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Decemberunderground

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Decemberunderground is a pathetic album released by AFI, i mean srsly how tEh hell did they became this terrible band??? studio album from Californian rock band AFI, and their first album to debut at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 182,000 units in its first week.[1] The album was released on May 29, 2006, in the United Kingdom, June 6 2006, in the United States, and June 16, 2006, in Mexico. 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."[2] The title itself is found in the lyrics of the track "The Interview." Four singles have been released from the album thus far. They are "Miss Murder", "Love Like Winter", "The Missing Frame" and "Summer Shudder".

On November 7, 2006, the album was re-released on 6 "icy clear" 7" vinyl discs, with all four band members' pictures and "... a very special guest" being Smith Puget, the band's manager, and a poster/lyric sheet.[3]

AFI was on tour in support of the album since April of 2006. They recently played Live Earth, Download Fest in October. It was noted that Download Fest was the last show in support of Decemberunderground, as Havok and Puget wanted to primarily focus on Blaqk Audio for a while.

Track listing

  1. "Prelude 12/21" – 1:35
  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

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

All tracks recorded during the Decemberunderground sessions unless otherwise noted.

  • "Rabbits are Roadkill on Rt.37", a song recorded during the Sing the Sorrow sessions, can be found on the UK, Australian, German, and Japanese editions of the album.
  • "Head Like a Hole", a Nine Inch Nails cover, was initially released on the Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas video game soundtrack. It was later re-released on the UK, Australian, German, and Japanese editions of the album.
  • "Don't Change", an INXS cover, can be found on the "Miss Murder" 7" picture disc and the Japanese edition of the album.
  • "Jack the Ripper", a Morrissey cover, was available as an iTunes pre-order bonus track.
  • "On the Arrow" is featured as an iTunes bonus track.
  • "Fallen Like the Sky" can be found on the 7" vinyl box set version of the album. It was initially released as a Target bonus download track.
  • "Carcinogen Crush", a song recorded during the Sing the Sorrow sessions. It was re-recorded for Decemberunderground, but still not released on the album. It was later released on the Guitar Hero 3 companion CD, and can also be downloaded into the Xbox 360 version of the game. AFI are going to release it on their tenth EP
  • Before the release of the album, in an interview with MTV, Davey Havok estimated that the band wrote roughly "somewhere between 80 and 100 songs".

Release

The single, "Miss Murder", was supposed to have premiered on LIVE 105 on April 13, 2006, but due to the fact that the thirty-second clip that aired on April 11 had such an overwhelming response of people requesting to hear it over and over again, Interscope Records gave permission for the radio station to play the entire song, and those who tuned in on their radios and online across the globe got to hear it early. The full track listing of the album was announced on April 25, 2006.[4]

When fans preordered this CD at special pre-listening events, they received a CD including "Miss Murder" and "Don't Change". "Don't Change" is a cover of an INXS song.

The first pressing of the CD in North America contains "limited edition artwork" of a single portrait of one of the members of AFI, with a portrait of the entire band on the reverse of the insert, which serves as the CD cover, hiding the portrait on the CD booklet cover.[5]

The album was also made available via 12" vinyl by Adeline Records.

Fan and critical responses

AFI fan reaction remains divided over the band's departure from hardcore punk in the direction in favor of a more New Wave-oriented sound. Songs such as "37mm" and "Summer Shudder" rely more on electronics than in previous releases. The album has received mixed reviews, For example, Rolling Stone awarded the album three stars out of five, a drop from the four-star album Sing the Sorrow. Rolling Stone said Decemberunderground feels like "something isn't right in the world of AFI" due to their turn towards a more pop-based musical structure "that would be at home on the soundtrack to the next Spider-Man movie".[6] However, All Music Guide disagreed, saying the "core of AFI's sound never strays too far from what listeners have grown to love about them in the first place." This album earned four stars out of five from All Music Guide.[7]

The album received 72/100 on Metacritic, indicating generally positive reviews. [8]

Chart history

Production

  • Producer: Jerry Finn
  • Mixing Engineers: Jerry Finn and Chris Lord-Alge
  • Recording Engineer: Joe McGrath
  • ProTools Engineer : Jake Davies
  • Assistant Engineers: Seth Waldmann, Jason Gossman, Kevin Mills, Eric Weaver, Dimitar Krnjaic, and Keith Armstrong
  • Drum Technician: Mike Fasano
  • Programming and Keyboards: Jade Puget, Hunter Burgan, Ronan Harris, and Dave McCracken
  • Recorded at Conway Recording Studios and Sage & Sound Recording Studios
  • Mixed at Conway Recording Studios and Resonate Music
  • Mastered at Sterling Sound, NYC by Ten Jensen
  • A&R: Luke Wood
  • Art Direction & Design: Morning Breath Inc.
  • Illustration: Alan Forbes
  • Photography: James Minchin

Trivia

  • Track 7 contains two different tracks, "Affliction" and "Then I'll be Home". "Affliction" ends at 3:37 and, after a brief silence, "Then I'll be Home" begins playing. Before the album's release, leaked advance copies had "Affliction" play for 3:37, then play the next track, "The Missing Frame". "Then I'll Be Home" was the thirteenth track, following "Endlessly, She Said", and was at the time an untitled outro.
  • The video of "Miss Murder" was re-released in a 'Director's Cut' version, which included "Prelude 12/21" and footage of Miss Murder drawing, folding, and placing in her mouth, the piece of paper which Davey takes from his own mouth and unfolds, revealing the three Decemberunderground rabbits in their circular formation.[12]
  • The album cover resembles the three hares symbol found in sacred sites in Europe and Asia.
  • The track "Prelude 12/21" has been used in the Smallville episode "Subterranean" and the One Tree Hill episode "Where Did You Sleep Last Night".
  • There is an extra 20 seconds of "Prelude 12/21" which can be found by playing the CD on a normal CD player, and holding the "reverse skip" button to rewind the track.

Guests

References

  1. ^ "AFI Burns Brightly With No. 1 Debut". 2006-06-14.
  2. ^ "AFI Official Biography". AFI Official Website. Retrieved 2006-05-27.
  3. ^ http://www.cinderblock.com/wc.dll?WebStore%7ERViewItem%7EAFI%7EAFI-BOX1%7ESID=11
  4. ^ "AFI Reveals Track Listing". Aversion.com Music News. Retrieved 2006-05-27.
  5. ^ AFI | Official Site
  6. ^ Strauss, Neil (2006). "Rolling Stone : Decemberunderground : Review" (HTML). Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2006-06-17.
  7. ^ Apar, Corey (2006). "allmusic ((( Decemberunderground > Review ))):" (HTML). allmusic.com. Retrieved 2006-06-17.
  8. ^ AFI: Decemberunderground (2006): Reviews
  9. ^ "Artist Albums Chart History - AFI". Billboard. Retrieved 2006-06-15.
  10. ^ Top 50 Albums Chart - Australian Record Industry Assocation
  11. ^ "Top 40 Rock Albums". BBC Radio 1 Charts. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
  12. ^ "Yahoo Music Entry". Retrieved 2006-11-05.

External links

Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
June 24 - June 30 2006 		Succeeded by
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