probably pretty few exceptions for most people, but, uh, I could be totally wrong about that.

Uh, for me, I'm, I'm very much a like my favorite albums are Black Sails through, through Sing the Sorrow.

But I, uh, you know, I was very hot on that album that came out last year.

I did a discography run kind of late last year, uh, I think a while before I had decided I wanted to do this series, uh, where I realized that the records that I didn't really like when they came out are actually pretty damn good.

Uh, but AFI is literally a footnote in those books.

They're...

You would think that they would, there would be whole chapters on Sing the Sorrow, in Sell Out especially, and it's just not there.

And so it's just kinda, like they're, they're literally just mentioned in the context of the formation of Rise Against.

And this might be controversial because it will mean that it can't come up later on.

But my place to start with would be with AFI's sixth studio album, 2003's Sing the Sorrow.

Their major label debut, their big breakthrough record.

And for a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of people, certainly considered...

first time round straight away they are so inescapably brilliantly massive this is one of those albums where you put it on and it just feels i remember thinking this just feels big this just feels important this just feels like a band who are really kind of grasping the opportunity they've got and giving it kind of everything they could possibly throw at this and coming up like swinging and hitting fucking it's knocking out the park with pretty much every single song i think and and yet i don't think it betrays that kind of underground punk rock route at all i think it's still there and you know yes it's a little bit cleaner yes it's a little bit more radio friendly but I really can't see how anyone could have any problem with AFI's sort of trajectory up until this point.

To me, it felt like, and it still feels like, the, you know, the...

the the obvious end point for where they were going and the fact that they evolve even more after this just goes to show what a kind of incredibly creative group of people they are but this album in terms of like giving it to someone and going you never heard this band before listen to this like come come with no baggage come with no idea of what they are and put this on and just tell me this isn't like a unstoppable unfathomably brilliant just all-time great greatest hit sounding rock record full stop like it it you know the comparisons at the time to stuff like nevermind uh were kind of cropped up now and again maybe just because of butch vig but like i don't think it's a mad thing to say like the goth punk nevermind yeah it may well be i think it's unbelievable sing the sorrow so so good and if you're kind of curious and you hear this i just think you immediately go i've got i've got to listen to everything but both both sides because if you want it more commercial and you want the kind of bigger kind of more bombastic stuff that's coming if you like the kind of punky stuff you can go back the other side and i think it gets it absolutely spot on unbelievable record one of the best and it's kind of mental that it's not my classic to be perfectly honest

Yeah, it might be coming up later for me, let's say that.

So, again, in terms of this sort of spreadsheet I've created here, another slot that they were kind of moving in and out of is, it didn't last in this kind of way.

Initially, it looked like a sort of Sing the Sorrow deep cut swap, and then it turned into something else.

But London and Birmingham got Bleed Black.

Fucking great.

And I think we were the only day in the UK that got that song, and I was singing my heart out during it.

I loved it.

That kind of turned into something else across the rest of the dates Bristol got Rabbits Are Roadkill On Route 37 Which is like a, I think it's sort of a Sing the Sorrow Off cut that ended up as a bonus track On December Underground, great song And Glasgow was the only date Where they played a Blood album song Because you got Aurelia Which is also a fucking lovely song I would have been happy with anything off the Blood album

So excited, my favourite song from the Blood album as well I adore that song And again, I didn't know that was on the table But Yeah, so exciting.