AFI (band)

According to Havok, the new album is expected to be released late fall/early winter 2005. (studio albums only). It will be available in May 2005 at Hot Topic Stores. Yet more played as session, guest or live artists without formally joining Asia. Also Due for 2005 is Glitterboy the new fashion line from Davey Havok and Serious Clothing. Other musicians joined and left after a short time (including Greg Lake), without recording any material with the group. The band claims they well incorprate more 'rock elements' and adapt more of a 'cold-pop' sound with more electronica incorprted into it. The 2001 Aura album showed a return to progressive rock form, but without recapturing the commercial success of the first album.

As of March 2005 the band is continuing it work on their new LP which name is still undecided. Downes' environmental single, "Who Will Stop The Rain" attracted some attention, but the "Aqua" club tour featuring Howe (whose presence was heavily promoted) angered even the band's most ardent supporters, when a clearly indifferent Howe only took the stage halfway through the show. In fall of 2004, AFI covered The Cure's "Just Like Heaven" for The MTVicon 2004 TV show that aired on MTVEurope and MTV2. "Aqua" 1992 featured sessions from Steve Howe and Carl Palmer, but John Payne's raspy voice was ill-suited to replace John Wetton. In 2004, AFI covered Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like A Hole" for the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack. Out of the two soundtracks that were released, AFI's cover appeared only on the 2-disc set. Enlisting new musicians, he led Asia through the 1990s with a series of well-produced but unremarkable albums. Some claim differently but, Davey Havok claims that the meaning of AFI has always been "A Fire Inside.". However, Downes found a new lease on life with Asia.

The meaning of the initials "AFI" means A Fire Inside. John Wetton left in 1992 to focus on writing new albums. The website for Blaqk Audio, however is www.blaqkaudio.com. Pat Thrall joined Downes, Palmer, and Wetton, who performed classic material and even King Crimson songs. Another project, known as "Blaqk Audio" is Davey and Jade's electronic side project, which not much is known about at this time. "Days Like These" charted briefly in 1991, generating a small amount of MTV airplay. One of those was his position as lead vocalist of the punk/metal super group "Son of Sam" which was made up of members of Danzig, Samhain, and Tiger Army as well as Davey. Geoffrey Downes revived Asia in 1989, to a mediocre reception even from its former fans. They toured the former Soviet Union in 1990, while "Then And Now" featured their previous hits and new singles.

Davey has also pursued several side projects. Asia also made a contribution to the Sylvester Stallone film soundtrack to "Over The Top.". Currently he has a solo band Hunter Revenge and is in The Frisk, as well as being in AFI full-time. In 1985, this Asia line-up died, although Wetton resurfaced with a 1987 solo album, Wetton-Manzanera, based on Asia material. He was in a number of bands, including The Force. Yet the band enjoyed a modest hit single, "Go," with Meyer's guitar heroics center-stage. Hunter, who replaced Geoff (who went on to join Tiger Army), is from Grass Valley in Northern California. Mandy Meyer of Krokus provided more of a hard-rock guitar approach, in keeping with the trend.

Consisting of fans old and young, male and female, the Despair Faction attends every AFI show in its areas. The third Asia album, Astra, was a commercial failure, largely because Geffen cancelled the tour due to lack of interest. They are followed by a devoted fan base called the Despair Faction. However, Howe would enjoy a brief success with GTR, another super-group formed with Steve Hackett of Genesis, and produced by none other than Geoffrey Downes. However, many fans feel their latest album Sing the Sorrow which was released on the much larger DreamWorks label on March 11, 2003 displays a different musical approach which has lost some of the punk rock aggression and connected more with its lyrical (and angsty) subject matter. Thereafter, Asia reformed without Steve Howe, who also despaired that Yes had enjoyed a successful rebirth with Trevor Rabin as its new guitarist. On this album, and the following All Hallow's EP (Nitro 1999), other EPs and the seminal The Art of Drowning album (Nitro 2000) their original punk roots were still quite apparent in their musical approach, but more 80s dark rock seemed to appear in the lyrics. In 1984, Wetton left the group briefly, while ELP frontman Greg Lake replaced him for the highly publicized "Asia in Asia" tour in Japan.

