Decemberunderground

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Decemberunderground
Studio album by AFI
Released June 6, 2006
Recorded Conway Studios, Los Angeles Sage and Sound Recording, Los Angeles
Genre Alternative rock, post-hardcore
Length 44:44
45:06 (with hidden track)
Label Interscope
Producer Jerry Finn
AFI chronology
Sing the Sorrow
(2003)		 Decemberunderground
(2006)		 Crash Love
(2009)
Singles from Decemberunderground
  1. "Miss Murder"
    Released: April 3, 2006
  2. "Love Like Winter"
    Released: September 26, 2006
  3. "The Missing Frame"
    Released: February 27, 2007
  4. "Summer Shudder"
    Released: July 2007

Decemberunderground is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band AFI. The album was released on June 6, 2006 through Interscope Records. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling 182,000 in its first week.[1] The album certified Gold by the RIAA on August 30, 2006 and has sold more than 993,000 in the United States as of September 2009.[2][3] It has since gone Platinum.[4] The album was supported by four singles, "Miss Murder", "Love Like Winter", "The Missing Frame", and "Summer Shudder".

Regarding the album's title, lead singer Davey Havok said,

“ Decemberunderground is a time and a place. It is where the cold can huddle together in darkness and isolation.[4] ”


Contents

[edit] Release

Decemberunderground was released on May 29, in the United Kingdom, June 6, in the United States, and June 16 in Mexico. The album's lead single "Miss Murder" was scheduled to premiere on LIVE 105 on April 13, 2006, but due to the thirty-second preview that aired on April 11 receiving such an overwhelming response, Interscope Records gave the station permission to play the entire track. The full track listing of the album was announced on April 25, 2006.[5]

Customers who pre-ordered the album at special pre-listening events received a CD including the "Miss Murder" single, which contained a cover of INXS's song "Don't Change". The first pressing of the CD in the United States contained limited edition artwork of a single portrait of each band member and a portrait of the entire band on the reverse insert, serving as the CD cover and hiding the original portrait on the CD booklet cover.[6] The album was re-released on November 7, 2006, on 6 "icy clear" 7" vinyl discs, featuring a picture of each member and the band's manager Smith Puget, who is referred to as '...a very special guest.'[7]

AFI began touring in support of Decemberunderground in April 2006 and held their last concert in promotion of the album at Download Fest in October 2007, as Havok and Puget began to promote their side-project Blaqk Audio before beginning work on the band's eighth studio album Crash Love.

"Summer Shudder" was featured in the soundtrack for the EA Sports video game Madden NFL 07

[edit] Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[8]
Blender 5/5 stars[9]
Entertainment Weekly B+[10]
Exclaim! (favorable)[11]
IGN 8.9/10[12]
Kerrang! (3/5)
NME 6/10 stars [13]
Robert Christgau C+[14]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars [15]
Stylus C+[16]
Slant Magazine 4/5 stars[17]

Decemberunderground received generally positive reviews. The review aggregator Metacritic awarded the album a 72 out of 100, based on 15 reviews.[18]

Entertainment Weekly awarded the album a 'B+,' and called it "the most melodically acute distillation of that style yet,"[10] unlike their previous studio album Sing the Sorrow, which they awarded a negative 'D.' Allmusic awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying the "core of AFI's sound never strays too far from what listeners have grown to love about them in the first place."[8]

Rolling Stone awarded the album 3 out of 5 stars, one less star than their review of Sing the Sorrow, and claimed that "something isn't right in the world of AFI," because of their pop-rock musical structure "that would be at home on the soundtrack to the next Spider-Man movie".[15]

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and composed by AFI, except where noted.. 

No. Title Length
1. "Prelude 12/21" (contains a hidden pre-gap intro) 1:34
2. "Kill Caustic"   2:39
3. "Miss Murder"   3:26
4. "Summer Shudder"   3:06
5. "The Interview"   4:16
6. "Love Like Winter"   2:45
7. "Affliction"   5:28
8. "The Missing Frame"   4:40
9. "Kiss and Control"   4:18
10. "The Killing Lights"   4:04
11. "37mm"   3:55
12. "Endlessly, She Said"   4:28
Total length:
 44:44

[edit] Bonus tracks, B-sides, unreleased tracks, etc.

All tracks recorded during the Decemberunderground sessions unless otherwise noted.

