AFI - Crash Love [Album]

DGC Records

October 18, 2009, 12:51 AM

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A Fire Inside a.k.a: AFI, is having way too much fun making records. How else could one explain their tenacity and longevity? Not many bands make it past their first few records. AFI has put those bands to shame with their eighth full-length studio release in 18 years, "Crash Love."

Though AFI has been around for 18 years (the original members have all been intact since 1998) they did not see any real commercial success until the 2003 release "Sing The Sorrow" which reached #5 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified Platinum in the US. Following its success the boys from California produced another strong and lucrative album "Decemberunderground." So the question surrounding "Crash Love" is whether or not AFI has what it takes to continue their previous successes.

At first listen, "Crash Love" did little to impress me. Musically, the album doesn’t sound much different than the previous two releases. That’s both bad and good. Good in the sense that they are staying true to their sound and showing a consistent effort and bad in the sense that it gives little reason for “on-the-fence” listeners to be swayed to the true fan side. However, the main difference between "Crash Love" and the aforementioned releases is that it lacks any song that really stands out as a lead single. You know the kind of song that forces one to run out and buy the entire album. "Sing the Sorrow" had ‘Girls Not Grey,’ "Decemberunderground" had 'Miss Murder,' 'Love Like Winter,' and 'Prelude 12/21.'

That being said there are a few noteworthy tracks. ‘Torch Song’ starts "Crash Love" off on the right foot with signature hard drum beats that syncopate with electric guitar riffs. The introductory guitar solo is also pretty sick. ‘Beautiful Thieves’ stands out with its melodically catchy chorus. ‘Too Shy’ breaks the hard beat mould with a sweet bass drum roll sound. ‘Darling I Want To Destroy You’ has a chorus that gives lead vocalist Davey Havok a chance to flex his pipes.

Overall, "Crash Love" is very lacklustre. Granted the production and musical talent of AFI has changed little (they still rock) my main problem with "Crash Love" is the lack of creativity and branching out. Most of the songs sound exactly the same. Even after my fourth listen I feel like I really had to dig deep to find things I genuinely liked about the songs. I’m interested to see how the AFI faithful receives "Crash Love."

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