Following on from the new approach they had taken on the aforementioned A Fire Inside EP (released on Adeline records) the band recorded their Black Sails in the Sunset (Nitro 1998) a musical turning point. Unsurprisingly, John Wetton and Steve Howe quarrelled over the direction of Asia. After the recording of the A Fire Inside EP in 1998, Mark left the band to be replaced by guitarist Jade Puget, formerly of Redemption 87 and Loose Change, who was critical in forming the band's new sound over the following albums. Rolling Stone rightfully panned "Alpha" as an over-produced commercial album, while others lamented that Howe and Palmer were effectively reduced to session musicians. Over the course of four following LPs, the band has established a dedicated fan-base following and is widely respected as one of the better rock bands of the 1990s. The power-ballad "Don't Cry" barely entered the Top Ten in 1983, while "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes," an affable John Wetton vocal performance, barely charted in the U.S. Shortly after, he became their full-time bassist. However, neither the second album, Alpha nor its singles did not repeat the chart success of the first.

Their current bassist, Hunter Burgan, formerly of The Force (and currently, also doing the side projects of The Frisk and Hunter Revenge) filled in for Kresge for the tour in support of Very Proud of Ya Hunter perfers to go by the single name Hunter and he helped afi record their album, Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes. tour also did extremely well, while the MTV channel played their videos on heavy rotation. Their second album, Very Proud of Ya, was released in 1995 (later re-released in 1996 by the Niro Label), after which their bassist Geoff Kresge decided to leave the group for personal reasons. The U.S. They released a few independently made vinyl EP's, and eventually released their debut full-length album Answer That and Stay Fashionable in 1995. "Soul Survivor" also remains a memorable track, reminiscent of Yes. After reuniting to perform a very successful live show, the members decided to drop out of college and play in the band full-time. But in comparison with their next two "classic" albums, "Asia" did tend toward progressive rock, with the anthem "Wildest Dreams" showcasing Carl Palmer's superlative drumming.

After doing a few live shows in parks and such, AFI broke up while its members moved away to different colleges, including University of California at Berkeley (where Havok began a double major of English and Psychology) and University of California at Santa Barbara. One criticism remains that Wetton and Downes' songwriting relied too heavily on love balladry and keyboard hooks. Havok was in the school's choir. Both songs featured Geoffrey Downes' keyboard wizardry, with John Wetton's throaty voice at the helm. Adam and Davey played school soccer together, and Adam used his brother's drum kit. sporting events. AFI formed when the members got bored in between skate sessions. The singles "Only Time Will Tell" and "Heat of the Moment" became huge Top 40 hits, with the latter cracking the Top Ten, while remaining a stadium favorite at U.S.

Formerly a street punk band with slight pop undertones, they recently have been embracing a more deep rock/electronica/industrial sound. Asia's eponymous debut album enjoyed considerable commercial success. Geoff was replaced by Hunter Burgan. Rolling Stone gave "Asia" an indifferent review, while still acknowledging the band's musicianship had been a cut above the usual AOR expectations. Bassist Vic was later replaced by Geoff Kresge. However, Asia clicked with fans of such early-1980s arena acts as Journey, Boston, and Electric Light Orchestra. AFI is an American New Wave/Rock band formed in 1991 by Davey Havok(vocals), Markus Stopholese (guitar), Vic Chalker (bass) and Adam Carson (drums) in Ukiah, California. The band's early offerings were considered disappointing by music critics and fans of traditional progressive rock, who found the music closer to radio-friendly AOR pop.

AFI, Retrospective released on November 2, 2004. Future Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin considered joining the group, but dropped out early to concentrate on his solo career. "Silver And Cold" 2003 Video-Single (only). Superstar rock drummer Carl Palmer joined the band later in the process. 2" 2003 CD/Video Single. The latter group had formed the model on which Asia would base itself. "The Leaving Song Pt. Buggles/Yes keyboardist Geoffrey Downes and Yes guitarist Steve Howe formed Asia with bassist John Wetton, whose star had risen briefly as the frontman for King Crimson and UK.

"Girl's Not Grey" 2003 CD/Video Single. Asia began with the apparent demise of Yes and Emerson Lake & Palmer, the two flagship bands of British progressive rock. Under the auspices of David Geffen's record empire, a supergroup would form from these ashes. Book, CD, and DVD- Clandestine