AFI - Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (Cover Artwork)

AFI

AFI: Shut Your Mouth and Open Your EyesShut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1998)
Nitro Records

Reviewer Rating: 4

User Rating:

Contributed by: ShortychordShortychord
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on September 20th 2002In retrospect, it's clear that every AFI record had a distinct sound. The first two, Answer That... and Very Proud... has a coarse, old school style while Black Sails..., my personal favorite, has a dark, gothic undertone that fully utilized davey's voice and showcased the band's ability to go beyon.

In retrospect, it's clear that every AFI record had a distinct sound. The first two, Answer That... and Very Proud... has a coarse, old school style while Black Sails..., my personal favorite, has a dark, gothic undertone that fully utilized davey's voice and showcased the band's ability to go beyond the constraints of traditional punk and hardcore. Art of Drowning was the most melodic, a bit disappointing, and left the future of the band's sound a mystery. Shut Your Mouth is the middle record that bridged the four albums. The dark, morbid imagery, the fusion of melody and screams, and the start of davey's vocal refinement are all present in their third full length.

With this album, AFI started their tradition of an introductory song, and in this song, they quickly established a new sound and new lyrical content: much more intense with a flare for the demonic.

Certain songs stand out to me. A Single Second has that amazing choral harmony (thanks to Nick 13) that makes the song instantly memorable. Third Season was the first "slow" AFI song, and this song, as well as much of the album, showed davey's ability to create original and memorable melodies.

The album as a whole is a mix of hardcore and punk, rife with melodic choruses and ferocious chants. Rumor has it that during the recording of this album, Davey had to hold cloth in his hands because he would get so into singing/screaming that he would dig his nails into his hands and bleed. Damn, the effort sure shows. Anger, despair, yearning, and alienation are all topics that can be found in this album, but the album is so good that it puts a smile on my face every time i listen to it. This is the album before Jade and Hunter joined, and the difference they would eventually make is clear: Shut Your Mouth... is great, but lacks the almost tangible darkness and distinctive style that would become clear with the later albums and eps. It's fast and so intense, full of questions and the genesis of davey's brooding and melancholy lyrics. My favorite song on the ablum, besides the two previously mentioned, is "Let it Be Broke."

A lot of "old-school" fans of AFI stopped listening to them when they heard this album. Personally, I love every album and ep they have released because of the differences and changes. AFI is never boring... to me at least.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Adamsterdamned (August 30, 2006)

This is the best hardcore album of all time.

Anonymous (June 5, 2006)

AFI at their best.

chunk_rock (June 3, 2006)

This is one of my favorite punk/hardcore albums ever, definatley in the top ten anyway. It brings back a lot of high school memories.

Anonymous (March 24, 2006)

i love this album, but i'm never dissapointed by these guys

Anonymous (March 3, 2006)

My favourite AFI album. Black Sails is #2.

Anonymous (January 10, 2006)

This CD really grew on me...I also like the Flith cover, eventhough it's not as good as the original.

Anonymous (August 9, 2003)

thi is afis best album in my opinion!sing the sorrow sux ass they so should have stayed underground where they were actually like by people with their own opinions not because EVERYONE likes them now!

evilash (November 15, 2002)

This album is so refreshing from the absolute shit that AFI used to play. Yeah this is where it all started. Single Second is amazing

Anonymous (September 26, 2002)

I like this album because they finally broke free of the old crap they played. Yes, crap. They sounded just like every other punk band at the time. And like today, typical and so called "punk" sounds (which mind you are even punk anyway) are too redundant. AFI did a good thing when they decided to do what they wanted. The more gothic music of theirs is definitely better. The lyrics tend to become more mature and precocious, whereas most so called punk bands today write lyrics tantamount to a preschool short story ("Yay, lets sing about how we're so incompetent that we can't keep girlfriends or score pot, cause we're skater fags from SoCal pretending to be punks who are really 2000 miles NE of here").

Pseudonova (September 26, 2002)

I love some mf'n AFI. Bad thing is, I live so far in the sticks I can't find their music anywhere. I have tracked it all down but "Answer That and Stay Fashionable". I guess I will just have to order it. Damn, why do I have to live in Tennessee. Warped tour won't visit us nor will any single act tours and you can't buy any music. What the hell!?

punky (September 24, 2002)

This secret ninja was the first slow song...not third season.

Anonymous (September 23, 2002)

dude AFI rules they are one of the best bands out their right now they are a constent in my cd changer along with thrice and poison the well annd atreyu and the beutifull mistake(you should check out) the problem is although AFI themselves havent gone mainstream their are alot of the new fans are just into AFI for the image.

Vien (September 23, 2002)

Yeah, not even the misfits today can carry the misfits legacy. Zing!

Anonymous (September 23, 2002)

if any band should carry on the misfits legacy, it should be these guys.

Pseudonova (September 23, 2002)

This is my favorite AFI album probably because as you said it was the bridge. Nice mesh of hardcore without being too morbid. A Single Second is the best song AFI has done thus far in my opinion.

Ejaculine (September 23, 2002)

I dont know whats wrong with the people here but Black sails and Drowning are great cds. I dont get why people dont appreciate songs that are actually more melodic. Anyway this is a great cd, but in my opinion they just keep getting better with time. The last cd was their more musically mature album.

Anonymous (September 23, 2002)

"Third Season is the first "slow" AFI song, and this song, as well as much of the album showed Davey's ability to create original & memorable melodies."

I had a different reaction, I think that was the first time I said something to the effect of "Holy Shit, Davey's trying to be Glenn Danzig." Still love the cd though, AFI's best.

Anonymous (September 22, 2002)

Best AFI CD, definitely. This is pure anger. A good CD to listen to when you're pissed.

Vien (September 21, 2002)

Someone tell Davey to cut his hair. He's an awesome singer, but the guy looks like Trent Reznor.

Hamish (September 21, 2002)

Hunter played bass on it, but he wasn't a member of the band. He was in a band called The Force at the time. Geoff quit right before they went to record this, so Hunter subbed for him, but never meant to join. Around this time, Snapcase broke up, and their bassist joined AFI for about one tour. Then Snapcase got back together, so AFI was without a bassist again. Then The Force broke up, so Hunter joined permanently.

Anonymous (September 21, 2002)

i thought hunter played bass on this one.

Hamish (September 21, 2002)

I like it, but not as much as Black Sails In the Sunset or (gasp!) The Art of Drowning. Too much filler. The intro, A Single Second, Triple Zero and a couple of the others are great though.

Anonymous (September 21, 2002)

To me this album is when AFI truly came into their own. Davey's vocals are finally tolerable, to say the least. Wonderful album.

Anonymous (September 20, 2002)

One of my fav albums of all time. It destroys anything else they have ever done, period.

--CanAm--

Anonymous (September 20, 2002)

I love this album!

Vien (September 20, 2002)

I liked that cover of "Last caress" by the misfits.

evildeadalive (September 20, 2002)

A Single Second is the best damn AFI song ever.
This is a good album, but not great as some of the songs are kinda fillerish.

AtomicGarden (September 20, 2002)

This is right up there with Very Proud of Ya.