A Fire Inside

[Necro]

After years of dedication and following them, I doubt I could say I wasn't a hardcore fan [Plus, I felt like explaing the time of A.F.I here at FFE for somereason...lol]. Now, it would have been impossible for me to get into AFI from the get go, due to the fact I wasn't alive. 1991 was when the band formally was dated. From still attending High School, Davey Havok [vocals], Mark Stopholese [guitar] and Vic Chalker [bass] together formed the 'hardcore punk' AFI in 1991.

None of the members knew how to play any instruments and also we in need of a drummer. Mark suggested that they borrow a friends kit to aid in the bands performance. After finally obtaining the skill of play the instruments, 2 years later there first EP - Dork, was released, defunct with 'Loose Change', who at the time held the future AFI guitarist; Jade Puget. Vic lost the time to write and gave up his position to the songwriter-bassist Geoff Kresge.

AFI dis-baneded when the teens hit collage, after returning to preform a live gig, the member agreed to drop out and play full-time with AFI. From the years between 1993 and 1995 they released an amount of 7 other EP's, with their first full length album "Answer That and Stay Fashionable' released in 1995 and they following year brought into the release of their second album, "Very Proud of Ya".

After several tours in support of the album, Kresge decided to leave the group. His spot was filled by Hunter Burgan for the remaining "Very Proud of Ya" tour dates. Burgan went on to help AFI record their third album "Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes" and was hired full-time as the bassist. This album opened AFI fans to a much more aggressive sound of music, more oppose to shouting.

After recording the A Fire Inside EP in 1998, Stopholese left the band and was replaced by Jade Puget, his close friend. Following the "A Fire Inside" EP, the band recorded Black Sails in the Sunset in 1999) a musical turning point in the band's career. On this album, their original hardcore roots were still the base of their sound, but more of the "Dark Romanti"c influences:

(a poem by French Dark Romantic Charles Baudelaire, entitled "De profundis clamavi," is present in the hidden track "The Midnight Sun". I didn't know about this, took me a while to find out haha.)

In 2000, AFI released "The Art of Drowning" which debuted on the Billboard Charts at number 174 (This is an American/Universale scale, I'm unsure if Australia had a part in this). "The Days of the Phoenix" was released as a single and video in order to promote the album. "The Days of the Phoenix", like "Totalimmortal", had some moderate mainstream success, garnering the band both TV and radio airplay, which had been some sort of a rare finding in most of their mainstream years.

In 2002, AFI left Nitro Records and released "Sing the Sorrow" in 2003 on a DreamWorks Records. The songs "Girl's Not Grey", "The Leaving Song Pt. 2" and "Silver and Cold" had some Billboard chart success and exposed the band to even larger audiences.

They were nominated in the MTV Video Music Awards 2003 in the MTV2 award category for the video "Girl's Not Grey", which came to be the first VMA they won. In 2006, "Decemberunderground" was released on Interscope Records at the time I believe.

The album's first single "Miss Murder" reached #1 on the charts and also set the following high marks for the singles to follow. As it happens, "Love like Winter" was extremely popular and was forced to retire from both the MTV charts after 40 days of staying at number one.

Okay, thats pretty much about it. I wanted to point this out to the 'fans' out there that AFI are not new, I've happened to brought into conversations and arguments everywhere that AFI have only just been out after releasing their first single "Miss Murder". That's what pisses me off, people who think that are hardcore fans and believing that know everything about AFI from only watching a video clip that was aired on MTV a few times....

So...Any Fans?

...god I've never written so much in my life.

[ACrum]

AFI freakn rocks!!! I saw them a few months ago

[Necro]

Yeah same, November I believe in the Australian leg of the tour.

[ACrum]

o thats awesome. i love austrailia, i wanna move there eventually

[Naked Gackt]

I used to like them a few years ago but now I'm not so keen. There style seems to have changed a lot from when they first started out and sometimes this isn'ta bad thing but I think in their case it is as they seem to have become just another emo band.

[Necro]

Originally Posted by ACrum

o thats awesome. i love austrailia, i wanna move there eventually

Believe me, come prepared. It's hot as hell right now =[.

Originally Posted by Yaguchi

I used to like them a few years ago but now I'm not so keen. There style seems to have changed a lot from when they first started out and sometimes this isn'ta bad thing but I think in their case it is as they seem to have become just another emo band.

Yeah, I kind of agree, Decemberunderground was a big let down after AFI hyped the audience with a long 3 year post delay. But, at least I can admit they're a hell of a lot better than any other emo band, new or old in the music scene today.

Davey Havok and Jade Puget have created a side project, Blaqk Audio, some kind of 'electronic side project'. Jade said in his last blog on Jan 9th, that the album was almost completed, with around 8 songs completed.

[Naked Gackt]

I guess it is true that I'd much rather listen to them than the likes of MCR but I feel they've strayed too far away from what they started out as seeing as that was the kind of music I was listening to a lot of a few years ago.

[Milly]

Absolute and complete trash.

[Necro]

Discrimination of a band is stupid, if you wish to tell us in detail what is wrong with them and what band you treasurer so dearly that could happen to surpass AFI?

[I AM THE CAPS MONSTER]

No.
i'm not a fan

[ACrum]

AFI freakn rocks and i will spite those who hate on them

But if u do like afi whats ur favorite cd?

[Necro]

Hmm. Sing the Sorrow I would say, I love most of the tracks on the album. Decemberunderground was a big let down after the hype of 3 years after the release of Sing the Sorrow. Songs like Paper Airplanes [Makeshift Wings], Bleed Black, Sliver and Cold etc <3

[Dave]

I've been an AFI fan for about 6 years, but Sing the Sorrow was the last album I actually enjoyed. They've moved to a more poppish sound, which is fine, I just don't prefer it. I like Black Sails In The Sunset and Art Of Drowning the best probably.

I saw them in Toronto in July 2003, was a great show, I got to touch Davey Havok's leg haha (he went to stand ontop of the croud).

Been a while since I listened to a little AFI, I think ill listen to them again on my way to school.

[ACrum]

id say sing the sorrow also