This year marks the 25th anniversary of AFI’s breakthrough Black Sails in the Sunset. Craft Recordings is celebrating the occasion with a limited-edition vinyl pressing of the 1999 album. In addition to fan-favorite tracks like “Malleus Maleficarum,” “Porphyria,” and “The Prayer Position,” the vinyl edition features three bonus tracks: the previously unreleased “Weight of Words,” “Who Knew?,” a rarity originally released as a Japanese B-side, and the vinyl exclusive “Lower It.”
The vinyl pressing is available in standard Neon Orange as well as the limited color variants “Sunspot” variant (available exclusively through AFI’s official store), “Tropical Sunset” (via Craft Recordings/Nitro Records) and “Oriole” (Revolver). All expanded editions are out July 19 and are available for pre-order now. AFI will be hitting the road and touring North America this summer alongside Thirty Seconds to Mars.
Order AFI’s Black Sails in the Sunset now.
Black Sails in the Sunset was AFI’s fourth studio album and first release to feature their current lineup. Founded by high school students Davey Havok (vocals) and Adam Carson (drums, backing vocals) in 1991, AFI (short for A Fire Inside) had established themselves as a Bay Area hardcore favorite with albums like their 1995 debut Answer That and Stay Fashionable and 1997’s Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes. AFI cemented their lineup with the addition of bassist Hunter Burgan in 1997 and guitarist Jade Puget in 1998 following the departure of Mark Stopholese.
Black Sails in the Sunset is considered a turning point in the AFI’s career as the band moved beyond their hardcore roots towards a more romantic punk sound. Soon after, AFI achieved commercial success with platinum-selling albums like 2003’s Sing the Sorrow and 2006’s Decemberunderground, which topped the Billboard 200 and featured the hit “Miss Murder.” AFI now has 11 studio albums and 10 EPs under its belt.
Reflecting on the album’s 25th anniversary, Havok notes “Black Sails will always be very dear to me. It represents the most profound artistic turning point of the band. With this record came Hunter’s permanence and Jade’s arrival. It is the inchoate definition of what AFI would become and is today.” Havok added that the never-before-released bonus track “Weight of Words” is “one of my favorites from the session. On this edition it may be heard for the first time.”
Order AFI’s Black Sails in the Sunset now.