Ranking Anti-Flag’s 12 Albums

10 min readMar 16, 2020

Believe it or not, Anti-Flag has been around for over 30 years since first forming in 1988 (but not releasing anything until 1992). Founding members Justin Sane (guitar/vocals) and Pat Thetic (drums) started the band in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania when they were just teenagers, where they proceeded to play 1 show, break-up and reform again in 1992 with Andy Flag (bass/vocals).

Although Andy left the band in 1996, lasting only through one LP and a couple other releases, he still made an early impact on the sound of the band, cementing many of the band’s early fan-favourites.

After Andy’s departure, Anti-Flag went through a few replacements before finally enlisting Chris Head (guitar) in 1997 and Chris Barker “#2” (bass/vocals) in 1999 — maintaining this lineup to present day.

The band is known for its overtly political songs — criticizing everything from leaders, warfare, prison-systems, and early on, the very punk scene they belonged in. This lyrical style often brings in fans at an early stage, but then makes for a lot of previous fans, with many listeners tastes changing.

To rank the records, I re-listened to all 12 albums again several times over a few weeks period, giving each album an ample shot. To further rank them, I tried to compare with the following 2 questions:

1) If all of the albums came out today, how would they stack up against each other?
2) With the order the albums were originally released, did the band grow with the proceeding record, did they essentially reproduce a previous record, or did they regress?

12. 20/20 Vision (2020)

I hate putting the newest album in last place because it often means the songs maybe didn’t have a chance to fully sink-in yet, but placement feels right for this album. For a record that was clearly made thematically to be anti-Trump, it comes across very lackluster — with all of the songs sounding fairly soulless (similar to the group’s previous 2 records). The songs are often catchy, but forgettable or even occasionally cringy like chorus to “Un-American”. This record captures the band’s worst habits of over-processing their songs to the point that the lyrics feel disingenuous and forced rather than the power charged anthems Anti-Flag were more known for.

11. The Bright Lights of America (2008)

This record is a definitive lessen in more = less. On Bright Lights, the band clearly put in a lot of work to put out a record that would exceed expectations and affirm their legitimacy. It’s Anti-Flag longest record to-date and spread throughout the length is an assortment of various instruments, songs backed by an orchestra and even a(children’s) choir. The whole thing ends up sounding a bit pretentious, even if by accident, and the songs are often even more heavy-handed preachy than usual. The cherry on top of the record is that, even though so much work was spent on making a “big” record, the production itself is quite poor — it’s particularly noticeable on the very weak percussion.

Recommended Tracks: If You Wanna Steal, Shadow of the Dead, & Spit In the Face

10. Mobilize (2002)

I went back-and-forth over whether or not I should even include this album as it’s essentially an EP and a live record thrown together, but… several places classify it as an album so it’s included here. The fact that there’s only 8 new songs is part of the reason for the album’s position, but there’s also several other factors. The production level is subpar (not much punch to it) and one of the tracks has very little repeat-value as it’s mostly spoken word. Mobilize is only the 2nd album to feature Chris #2 singing lead vocals and he’s still a bit shaky here. Lyrically, it’s a stronger Anti-Flag record, with a lot of passion, but it can be skipped.

Recommended Tracks: Mumia’s Song, 911 For Peace, & Right to Choose

9. American Fall (2017)

American Fall is the 2nd album in Anti-Flag’s “stadium rock” sound they’ve currently been going with. These songs are still politically driven, but often soulless, but just catchy enough to be played on the radio. Overall, it’s a fine if not forgettable record and you’ll likely find yourself enjoying some of the music to various degrees, yet not feeling a strong urge to give it another spin. Luckily there is a little bit of variation throughout, like on “When The Wall Falls” that features some signature ska-punk elements like organ and guitar aupstrokes. Ultimately, the record doesn’t really say anything and is fairly hollow.

Recommended Tracks: Digital Blackout, The Criminals, & Racists

8. A New Kind of Army (1999)

As the first and only AF record to feature only 1 lead vocalist, A New Kind of Army suffers from a lack of diversity more so than any of the band’s other records. After 4–5 tracks, Justin Sane’s nasal delivery begins to get a bit annoying, and you start to realize how crucial Andy Flag’s input and vocals were to their first album. Taking the songs individually, most of the album is fine, but together it can be a tedious experience going from track-to-track without significant variation between. What works on the album is that the songs come across quite honest and earnest and there’s still some of the more adolescent humour that is missed on future records.

Recommended Tracks: Tearing Everyone Down, Police Story, & Captain Anarchy

7. American Spring (2015)

American Spring marks the beginning foray into the band’s more stadium-style pop punk. While the album is maybe too overproduced, it still offers originality and seems fresh compared to their two newest albums. If this release had been a one-off I think it would have been a refreshing change, but instead it seems this is the direction the band is now more comfortable with. The album’s lowest points are the overly poppy choruses on some of the tracks, but luckily there’s enough frenzied anger on a couple other songs to even things out. I don’t hate it, I don’t love it… it’s a good middle-of-the-road album.

