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Reviews of cds, movies, books, and other miscellaneous items. Hell, if you send me a picture of your shoes, I'll do a half-way decent review of them, okay? Anyway, just read them and weep.

AFI- Sing the Sorrow

This cd has amazing intro effects. Think the Black Sails in the Sunset opening. It makes you feel like you are about to enter into battle. This opening would have been great for The Two Towers movie.

The first song, Miseria Cantare- the Beginning, is addictive. Davey’s voice rings loud and clear throughout this song. This song is all about power. Follows their "theme" of opening songs by only having a few lines repeated over and over to the sound of empowering guitars, drums, and bass riffs.

The second song, The Leaving Song Part II, starts out with piercing guitar plucks, followed by the rest of the band coming in with Davey's voice leading them. As always, he has a way with the lyrics. You read them and you go, "this is a song?" and then you listen and it is absolutely perfect. So far this cd is very good. You can tell that the guys have grown up, musically. The middle of the leaving song includes whispers, spoken lyrics, and heart felt crooning. All of this leads up to another burst of good ol' Davey screaming. The guys do a wonderful job backing him up, as well.

Bleed Black's beginning is kind of spooky, but the musical instruments soon pick up their speed. From Davey's first "oh" you can tell that this song is going to be one of his heart-wrenching songs. "I crumble, I cannot find reflection in these days. If you listen, listen close, beat-by-beat, you can hear when the heart stops." So far much of their songs include a lot more harmonizing of the rest of the members then some of their other cds. Davey absolutely makes you want to cry with this song, it is so beautiful. He speaks much of the lyrics from the middle to the end. So "if you listen, listen close," you will hear the quality of the song.

Silver and Cold starts out with rain sound effects and goes into a piano playing a forlorn tune. Then the drumming starts and the whole song seems to get upbeat. Davey is speak-singing this song. More harmonizing of the whole band. Yes, this song is beautiful, but it has nothing too much more special than the previous song. I do give props to the lyrics though, which really hit you hard if you bother to open up the book to read them while Davey sings.

So far this cd has a lot less screaming and a lot more harmonizing. It is softer then most AFI fans are used to.

Dancing Through Sunday brings back memories of old AFI, more of the hardcore element is showing through again. It sounds like the lyrics "I’m an asshole" are being sung in the background in some parts. I find this humorous, but distracting. "We all have no chance in this horrid romance," ah Davey, you are such a poet.

Girl’s Not Grey. Personally, I can't stand this song. It is too catchy for my tastes. The lyrics are good, but the song is just too damn mellow for AFI. I see none of AFI's greatness shining through. He keeps repeating the same thing, but instead of gearing you up for a battle, it puts you more or less to sleep. We all know you can sing Davey, really, we do. Now go back to screaming. This song is too long for what it is worth.

Death of Seasons once again brings back memories of the hardcore AFI. Lots of screaming from Davey while everyone else harmonizes in the background. It sounds incredible. Of course Davey goes to singing the lyrics, but it is fast paced. Then WHAM! It gets electronic. Now this is something I can handle. It seems like AFI has decided to meddle a bit in techno. It is very cool, the little bit that is used. Hopefully, we will hear more of the techno sounds from AFI. It would be a welcome sound, as long as they don't go overboard. "It will be okay, despite what they say, just watch the stars tonight as they disappear, disintegrate.” And as the song ends, we are shown the way out the door by Davey screaming once more. And fade out... violins and Davey's screaming getting lower and lower makes it seem like the definitive end. Good job, lads.

Once again a song fades in. The Great Disappointment, well, as long as the song isn't as "disappointing" as the title, har har, I’ll be happy. For a good minute and 19 seconds it is all instrumental. Then Davey leads in with some soft singing and slowly builds up the tension. This song is very mellow. It isn't as bad as Girl's Not Grey, but it isn't great. Davey does manage to fit in the word chrysanthemum into the song. He gets a tribal chant going with "I never, never wanted this." I’m starting to think I’m putting to much effort into reviewing every song on the cd, I am actually yawning during an AFI song. And so it ends, finally.

Paper Airplanes (Makeshift Wings) has a neat title, riveting lyrics, and a screaming Davey spliced with a soft singing Davey. So far, so good. They show that they have their timing down with this song; they all say "burn" at the same time numerous times in this song. More harmonizing. I suggest that you read the lyrics to get the most out of this song.

This Celluloid Dream starts out with a soft "ah/oh" from Davey and a few seconds later he starts singing. He puts a lot of feeling into these words, and you can tell by the way he seems to spit them out of his mouth with cannon ball force. He means what he says. There are some neat voice effects in this song. These guys are really starting to branch out with the sound effect department. This song has feeling in it, and even if you can't relate to the lyrics, you will wish that you did so that you could declare this song as the song of your love life. Because that is what this song really is, an understated love song.

The guys seem to like messing with the order of the songs. The Leaving Song Part I comes next. It reminds me of a more gothic emo song. I’m not complaining though, this song is undeniably heartbreaking. Davey shows his injured side again with this song of breaking down and heart break. The guitars are tear-jerking. This song has no drums, and from what I can tell, no bass. I don't know what more to say about it, it is just a great song.

...but home is nowhere, how many of us have felt this way before? Being alone is something that we can all relate to, and so everyone can relate to the feelings expressed in this song. "I lay strewn across the floor, can't solve this puzzle. Everyday another small piece can't be found. I lay strewn across the floor pieced up in sorrow. The pieces are lost, these pieces don't fit. Pieced together incomplete and empty." The instruments of this song ring true to gothic sorrow complete with what sounds like a cathedral bell ringing in the background. Davey screams through most of it and I am finally happy now that I feel I have my quota of screams.

The hidden track comes up fast, starting with a piano. Then a little boy starts to talk, barely audible. If you really want to know what he is saying, you need to read the lyrics. Then there are string instruments which a truly haunting voice speaks over. This song sounds like it would be played to the scene of a funeral procession in a movie. It sounds like the voices of the past coming back to "haunt" those who are in mourning of the dead. The piano comes back. This time the person who speaks sounds so sad that they are mumbling to the point of their sounding mentally handicapped. The point gets across though and this hidden track sounds amazing.

Another hidden track, this one with a name, This Time Imperfect, starts up right away after the first hidden track ends. This song sounds like Davey's last goodbye to... to the world. "I cannot stay here. I cannot leave. Just like all that I loved, I’m make-believe. Imagined heart, I disappear." the forlorn lyrics continue, and this song becomes truly haunting to hear. More like chilling. Davey switches between belting out the lyrics to softly singing them, and the noise level of the instruments follows his lead.

Once again, AFI put out a masterpiece. It has its bumpy spots, but every cd does. My recommendation is that you go out and buy this cd ASAP; you will regret it one day if you don't.