System of a Down - Hypnotize
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Music CD Cover
Artist: System of a DownBrand: Columbia
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-11-22
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Attack
- Dreaming
- Kill Rock 'N Roll
- Hypnotize
- Stealing Society
- Tentative
- U-Fig
- Holy Mountains
- Vicinity of Obscenity
- She's Like Heroin
- Lonely Day
- Soldier Side
Free Music Notes for Hypnotize
Free Music Review: Triumphs in nearly every way it could
Hit: 5 Stars
Now everyone knows System of a Down takes some getting used to. My introduction to them began with the song "Shimmy," when I heard it in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. At the time I thought it was a decent song, but then that game had a lot of good songs. My more formal introduction began when I heard BYOB on the radio. "(censored), A Kid," I said to myself, "this is some freaky (censored)." Thus began my love of this band. This was probably in about September or October of 2005. I heard Cigaro and Question on the radio and loved them (although my radio station overplays Question) and I was overjoyed to learn that their next album, Hypnotize, would be coming out in November. My radio station had an interview with Serj and Jon (I was freaking out) and played a ton of their songs, including two new songs from Hypnotize that I had not heard. So, for Christmas, Toxicity, Mezmerize and Hypnotize come rolling in. Don't worry, the story's over soon.
I loved Toxicity- it rarely stumbled and had some of the catchiest music since... well... er... OK, it was very catchy. I liked Mezmerize even more- it never made a wrong step and I loved every song. Sadly, Hypnotize was delayed, and come New Year's Eve I had endured many impatient days until it came. I popped in and BOOM the wall collapsed as I was blasted backward into it. Never before had I seen such a musical effort. Although Toxicity has a weak first half and Mezmerize gets old after a while, Hypnotize has so much redeeming value that if I lost it, I would just reach into my CD case and put in the second copy I had bought.
Let's go over the songs, shall we?
1. Attack- To allay any doubts over Serj's influence in the band (he only wrote half the music to one song last time) the first track sends him roaring in with lyrics that could only be invented by him. Now, Daron does have a major role on this album, but Serj is just as big, instead of sadly in the background as he sometimes was on Mezmerize. One of many songs about war on this album. 8/10
2. Dreaming- Crazier and more energetic than Attack, but the quiet parts are more melodic and sweet. Another song about war with more Serj-style lyrics. It's very hard to say which I like more, this or Attack. Any given Sunday it changes. Right now I say Dreaming is better. 8.5/10
3. Kill Rock and Roll- Daron comes into focus here, as the song is by him. It's pretty weak, except for the insane catchiness of it and the vocal tricks he performs here. Lyrically it's lackluster, but it's a good indicator of the emotion found in Daron's songs. 6/10
4. Hypnotize- their first and only single as of this point, with both melodic points and... well, more SOAD points. Doesn't give much of a clue about the rest of the album, which is what made it a good single. Basically, Serj talks about Tienanmen Square, then something about evacuating a city or something. The opening rocks, though. 8.5/10
5. Stealing Society- I have slowly come to appreciate this song, although it is the beginning of the triple threat of weak songs in the middle of the album. Amazingly catchy in Serj's part, but Daron's part is pretty stupid and only redeemed due to the lyrics and in part the vocals. 6.5/10
6. Tentative- begins with Serj's typical yammerings. A pretty overrated song, much like Science in Toxicity (both in sound and in overratedness, if that's a word), and mostly effective in the chorus despite the stale lyrics. Conversely, the good lyrics of the verse are excuted poorly. 6.5/10
7. U-Fig- although Serj's vocals are sweet as always, the verse is exceptionally poor in terms of originality (then again, Serj's lyrics were mainly about mixing up the same verses for great effect). The opening is pretty good, and musically it's not bad. The harmonizing between Daron and Serj isn't that great... oh yeah, I forgot to talk about that. All the songs before now have had good harmonizing between them (especially Dreaming, Hypnotize, and Stealing Society) but this one fails on that front. But the chorus is the catchiest thing since Toxicity's Psycho. Descending dramatically into rapid-fire stutters of the words "beat em" or "eat em," there's nothing quite like this. "You and me should go outside and..." Up to now it's been fairly slow. Then... "BEATEMBEATEMBEATEMBEATEMBEATEMBEATEM! All pathetic flag-waving ignorant geeks and we'll EATEMEATEM..." The end of the poor songs, but still not bad. 7/10
8. Holy Mountain- the crown is taken from Hypnotize for best song of the album. System of a Down has always been more one-sided than you'd think in their lyrical opinions (especially in Dreaming), but here it means too much to them for it to be unbiased. An amazing opening. It's mainly Serj's song, but Daron screeches like a demon in the chorus, which is surprisingly non-irritating (mainly because he is literally trying to represent some kind of monster). The ending wraps it all up greatly. Quite the drumwork too. 9/10
9. Vicinity of Obscenity- to offset the somber tragedy of the previous song, Serj unloads with both barrels at being serious. As ridiculous as This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song from Mezmerize was, you sort of got a sense of things after a while... unlike V of O. The lyrics sounds like they were written by a dyslexic Lewis Caroll, which is by no means bad, and the music is a disconcerting mix of headbanging metal, funk and who knows what else. Not only that, but the vocals are just as odd- Serj's voice swerves around the vocal scale like a cross between Mariah Carey and a silverback gorilla. Take, for example, early in the song. Serj has just finished the line "Vicinity of obscenity in your eyes!" Then he comes in with, in very quiet tones, "Terracotta-" the quiet voice continues, but at the same time his regular voice is layered in over the top- "terracotta-" his regular voice screams- "TERRACOTTA PIE! Is THEEERE a PERfect way of HOOOOLdingyou BABYYYY?" Followed by some noise that sounds like faint cheering mixed with a power tool. I know this song review is probably longer and filled with more metaphors than the entire album of Hypnotize by now, so I'll wrap it up. It would be genius if it wasn't so random. 8/10
10. She's Like Heroin- often mistaken for a random song, She's Like Heroin is quite sad. There's no way it could be called rock- I don't even know what. Only toward the end could it possibly be called rock. Pretty good though- Daron's reign of songwriting starts here.