6. Underground Network (2001)

Anti-Flag started to find their new rhythm on this record, which is notably the first album to have Chris #2 singing lead vocals on some songs as well as showcase his signature basslines prominently within the recording. Lyrically the songs are well thought-out, covering a range of political topics that are clearly important to the band, while also including sort-of the last “fun” song on an AF record. There’s a lot of strong elements to this record, particularly the more intricate song structure, but weaker aspects like Chris #2’s vocals keep it from being a higher rank. Luckily, #2’s signing did improve later on, but he was still pretty raw here — leaving the record with a lower ranking.

Recommended Tracks: Culture Revolution, Stars and Stripes, & Angry, Young and Poor

5. The People or the Gun (2009)

Do you like when Anti-Flag is angry? If so, you’ll love this record and the passionate fury behind almost every song, which is only benefited by the production’s focus on heavy gain. I’ll admit to more-or-less giving up on Anti-Flag after the mid-2000s and not really listening to their records, but this record makes me happy that I went back through their discography because this it’s a blast to listen to. Outside of their first records, this one seems the least planned-out, containing an almost anything goes mentality. The vocals often seem like they’re done on first takes which help give a particular ferocity and immediacy to the album’s core. Maybe it’s because this album came out right on the heels of the disappointing Bright Lights of America, but it’s just a fistful of fuck you and I wish they’d return to this anger for future records.

4. For Blood and Empire (2006)

For Blood and Empire was AF’s first foray into being on a major label (which is still weird), and overall it turned out well. There’s a lot of very skillfully structured songs on the record, with solid melodies and intriguing lyrics. It’s an easy record to throw on and enjoy throughout while also getting a couple songs stuck in your head. Although there’s a lot of positives about the record, let’s look at the negatives, mainly the production that slightly takes the life out of the majority of the tracks, mostly notably on the percussion (similar to Bright Lights). In addition to production there’s two particularly “bad” songs — “1 Trillion Dollar$” and “This is the End (For You My Friend)”, mostly just the chorus on the latter. “1 Trillion Dollar$” so overly whiny that it’s often hard to listen to, while “This is the End” has such a saccharine-sweet chorus that it comes across as pure pop. If you can forgive those negatives, the album itself is a good listen and sees a band with a lot of talent and ideas.

Recommended Tracks: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, The Press Corpse, & Emigre

3. The General Strike (2012)

The second album of the band’s short tenure on SideOneDummy and also AF’s shortest. I would love if the band would take this as the blueprint for records going forth as it’s formula built near perfection. The tracks are energetic and end before overstaying their welcome. The production on the whole records sounds fantastic — clear yet not overproduced or too big. The album flows smoothly, mixing back and forth between anger and melodic tracks, and best of all, I think The General Strike features Justin Sane’s finest vocal work — less nasally, more focused and melodic, hitting ranges not to be found on any other records. Pretty crazy that they could release such a fresh sounding album over 20 years into their career.

2. The Terror State (2003)

It took me awhile to originally give this album a chance. After the first single came out (“Turncoat”), I just ignored the record, but as it turns out, “Turncoat” was easily the worst track on the album and overall the only song I don’t like. The poppy-ness of that track completes discredits anything they’re trying to say, making the song sound like a joke. Apart from that, Terror State is a fantastic album that features some of the band’s strongest songs and is the first record where Chris #2 successfully takes the spotlight vocally. The songs vary just enough to make the entire listening process flow together extremely well with melodies that are catchy without every crossing the line into pop (except for “Turncoat”). Terror State clearly captures a band that is able to string together great hooks and vocal melodies.

Recommended Tracks: Power to the Peaceful, Post-War Breakout, & Mind the G.A.T.T.

1. Die For the Government (1996)

After not having listened to this album in quite awhile, I figured I would find the songs childish, un-relatable and poorly constructed, but I was pleasantly surprised with just how great an album this still remains. Anti-Flag’s first album and only with vocalist/bassist Andy Flag has an undeniably fresh sound that is missed on their future releases. A the time of release, Andy was clearly the better vocalist, able to portray a wider range of emotions in his vocals while still sounding raw and unforced. The entire attitude of the album is something I wish they could have continued with. Sure, it has some young naivety to the lyrics, but the songs always come across extremely honest and less preachy than their future releases. I think this is larger due to the humour on the album sandwiched between more serious anthems. Songs about gogo dancers, summer-squaters, and “posers” in the punk scene provide much needed levity. These more laidback tracks give the serious lyrics of other songs more significance as it encaptures a band full of individual personalities rather than just a group pedaling a set agenda. The songs are more personal and relatable in how they frame the tumultuous nature of youth. It’s not perfect, which is exactly what makes it the best Anti-Flag record — the imperfections.

Other Releases

If you enjoy Anti-Flag, I strongly suggest giving some of their other releases a chance (of which they have many). Try Their System Doesn’t Work For You and A Benefit for Victims of Violent Crime as well as several of their singles like “School of Assassins” and “Seattle Was a Riot”.