Black Sails in the Sunset

Black Sails in the Sunset is the fourth studio album by American rock band AFI. It was released on May 18, 1999, through Nitro Records. With the addition of guitarist Jade Puget as a permanent member, it is the first AFI album to feature the current line-up of the band.

Black Sails in the Sunset
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 18, 1999 (1999-05-18)[1]
GenreHardcore punk
Length46:04
LabelNitro
ProducerAFI
AFI chronology
Black Sails EP
(1999)
Black Sails in the Sunset
(1999)
All Hallow's E.P.
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Alternative Press[2]
Punknews.org[3]

Background and music

The band members, sans Jade Puget, were roommates when guitarist Mark Stopholese departed AFI. Puget had just graduated college and was living in Davey Havok's room while the band was on tour. They asked him to join the band as the new guitarist and immediately began writing the album; Puget had already written the basis for "Malleus Maleficarum".[lower-alpha 1] The band describes the album as forming the beginning of their subsequent sound, which contains more melodic vocals, as opposed to their first three albums, which maintain a fast, non-melodic punk sound. "God Called in Sick Today" marked the band's first ballad-style song.[4]

The album has been described as a hardcore punk album[1] as well as a horror punk album.[5]

The band wanted the album's cover artist, Alan Forbes, to depict skulls emerging from the water. Bassist Hunter Burgan later shared a concept design from Forbes, which prominently depicts a literal skeleton, and other faces and bones.[6]

Critical reception

Black Sails in the Sunset was received well by critics. Alternative Press gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars, commenting that "with new guitarist Jade Puget adding a sense of brooding, thespian eloquence to the disc's shadowy post-hardcore, AFI all but reinvented themselves," and "With longer, deeper, richer, more complex compositions than they've ever attempted before, Black Sails tackles everything from brooding hardcore ... to shimmering balladry..." The publication also went as far as to say that the album is "their first epic."[2]

Decoy Music praised Havok's lyrical contribution to the album, commending his efforts to "find himself," saying "the way he expresses how he feels is pure poetry." Yarborough concluded by recommending the album to "anyone who likes heavy punk."[7]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Davey Havok; all music is composed by AFI.

No.TitleLength
1."Strength Through Wounding"1:33
2."Porphyria Cutanea Tarda"2:07
3."Exsanguination"2:48
4."Malleus Maleficarum"4:01
5."Narrative of Soul Against Soul"2:29
6."Clove Smoke Catharsis"4:38
7."The Prayer Position"3:27
8."No Poetic Device"2:16
9."The Last Kiss"3:02
10."Weathered Tome"2:12
11."At a Glance"4:00
12."God Called in Sick Today"3:24
13."Midnight Sun" (hidden track)3:04
Total length:46:04
vinyl-only track
No.TitleLength
7."Lower It"2:18
Japan bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Who Knew?"2:16
14."Midnight Sun" (hidden track)3:04
  • Due to a misprint, tracks 9 and 10 were mislabeled with their titles switched. Shown here is the correct track listing.

B-sides

All tracks recorded during the album's sessions unless otherwise noted.

  • "Lower It" is featured as track 7 on the vinyl release of the album.[8] It was eventually re-released on the AFI retrospective compilation.[9]
  • "Who Knew?" is featured on the Black Sails EP.[10] It is included as a bonus track on the Japanese release of the album.[11]
  • "Transference" is featured on the No Time to Kill compilation, released on Hunter Burgan's Checkmate Records.[12][13]
  • An unnamed track, sometimes called "The Chicken Song", is featured as a hidden track on the No Time to Kill compilation.[13]

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.[14]

  • Adam Carson – drums, percussion, backing vocals
  • AFI – producer, backing vocals
  • Andy Ernst – engineer, mixing
  • Alan Forbes – cover illustration
  • Davey Havok – lead vocals, lyrics
  • Dexter Holland – backing vocals
  • Hunter Burgan – bass, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
  • Thad LaRue – assistant engineer
  • Gabe Morford – photography
  • Jade Puget – lead guitar, programming, keyboards, piano, synthesizer
  • Nick 13 - rhythm guitar, vocals
  • Jamie Reilly – layout Design
Studios
  • Engineered and mixed at The Art of Ears, Hayward, CA

References

Footnotes

  1. The title is that of a 15th-century Catholic treatise on identifying and exterminating supposed witches.

Citations

  1. Huey, Steve. "Black Sails in the Sunset". All Media Network. AllMusic. Retrieved June 18, 2004.
  2. Heller, Jason (June 22, 2010). "AFI Black Sails In The Sunset". Alternative Press.
  3. god_called_in_sick (September 13, 2002). "Black Sails In The Sunset (1999)". Punknews.org.
  4. "Backspin: AFI on 'Black Sails in the Sunset'". Yahoo!. February 17, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2020 via YouTube.
  5. Yancey, Bryne (October 22, 2013). "Burials (2013)". Punknews.org.
  6. Burgan, Hunter [@tranquilmammoth] (May 18, 2014). "This was Alan Forbes' first BSITS cover sketch. I don't think he understood how subtle we wanted the skulls to be" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  7. Yarborough, Aaron (September 29, 2009). "Archived copy". DecoyMusic.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "AFI - Black Sails In The Sunset". Discogs. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  9. Loftus, Johnny. "AFI - AFI | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  10. "Black Sails EP by AFI". Genius. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  11. "AFI - Black Sails In The Sunset". Discogs. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  12. "V/A - No Time To Kill 12" black vinyl". HunterBurgan.com. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  13. "Various - No Time To Kill". Discogs. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  14. Black Sails in the Sunset (Liner notes). AFI. Nitro Records. 1999. 15824-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
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