11. Lonely Day- my least favorite, just cause it's so unlike everything else they've done. It seems like a single in waiting, but it's too out there. As far as I can tell, it's supposed to be a parody of emo songs while still being good. It's pretty sad, but then during the verse Daron's terrible lyrics are distracting. People have used the phrase "the most loneliest day of my life" as a symbol for the rest of the lyrics, which is very unfair. The chorus, with Serj (sic) is the only real good part, which shows you how I think about SOAD. 6/10
12. Soldier Side- best song they ever wrote, and a great way to wrap up the album. Daron's lyrics are great, and here he actually shares the spotlight with Serj. This has led me to believe that their best songs are written lyrically by Daron and Serj, musically by Daron, and sung primarily by Serj with a bit of Daron. The point is, this is one sad song. The end is horrible (not in quality, but in how it makes you feel), with Serj crying the words to the Soldier Side intro on Mezmerize with a devastating new view to them. SOAD has always wrapped up their albums well (Lost in Hollywood, Aerials) but this is not only the best song on the album and the best ending song, but their best song EVER. 10/10
So, if you're too lazy to look at my ratings, which songs should you download. Well, good download songs are Hypnotize, Soldier Side, and Tentative, just because they stand reasonably well on their own. So, how would I rate the songs? From best to worst:
Soldier Side
Holy Mountains
Hypnotize
Dreaming
Vicinity of Obscenity
Attack
She's Like Heroin
Stealing Society
Tentative
Kill Rock and Roll
U-Fig
Lonely Day
I would definitely buy this album- I think out of my whole collection, I've only listened to three or four other CDs since I got this, and I only listened to those once. Toxicity is the good introduction to System of a Down, but for those fairly familiar and not intimidated by their style, I strongly recommend this.
Toxicity- good collection of single-type songs that stand alone well, best to download from, basically the most accessible SOAD
Mezmerize- flat-out good rock, the one that fans of rock in general should probably buy (or those who are graduating from Green Day/Linkin Park style rock to metal), also good to download from
Hypnotize- none of the songs that great on their own except for Soldier Side, but the total is better than any of the other albums, good for people with a bit of prior experience with this great group
There you have it.
Hypnotize Poster
Hypnotize [Explicit Content] System of a Down Label: Sony Release Date: 11/22/2005 1 Attack - 3:06 2 Dreaming - 3:59 3 Kill Rock 'N Roll - 2:27 4 Hypnotize - 3:09 5 Stealing Society - 2:58 6 Tentative - 3:36 7 U-Fig - 2:55 8 Holy Mountains - 5:28 9 Vicinity of Obscenity - 2:51 10 She's Like Heroin - 2:44 11 Lonely Day - 2:47 12 Soldier Side - 3:40Closing out the second half of 2005 just as its predecessor Mesmerize closed out the first, Hypnotize completes System of a Down's finest hour to date. The two albums form a lean and nearly perfect whole that places this Los Angeles collective in league with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and Pink Floyd. System has created an enduring body of work that challenges conventional notions about the nature of the contemporary rock album. More practically, they have given listeners a fine second act that attacks and attacks hard, inspiring as much headbanging as vintage Metallica and as thought-provoking as the Minutemen and the Dead Kennedys. (Vocalist Serj Tankian's barbaric yawp sometimes calls to mind head Kennedy Jello Biafra.)
The album's first half features the most brutal, perfect and direct rock ?n' roll that's come down the old mainstream this year: "Attack," "Kill Rock ?n' Roll," "Tentative" and "U-Fig" lead the charge while "Holy Mountains" gracefully moves us toward this epic's final challenging moments. Latter tracks such as "She's Like Heroin" (Frank Zappa's idea of The Three Penny Opera) and "Lonely Day" fail to maintain the intensity heard early on but not don't prevent Mesmerize and Hypnotize from coming together as one of the most definitive heavy rock albums of the decade. --Jedd Beaudoin
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