DISCOGRAPHY: The Art Of Drowning (2000)

The Art of Drowning

The Art of Drowning is the fifth full-length studio album released by then punk rock band AFI. It was the last studio album recorded by AFI on Nitro records. It reached #174 on the Billboard 200 and #9 on Heatseekers. The album, as well as its predecessor, features a darker, horror punk sound, and contains AFI's first use of electronic music in "The Despair Factor." However, after this release, AFI moved towards an alternative rock sound. This was the first AFI album that the band sought outside creative input from a producer, but the band themselves were not content with the way that it proceded. This was the last album that the band produced themselves. The 2003 follow up, Sing The Sorrow, was produced by Butch Vig and Jerry Finn.

The inner-edge of the CD case reveals a hidden message: "Battled". This is the name of the hidden track on the CD edition. "The Despair Factor" contains the lyrics "My whole life is a dark room... one big dark room," which is a line originally spoken by Winona Ryder in the film Beetlejuice. The official AFI fan club, the Despair Faction, gets its name from the song "The Despair Factor." It contains perks such as exclusive merchandise, a free digital magazine, and a message board community. The song "Wester" was featured in Winter X Games Snowboarding 2000. The song "The Days of the Phoenix" refers to the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, California. Petaluma is near Ukiah, California, where the band originated, and the band played the venue often in their early years.

"Battled" is featured as a hidden track on the CD format of the album. On the iTunes download of the album, "Battled" is erroneously labeled as "Bonus Track". "Dream of Waking" is featured as track 9 on the A-Side of the 12" vinyl edition of the album. It was later released on the Nitro Records Punkzilla compilation. "A Winter's Tale" was recorded during the Art of Drowning sessions. It was featured on the The Days of the Phoenix EP, and later on the AFI compilation.

Track Listing:

1. Initiation
2. The Lost Souls
3. The Nephilim
4. Ever And A Day
5. Sacrifice Theory
6. Of Greetings And Goodbyes
7. Smile
8. A Story At Three
9. The Days of the Phoenix
10. Catch A Hot One
11. Wester
12. 6 To 8
13. The Despair Factor
14. Morningstar (Bonus track: Battled)