DECEMBERUNDERGROUND

'''Decemberunderground''' is the seventh 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] Three singles have been released from the album thus far. They are "Miss Murder", "Love Like Winter" and "The Missing Frame".
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, and will be playing Download Fest in October. It is noted that Download Fest will be the last show in support of Decemberunderground, as Havok and Puget want to focus on Blaqk Audio.

Contents

Track listing

UK bonus tracks

Non-CD bonus tracks

Release

Fan and critical responses

Chart history

Production

Miscellaneous

Guests

References

External links

Track listing

# "Prelude 12/21" – 1:34
# "Kill Caustic" – 2:39
# "Miss Murder" – 3:26
# "Summer Shudder" – 3:06
# "The Interview" – 4:16
# "Love Like Winter" – 2:45
# "Affliction" – 5:28
# "The Missing Frame" – 4:40
# "Kiss and Control" – 4:18
# "The Killing Lights" – 4:04
# "37mm" – 3:55
# "Endlessly, She Said" – 4:28

UK bonus tracks

★ "Rabbits are Roadkill on Rt. 37" (also included on the Australian release) – 3:50

★ "Head Like a Hole" (Nine Inch Nails cover) – 4:43

Non-CD bonus tracks

'Pre-listening bonus track' / '7" picture disc B-side'

★ "Don't Change" (INXS cover) – 3:16
'iTunes pre-order bonus track'

★ "Jack the Ripper" (Morrissey cover) – 2:47 ^[4]
'iTunes bonus track'

★ "On the Arrow" – 3:07
'Target bonus download track' / ' 7" vinyl box set'

★ "Fallen Like the Sky" – 3:22

Release

The single, "Miss Murder", was supposed to have premiered on KROQ and LIVE 105 on April 13, 2006, but due to the fact that the thirty-second clip that KROQ 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 stations 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.^[5]
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.^[6]

Fan and critical responses

There has been some disagreement over the band's departure from hardcore punk in the direction of a more synthpop and New Wave-oriented sound. Many fans hate the band's "New Sound". This album has a lot more techno, and industrial elements, which are evident in the songs "37mm" and "Summer Shudder". 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". Rolling Stone : Decemberunderground : Review Strauss, Neil 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. allmusic ((( Decemberunderground > Review ))): Apar, Corey

Chart history

★ #1 (United States ''Billboard'' 200) Artist Albums Chart History - AFI

★ #3 (Australian ARIA Albums Chart)^[7]

★ #2 (United Kingdom Top Rock Albums)^[8]

Production

★ Producer: Jerry Finn

★ Mixing Engineers: Jerry Finn and Chris Lord-Alge

★ Recording Engineer: Joe McGrath

★ 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

Miscellaneous

★ If the track "Prelude 12/21" is rewound past 00:00 (to -00:20), a hidden introduction to the track can be found.^[9]

★ Track 7's full name is "Affliction and Then I'll be Home". This is because the two songs "Affliction" and "Then I'll be Home" share the 7th track of the album. "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.^[9]

★ ''Decemberunderground'' is the first album to not contain a hidden track at the end of the album's last track since ''Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes''.

★ The album cover resembles the Three hares symbol found in sacred sites in Europe and Asia.

Guests

★ Nick 13 of Tiger Army

★ Members of Throwdown

★ Members of Day of Contempt

★ Members of Eighteen Visions

★ Members of Bleeding Through

★ Ronan Harris of VNV Nation

★ Members of The Despair Faction

★ Dan Under of The Dear & Departed

References

1. AFI Burns Brightly With No. 1 Debut
2. AFI Official Biography
3. [1]
4. http://afireinside.net/news/default.aspx?dt=05-01-2006
5. AFI Reveals Track Listing
6. http://www.afireinside.net/news/default.aspx/nid/1989
7. http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display.asp?chart=1A50
8. Top 40 Rock Albums
9. Yahoo Music Entry
10. Yahoo Music Entry

External links

★ AFI's official website

★ Lead singer Davey Havok's track-by-track guide to the album, originally published in ''Kerrang!''

★ AFI's official MySpace

★ The Complete AFI Series

★ The Art of Drowning, an AFI fansite