Sing the Sorrow

Musically, Sing the Sorrow is a departure from the hardcore punk and horror punk genres featured in the band's previous material. The album features elements of hardcore punk, post-hardcore, alternative rock, gothic rock, and emo.[4][5] More experimental than previous AFI albums,[5] Sing the Sorrow includes instruments other than guitar, bass and drums, such as piano and strings.[4] Lyrically, the album is darker and more poetic than the band's previous material. The opening track features some electronic programming from Jade Puget.[6] A hidden song is included, which leads into a spoken word poem accompanied by piano keys and distorted synth sounds.[7]

Sing the Sorrow was released with three different covers, featuring different colors for the text, logo, and iconography.[lower-alpha 1] The colors were red, silver and black. The original cover features red artwork.[10] Several of the first pressings in the United States and United Kingdom featured the silver cover, but the pressings are now rare and out of print, although the digital version of Sing the Sorrow among iTunes still features the silver artwork. The black cover was exclusively available at shows on the U.S. album release tour and the band's official fan club online store. International versions of the album use different artwork on the album label. Often contain a picture of an inverted octopus whilst others contain a foraminifer or a dead bird. The animal pictures are taken from the book Animals by Jim Harter.

The album was released on March 11, 2003, through DreamWorks Records. In mid-to-late June and mid-to-late July, the group appeared on the Warped Tour.[11]

The hard-book cover of the limited edition

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[13]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Alternative Press	5/5[14]
Blender	[15]
Entertainment Weekly	D[16]
Los Angeles Times	[17]
Q	[18]
Rolling Stone	[19]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[20]
Slant Magazine	[7]
Spin	B+[21]

Sing the Sorrow was met with critical acclaim upon release. The review aggregator Metacritic scored the album an 81 out of 100, based on 11 reviews, with the mention of "universal acclaim".[13] E! Online called it a "well-crafted mix of hardcore bluster, determined melody and anthemic grandness that boasts depth and texture rarely heard from the Warped Tour ilk."[13] Alternative Press awarded the album a perfect score, saying that, "Sing the Sorrow soars with the kind of melodies hit singles are made of, yet it somehow persists with AFI's esoteric darkness."[13] Allmusic awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars and wrote: "Emerging in early 2003 with Sing the Sorrow, it's clear the molting process AFI began with Black Sails in Sunset is complete," and concluded that, "Whatever factions of the band's longterm fans might think of their major-label affiliation, Sing the Sorrow represents a coalescing of the band's sound."[4] Rolling Stone awarded the album a 4 out of 5, claiming that "Sing the Sorrow is not exactly a concept album, but it does have a singleness of dark purpose that builds in momentum as the disc progresses."[13] The New York Times rated Sing the Sorrow as the tenth-best album of 2003.[22] Conversely, Entertainment Weekly gave the album a 'D', commenting that "The songs combine the most pretentious and overworked elements of their influences."[13] The album ranked number 77 in the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's List of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time. The album's lead single, "Girl's Not Grey", received a 2003 VMA for the 'Best MTV2 Music Video' category.[23] Alternative Press ranked "Girl's Not Grey" at number 63 on their list of the best 100 singles from the 2000s.[24]

Three singles, each with an accompanying music video, were released from Sing the Sorrow: "Girl's Not Grey", "The Leaving Song Pt. II," and "Silver and Cold." "Girl's Not Grey" was the highest-charting single, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart,[25] No. 33 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single, "The Leaving Song Pt. II" charted at No. 16 on the Alternative Songs chart,[25] No. 31 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, No. 27 in Australia, and No. 43 in the UK. The third and final single, "Silver and Cold" reached No. 7 on the Alternative Songs chart[25] and No. 39 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Notes

1.^ On digital editions, "This Time Imperfect" isn't a hidden track, and includes "The Spoken Word" before it as track 13.[26][27][28][29]

All songs presumably recorded during the Sing the Sorrow sessions unless otherwise noted.

• "Reivers' Music" is featured on the DVD of the special limited edition album and the "Girl's Not Grey" single, as well as the 336 EP (2002), on which it backs the demo version of "Now the World".[30]
• Demo versions of "Synesthesia", "This Celluloid Dream", "The Great Disappointment", "Paper Airplanes (makeshift wings)", "...But Home is Nowhere", "The Leaving Song", and "Now the World" can be found as b-sides on the album's single releases.
• "Rabbits are Roadkill on Rt. 37" was released on the MySpace Records: Volume 1 compilation[31] in November 2005 and as a bonus track on the UK and Australian editions of Decemberunderground (2006).[32]
• "Carcinogen Crush"[lower-alpha 2] was recorded during the Sing the Sorrow sessions, but the band felt that it did not fit the album. It was later re-recorded during the Decemberunderground sessions, but remained unreleased. It was eventually released as a bonus track on the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2007)[33] and as a digital single on December 4, 2007.[34] It was also featured on the "Medicate" UK vinyl and the Japanese version of Crash Love (2009). The Sing the Sorrow version remains unreleased.
• "100 Words"[lower-alpha 2] was not released until 2009 on the deluxe version of Crash Love.

Credits adapted from the album's booklet.[35]

In November 2022, the band announced that they would play the album in its entirety the first and only time at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on March 11, 2023, the album's 20th anniversary. Jawbreaker, Chelsea Wolfe, and Choir Boy were slated to open the event.[45] The band dedicated "Paper Airplanes (makeshift wings)" to Jawbreaker and "The Leaving Song" to album producer Jerry Finn, who died in 2008. Additionally, the out-of-print vinyl album was reissued for the anniversary.[46]

• Clandestine at IMDb