Hadn’t listened to the Dreamcar album in a few weeks and came back to it today. (Still digging it, excited to see them in LA this weekend.) It got me thinking about this though.
I love the idea you have here. It makes me wanna pop in Son of Sam.
My list is your list but in reverse order. Not that big on BBH (my least favorite BA album) and Dreamcar has felt a little forgettable to me. It’s catchy as hell but not something that makes regular rotation.
I have been guilty of thinking of DREAMCAR songs at work and then realizing later that I was thinking it was an AFI song. 
I ended up liking Dreamcar way more than I thought I would based on Kill For Candy. Stylistically I think it represents the band well, but it’s not one of my favorite songs on the album.
After I Confessed sounds like Killing Joke-lite if they tried to rewrite Bowie’s “John, I’m Only Dancing”. Born to Lie has about three more hooks in the chorus than it even needs. The chorus of Don’t Let Me Love sounds like it came from some lost John Hughes movie. If the music industry made any sense, On the Charts would be everywhere this summer. There’s just a ton of stuff that clicked with me on that album.
EDIT: …and how could I forget, the fucking cat noise in All of the Dead Girls! Ha.
I’m a little late here, but I just saw this thread for the first time, I’m terrible at keeping up with things.
My rankings are:
I think my favorite side project in general has got to be Blaqk Audio, if you can’t tell from my rankings. I just don’t like CexCells as much because it felt like they hadn’t figured out how to do it yet, but Material and Bright Black Heaven are excellent.
I LOVE Blaqk Audio. Xtrmst is an amazing album. Dreamcar, as fun as they are, are a bit too vapid sounding (though lyrically it’s pretty good) for me to really get into. Like they’re a great band as background music when my friends are over or when we’re having bonfires, but it doesn’t hit me the same way the other side projects do.
I don’t know. Probably the most unpopular opinion here. Plus I was never a No Doubt fan, not that I don’t think the guys are great musicians. It’s just not my vibe.
I don’t like No Doubt either. I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed Dreamcar.
I wanted to like “Dreamcar” more than I did, but it didn’t happen. I liked them a bit more after I saw them live, but not as much as the other projects.
Updated. Really digging OTWL.
Never listened to son of Sam until last week, and I was blown away. Songs from the earth is practically a perfect album, “Michael” has been stuck in my head all day. The album is beautiful, passionate, sometimes a bit spooky, and catchy as hell. Although it’s not afi, it’s a pretty good bridge between sts and aod.
Here’s my current ranking:
I love this song. The lyrics are brilliant. Davey’s vocal performance is great, too. Love hearing an entire song in the deeper end of his range without the faux-suave of CL hahaha.
Yes yes I especially love this song because he sings it in a lower key, it’s so beautiful.
And what do you think the lyrics are about? I’m getting some biblical vibes but don’t really get it…
It refers to the myth (or Biblical truth, depending on your perspective), of Lucifer’s fall from heaven and this concept that he will rise again with an army of followers to destroy Michael the Archangel and his army. Like a second war in heaven but this time Lucifer will be victorious. That is, referring to the supposed events in heaven that are described in the Book of Revelation and the Apocryphal texts, but with a different outcome. I don’t think Davey is referring to it in a truly religious sense, but rather a metaphorical one; the rejected and downtrodden will rise above the “normal” and acceptable in due time.
This is really obvious in certain lines:
I’ve accepted silently this name that I’ve been given. That is, the name Satan, which meant “adversary”, and is not Lucifer’s true name (which means “lighter-bearer”)
Now hand to hand my voice shall be heard. Which sounds like a direct reference to the supposed battle between Lucifer and Michael (hand to hand, i.e. swords).
There’s actually a shit-ton of Judaeo-Christian references in his lyrics. Especially about Lucifer, the fallen angels and the watchers, etc. I think it’s really fascinating and beautiful and it really fits the music conceptually.
Edit: Davey refers to Lucifer a lot, especially on The Art of Drowning. The title Morningstar is taken from another name for Lucifer, as he was referred to as “the morningstar”, because in ancient times he was associated with the planet Venus and before he rebelled against God, he was the brightest and most beloved of God’s archangels. Davey also talks about “falling” a lot in these lyrics that also have a biblical narrative to them, which makes me believe the entire myth of Lucifer was very influential to him, but I think he uses it in a little bit different way. Not in like a LaVeyan way, but perhaps as a metaphor for being hated and rejected and scapegoated for being different,. This occurs in The Lost Souls and The Nephilim as well (the Nephilim were supposedly a mixed race of half human, half angel). If I take a few moments to flip through The Art of Drowning and to a lesser extent, Black Sails, I’m sure I can find a lot more.
Sorry for the word vomit, I’m kind of obsessed with Western esotericism.
@Vanished Ok after looking up and reading about the battle between Lucifer and Michael, this song makes PERFECT sense now. He’s definitely writing from the perspective of Lucifer (now Satan thanks to Michael). “I’ve accepted silently this name I’ve been given and
I have heard it pass the lips of everyone,
Now if you will inquire, ask of your Father
And he may tell you of his brightest Son”
I occasionally went to church as a kid and grew up sorta Christian (Presbyterian), so I never learned any of this stuff. Meanwhile davey went to catholic school and was clearly very influenced by the stories.
I did not know about Morningstar also referencing Lucifer, that gives a whole new meaning to the song.
And i definitely agree that the Lucifer metaphor is being used in comparison to being a scapegoat/being hated or outcasted by society for no good reason & having zero control over the situation, and just beginning to expect everything as is (for dressing “weird,” for being vegan, for being straightedge, for not conforming to the mainstream of society in many ways). I get the same vibes from the lyrics in malleus maleficarum “my skin is singed but it warms my heart, and with glowing pride I’ll wear my scars. Honored by your hatred.” And we all know that the witches that were killed were scapegoats/outcasts too.
Thank you for continuing this discussion, a huge reason why I join the forum was to have in depth conversations like this!
You’re welcome hahaha. I love to dissect his lyrics, although I still have no idea what some of them might be about. I grew up Roman Catholic and was sent to Catholic school as well, so most of the biblical references he uses are immediately recognizable to me.
On a related note, the crowd walk he does (used to do? I have no idea if he still does it) looks like a symbolic reenactment of the crucifixion to me. I suddenly realized that a few months ago while I was watching the '03 Forum show for like the millionth time and I paused the video by accident at this part right when he put his arms out and that’s exactly what it looked like to me. Given some of the lyrics in God Called in Sick Today, it doesn’t require a very far stretch of the imagination.
Well I’ve heard others refer to it as the “god walk” so you’re not the only one who’s thinking this
I’d replace xtrmst amd dreamcar but yes i agree especially with material being thee best thing davey and jade has ever done.