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.

The Art of Drowning
Studio album by
AFI
ReleasedSeptember 19, 2000
RecordedJune 2000
StudioFantasy 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

Production

In June 2000, the band finished recording The Art of Drowning.[5]

Composition

The album's second track, "The Lost Souls", was originally titled "The Art of Drowning".[6] "The Despair Factor" features AFI's first notable use of electronic drums.[7] On the song, vocalist Davey Havok states: "My whole life is a dark room... one big dark room," a line spoken by Winona Ryder in the film Beetlejuice (1988).[7] The track title inspired the name of the band's official fan club, The Despair Faction.[8]

Release

The Art of Drowning was released in September 2000, through Nitro Records.[5] In November, the band supported Rancid on their tour of the US.[9] 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, directed by Marc Webb.[10] "The Days of the Phoenix" was released as an EP in 2001;[11] "Wester" was released in the form of a promotional single.[12] In March 2001, the band toured across Canada with Death by Stereo, Catch 22, Ann Beretta, and Rise Against.[13] Between June and August 2001, the group performed on the Warped Tour.[14]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[15]
Alternative Press[16]
Decoy Music[17]
Ox-FanzineFavorable[18]
Punknews[19]

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."[20]

The album was listed by Alternative Press as one of the ten most influential punk albums of the year 2000.[21] The album was included in Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics list at number 40.[22]

The album was the band's first to chart on the Billboard 200,[23] at #174 for the week of October 13, 2000.[24] It sold around 8,000 copies in its first week.[25]

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" (After 7 minutes of silence [3:25 – 10:25], the song "Battled" begins.)11:30
Vinyl/digital editions
No.TitleLength
9."Dream of Waking"3:03

Bonus tracks and outtakes

All tracks recorded during The Art of Drowning sessions.

  • "Battled" is featured as a hidden track on the CD format of the album.[26] The name of the track also appears on the inner edge of the CD case.
  • "Dream of Waking" is featured as track 9 on the a-side of the 12" vinyl edition of the album.[27] It was later released on the Nitro Records Punkzilla compilation.[28] It also appears on the iTunes version of the album.
  • "A Winter's Tale" was featured on The Days of the Phoenix EP,[11] as well as the 2004 AFI compilation.[29]

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
  • Michael Anderson - Assistant 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

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. "Anthems For Insubordinates". Punknews.org. June 5, 2000. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  6. Puget, Jade (August 20, 2019). "Another #garagefind, a list I made trying to figure out The Art of Drowning track listing. The song 'Lost Souls' was originally called 'The…'". Instagram. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  7. Collins, Lindsey (July 23, 2013). "AFI: Top 10 "How Is This The Same Band" Songs". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  8. Wolfe, Jordan (July 4, 2020). "Anniversary: AFI's 'The Art of Drowning' turns 20". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  9. Paul, Aubin (October 21, 2000). "Rancid to Post Set Lists". Punknews.org. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  10. Erbland, Kate (November 5, 2014). "The World Doesn't Need Another Marc Webb-Directed 'Spider-Man' Film, It Needs This". Film School Rejects. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  11. "AFI - The Days Of The Phoenix E.P." Discogs. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  12. "AFI - Wester". Discogs. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  13. Paul, Aubin (February 28, 2001). "Rise Prevails". Punknews.org. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  14. Vanhorn, Teri (March 13, 2001). "Warped Tour Adds Rollins Band, Lists Dates, Cities". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  15. "The Art of Drowning - AFI". AllMusic.
  16. "AFI - The Art Of Drowning - Reviews - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. Hiller, Joachim (December 2001 – February 2001). "Reviews: AFI / The Art of Drowning CD". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  19. Punknews.org. "AFI - The Art Of Drowning". www.punknews.org. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  20. Wilson, MacKenzie. "The Art Of Drowning - AFI". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  21. "AFI News HQ". afinewshq.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  22. "Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics: 49 - 25". Rock Sound Magazine. July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  23. Puget, Jade (July 3, 2020). "First time AFI ever made the Billboard chart. Coming in strong at 174. In your face Pearl Jam live recording of a show in Germany!". Instagram. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  24. "AFI". Billboard. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  25. Paul, Aubin (October 8, 2000). "AFI Charts on Billboard?". Punknews.org. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  26. "AFI - The Art Of Drowning". Discogs. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  27. "AFI - The Art Of Drowning". Discogs. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  28. "Various - Punkzilla The Compilation". Discogs. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  29. "AFI - AFI". Discogs. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
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