Decemberunderground

Decemberunderground
Studio album by AFI
Released	June 6, 2006
Recorded	Conway Studios, Los Angeles; Sage and Sound Recording, Los Angeles
Genre	Alternative rock gothic rock emo post-hardcore
Length	45:06
Label	Interscope
Producer	Jerry Finn
AFI chronology
Sing the Sorrow (2003) Decemberunderground (2006) Crash Love (2009)
Singles from Decemberunderground
"Miss Murder" Released: April 3, 2006 "Love Like Winter" Released: September 26, 2006 "The Missing Frame" Released: February 27, 2007

Decemberunderground is the seventh studio album by American rock band AFI. The album was released on June 6, 2006 through Interscope Records. The album was supported by three singles, "Miss Murder", "Love Like Winter" and "The Missing Frame".

Music

Described as emo^[1][2] and post-hardcore,^[3] Decemberunderground features elements of electronic music, new wave, industrial, gothic rock, punk rock, hardcore punk^[1] and synthpop.^[4][5] Ed Thompson of IGN compared the album to bands such as U2, The Cure, The Smiths, Depeche Mode and Alphaville.^[5]

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."^[6]

Release

The album's lead single "Miss Murder" was given a thirty-second preview on LIVE 105 on April 11, 2006, and due to an overwhelming response, Interscope Records gave the station permission to play the entire track. "Miss Murder" was released to radio on April 25.^[7] The full track listing of the album was announced on the same day.^[8] Decemberunderground was released on May 29, in the United Kingdom, June 6, in the United States, and June 16 in Mexico. Customers who pre-ordered the album at special pre-listening events received a CD of the "Miss Murder" single, which also contained a cover of INXS's song "Don't Change". The first pressing of the CD in the United States contained a limited edition insert with one of four band member portraits.^[9] "Love Like Winter" was released to radio on September 26.^[7] The album was re-released on November 7, 2006, on 6 "icy clear" 7" vinyl. The individual record sleeves featured band member portraits, as well as a portrait of the band's manager Smith Puget.^[10]

In March 2007, the band went on a brief west coast tour of the U.S.^[11]

AFI held their last concert in promotion of the album at Download Fest in October 2007. Havok and Puget then began to promote their side-project Blaqk Audio before beginning work on the eighth AFI album, Crash Love.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Blender	[12]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[13]
Exclaim!	(favorable)[14]
IGN	8.9/10[5]
Kerrang!	(3/5)
NME	[4]
Robert Christgau	C+[15]
Rolling Stone	[16]
Stylus	C+[17]
Slant Magazine	[18]
Alternative Press	[19]
Punknews.org	[20]

Commercial performance

It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 182,000 copies in its first week of being released.^[21] The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on August 30, 2006 and has sold at least 993,000 copies in the United States as of September 2009.^[22][23] It eventually went platinum in April 2013.^[6]

Critical response

Decemberunderground received generally positive reviews. The review aggregator Metacritic awarded the album a 72 out of 100, based on 15 reviews.^[24]

Entertainment Weekly awarded the album a grade of B+, and called it "the most melodically acute distillation of that style yet,"^[13] unlike their previous studio album Sing the Sorrow, which they awarded a D. AllMusic awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying the "core of AFI's sound never strays too far from what listeners have grown to love about them in the first place."^[1]

Rolling Stone awarded the album 3 out of 5 stars, one less star than their review of Sing the Sorrow, and claimed that "something isn't right in the world of AFI," because of their pop-rock musical structure "that would be at home on the soundtrack to the next Spider-Man movie".^[16]

Track listing

All tracks written by AFI, except where noted. 

Personnel

Credits for Decemberunderground adapted from the album liner notes.

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

All tracks recorded during the Decemberunderground sessions unless otherwise noted.

• "Rabbits are Roadkill on Rt. 37" was recorded during the Sing the Sorrow sessions, and was eventually released on the MySpace Records: Volume 1 compilation and as a bonus track on the UK and Australian editions of Decemberunderground.
• "Head Like a Hole" is a Nine Inch Nails cover and was included on the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack. It was re-released on the UK, Australian, German, and Japanese editions of Decemberunderground.
• "Don't Change" is an INXS cover and was released on the "Miss Murder" 7" vinyl disc and the Japanese edition of Decemberunderground.
• "Jack the Ripper" is a Morrissey cover and was available as a bonus track on the iTunes pre-ordered edition and the UK and Australian editions of the "Love Like Winter" single.
• "On the Arrow" was available as a bonus track on the iTunes pre-ordered edition and the Australian edition of the "Love Like Winter" single.
• "Fallen Like the Sky" was available as a Target bonus track download and available on the 7" vinyl disc box set edition of Decemberunderground.
• "Carcinogen Crush" was recorded during the Sing the Sorrow sessions, but did not make the album. It was eventually re-recorded and available as a downloadable track on the video game Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock and as a digital single on December 4, 2007.
• "Fainting Spells" was recorded during the Decemberunderground sessions, and was eventually released on the deluxe edition of Crash Love.
• "Then I'll Be Home" can be heard at the end of the track "Affliction".
• "The View From Here" was recorded during the Decemberunderground sessions and leaked online in 2016.

Chart positions

See also

• List of albums containing a hidden track

References

External links

• AFI's official website
• Decemberunderground at Metacritic