  • "Rabbits are Roadkill on Rt.37" was recorded during the Sing the Sorrow sessions, and was eventually released on the MySpace Records: Volume 1 compilation and as a bonus track on the UK and Australian editions of Decemberunderground.
  • "Head Like a Hole" is a Nine Inch Nails cover and was included on the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack. It was re-released on the UK, Australian, German, and Japanese editions of Decemberunderground.
  • "Don't Change" is a INXS cover and was released on the "Miss Murder" 7" vinyl disc and the Japanese edition of Decemberunderground.
  • "Jack the Ripper" is a Morrissey cover and was available as a bonus track on the iTunes pre-ordered edition and the UK and Australian editions of the "Love Like Winter" single.
  • "On the Arrow" was available as a bonus track on the iTunes pre-ordered edition and the Australian edition of the "Love Like Winter" single.
  • "Fallen Like the Sky" was available as a Target bonus track download and available on the 7" vinyl disc box set edition of Decemberunderground.
  • "Carcinogen Crush" was recorded during the Sing the Sorrow sessions, but did not make the album. It was eventually re-recorded and available as a downloadable track on the video game Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock and as a digital single on December 4, 2007.
  • "Ether" was recorded during the Sing The Sorrow sessions, and was eventually released on the video game Nascar 09 and as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of Crash Love.
  • "Fainting Spells" was recorded during the Decemberunderground sessions, and was eventually released on the deluxe edition of Crash Love.
  • "Then I'll Be Home" can be heard at the end of the track "Affliction".
  • "The View From Here" was recorded during the Decemberunderground sessions, but remains unreleased.

[edit] Chart positions

Chart Peak
position
U.S.Billboard 200[19] 1
Australian Albums Chart 3
Top UK Rock Albums 2
Billboard Comprehensive Albums 1
Top Rock Albums 16
Top Digital Albums 2
Tastemakers 1
French Albums Chart 181
German Albums Chart 58
New Zealand RIANZ Charts 20
UK Albums Chart 16
Top Internet Albums 1
European Albums 2
Top Canadian Albums 2
Top Comprehensive Albums 77
World Albums Top 40 2
IRMA Albums 66

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Guests

[edit] Production

[edit] References

  1. ^ "AFI Burns Brightly With No. 1 Debut". 2006-06-14. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002687993. 
  2. ^ "Gold and Platinum Database Search". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Decemberunderground&artist=afi&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
  3. ^ Wood, Mikael. "AFI Revs Up The Rock On 'Crash Course'". billboard.com September 14, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "AFI Official Biography". AFI Official Website. http://www.afireinside.net/bio/. Retrieved 2006-05-27. 
  5. ^ "AFI Reveals Track Listing". Aversion.com Music News. http://www.aversion.com/news/news_article.cfm?news_id=6399. Retrieved 2006-05-27. 
  6. ^ AFI | Official Site
  7. ^ [7][dead link]
  8. ^ a b Apar, Corey (2006). "allmusic ((( Decemberunderground > Review ))):". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r836044. Retrieved 2006-06-17. 
  9. ^ "Decemberunderground review". http://www.blender.com/guide/new/54058/decemberunderground.html. 
  10. ^ a b Tom Sinclair (2006-06-05). "DECEMBERUNDERGOUND - Music - EW.com". http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1200048,00.html. 
  11. ^ Ariana Rock. "AFI - December Underground". http://exclaim.ca/Reviews/Punk/afi-december_underground. 
  12. ^ Ed Thompson. "AFI - Decemberunderground - Music review at IGN". http://music.ign.com/articles/711/711277p1.html. 
  13. ^ Dan Silver. "AFI: Decemberunderground - Album Reviews - NME.com". http://www.nme.com/reviews/afi/7950. 
  14. ^ Robert Christgau. "Robert Christgau: Album: AFI: December Underground". http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=13397. 
  15. ^ a b Strauss, Neil (2006). "Rolling Stone : Decemberunderground : Review". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/10483520/review/10500531/Decemberunderground. Retrieved 2006-06-17. 
  16. ^ "Decemberunderground review". http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/afi/decemberunderground.htm. 
  17. ^ Scott Shetler. "AFI: Decemberunderground rewvie". http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=899. 
  18. ^ AFI: Decemberunderground (2006): Reviews
  19. ^ "AFI Burns Brightly With No. 1 Debut". billboard.com. 2006.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Taking the Long Way by Dixie Chicks		 Billboard 200 number-one album
June 18, 2006 – June 24, 2006		 Succeeded by
The Big Bang by Busta Rhymes
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