Black Sails in the Sunset

Untitled

Black Sails in the Sunset is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band AFI. It was released on May 18, 1999 through Nitro Records.

Release

Black Sails in the Sunset was released on May 18, 1999 through Nitro Records. It is the first album to feature guitarist Jade Puget as a permanent member, thus making it the first album the band truly collaborated. The album did not peak on any mainstream Billboard charts, however, it managed to peak at #6 on the Top Heatseekers (Pacific) chart.

Track listing

The track listing for this album differs among formats.

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 (feat. Dexter Holland)
7. "The Prayer Position" – 3:27 (feat. Dexter Holland)
8. "No Poetic Device" – 2:16
9. "The Last Kiss"* – 2:12
10. "Weathered Tome"* – 3:02
11. "At a Glance" – 4:00
12. "God Called In Sick Today" – 13:31

    "Midnight Sun" (hidden track) – 10:28

• Due to a misprint, tracks 9 and 10 were mislabeled with their titles switched. Shown here is the correct track listing.

Bonus tracks, B-sides, unreleased tracks, etc.

All tracks recorded during the Black Sails sessions unless otherwise noted.

• "Lower It" is featured as track 7 on the vinyl edition of the album. It was eventually re-released on the AFI retrospective compilation.
• "Who Knew?" is featured on the Black Sails EP. It is released as the hidden track in the place of "Midnight Sun" on the Japanese edition of the album.
• "Transference" is featured on the No Time to Kill compilation. It is the only song by AFI to contain lead vocals by Hunter Burgan, which can be heard during the chorus of the song.
• "The Chicken Song" is featured as a hidden track on the No Time to Kill compilation. It features Burgan playing the piano and Havok and Puget sharing lead vocal duties. The band often jokingly deny the existence of the song.
• "Weight of Words" was known to be recorded during the Black Sails sessions, but has yet to be released. However, the AFI retrospective compilation is often called 'The Weight of Words' on online shopping sites.

Background

• On the side of the album is a hidden message, reading 'Beyond And To All Time I Stand'. This is a lyric from the album's hidden track, Midnight Sun.
• The track Midnight Sun was inspired by the poem De Profundis Clamavi by Charles Baudelaire. Havok can be heard reciting parts of the poem in the song's bridge.
• 'Porphyria Cutanea Tarda' is listed as 'Porphyria' on the back cover of the album, as it was listed on Black Sails EP.
• Jade Puget has stated that 'Malleus Maleficarum' was the first song he wrote as part of AFI.
• The opening track, 'Strength Through Wounding' contains a repeated chant, 'Through our bleeding, we are one', which fans like to chant during concerts while waiting for the band to come onstage, or between songs.
• Dexter Holland, the vocalist for The Offspring is featured in the tracks 'Clove Smoke Catharsis' and 'The Prayer Position', as he was the owner of the record label, Nitro Records at the time.
• 'God Called In Sick Today' is one of the bands favorite songs to play live, since the album's release it has always been on their set, usually to conclude a show. The exception is during the I Heard A Voice show, which they followed with 'Miss Murder'.

Chart positions

Chart	Position
Top Heatseekers (Pacific)	6

Personnel

• Davey Havok - Vocals
• Jade Puget - Guitar, backing vocals
• Hunter Burgan - Bass, backing vocals
• Adam Carson - Drums

• Dexter Holland - Guest backing vocals
• AFI - Producer
• Andy Ernst - Engineer, Mixing
• Mike Fasano - Drum Technician
• Thadd LaRue - Engineer, Assistant Engineer
• Alan Forbes - Illustrations
• Gabe Morford - Photography
• Jamie Reilly - Layout Design