System of a Down - Mezmerize
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Music CD Cover
Artist: System of a DownEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-05-17
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Soldier Side - Intro
- B.Y.O.B.
- Revenga
- Cigaro
- Radio/Video
- This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I?m On This Song
- Violent Pornography
- Question!
- Sad Statue
- Old School Hollywood
- Lost in Hollywood
Free Music Notes for Mezmerize
Free Music Review: Victorious victories kneel for brand-new spankin' deals!
Hit: 5 Stars
Wow, this album really confirmed my love for System of a Down. My first album of theirs was "Toxicity", which I purchased after hearing "Chop Suey!". I loved it. At the time the political lyrics and deep meaning soared right over my head, as I was only 11, but I loved the lyrics reading them just as straight-forward, non-metaphorical lyrics (and again, I didn't even know what the word "metaphor" meant at the time), as well as the vocal harmonies, and the music. Back then I, pretty much along with the rest of the world, was in the Nu-Metal phase, so SOAD was right up there with Papa Roach, Korn and Linkin Park. I proceeded to buy their debut album, as well as "Steal This Album!" when it was released in 2002, leaving a 3 year gap before that and this, their new masterpiece. Now, in that time, my musical tastes have grown, and nowadays I'd prefer to listen to Primus or Opeth before most nu-metal bands (hey, I still have my guilty pleasures). So I guess I kinda forgot about ol' SOAD, as they were more or less clogged in with the rest of the disposable Nu-Metal bands of their times. So what did I think when I heard they were having a new album, let alone a double one, sometime in 2005? Well, I'm pretty sure I thought something like "that will be an interesting listen" (not sarcastic though, I'm sure that sounded like it). I couldn't wait to see if SOAD took the Papa Roach route and followed along with the emo trend, or see if they got more metal, or stayed the same. They did none of the above. SOAD took their sound, tweaked it just a bit more, experimented A LOT, and are now in a genre of their own.
The album's first single, "B.Y.O.B.", probably caught your attention, as well as the rest of the America's, because it fuelled the albums sales enough to land it at the number one mark on the billboards. The song is definitely one of the quirkiest tunes SOAD's ever written. Of course, it starts out like good ol' SOAD, heavy riffs, stop start timings, spastic vocals, but then, for the chorus, we're hit with this beach-party sounding pop-rock part, something most bands couldn't get away with, but SOAD pulls it off perfectly and make you wanna listen again and again. And don't forget the powerful lyrics...honestly, why DO they always send the poor?
This album also features more of a contribution from Daron, the guitarist, who, on previous albums, acted as more of a background vocalist, but on this album, he'll either sing the majority of the songs, or harmonize at equal volumes with Serj. Now, in songs like "B.Y.O.B." and "Lost in Hollywood" this works beautifully, but Daron's voice can get annoying and too high pitched at times. Personally, I can't stand the way he squeals the "My c*** is much bigger than yours" lines in "Cigaro" and when he sings "Danny and Lisa" and his voice gets just a bit too high when he sings "Lisa" the last time before the guitar solo in "Radio / Video". Now, let's say Serj was never with SOAD to begin with, and it was always Daron on lead vocals, it wouldn't be that bad, because he DOES have a good voice, but think of what we're comparing it to here. Listen to the song "Question!", a song which Serj sings entirely by himself, the listen to any track with Daron singing, and it'll be painfully obvious. Daron just can't match Serj vocally. I'm hoping, like many other reviewers here, that Serj gets more vocal time on "Hypnotize", the group's soon-to-be-released second part of this 2-disc set. We can only wait and hope.
Not only does Daron get more singing time on this outing, he also wrote all the music entirely by himself, except for "Question!", which Serj also wrote music for. Daron also writes most of the lyrics himself, with the exception of co-writing with Serj on a few tracks, and "Question!", which Serj wrote the lyrics for entirely by himself. I don't have a problem with this. The songs are what this album is all about. What I love so much about this album is the experiment-ism. SOAD mixes metal and hard rock with just about any other genre you can think of, and "B.Y.O.B." is a great example of this. One second it's a beach party dance part, then 3 seconds later you're hit with this death metal frenzy part, only to be taken back to a melodic verse, followed again by a beach party chorus, etc. "Cigaro" features some rather, err, interesting lyrics. I'd like to see another metal band have enough humor to write a tune like this, and STILL give it a deep metaphorical meaning. The track's about the self-absorbed business men of America, taking more pride in the size of their packages than anything else. In "Radio / Video", another highlight of the album, the group experiments with reggae, making it a truly memorable song, and the dual vocals of Serj and Daron really work well in this song, even though I have no idea what they're singing about with "Danny and Lisa". Track number six, "This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song", is a short return to their roots, as it's pretty much a straight forward, fast paced metal tune, complete with the quirky lyrics and Serj's insane spasm-esque vocals. "Question!" is truly a beautiful song, no doubt about it. The music, lyrics, and vocals in this one are flawless. "Sad Statue" also features a beautiful chorus and memorable chorus. The album's last track, "Lost in Hollywood", is the album's ballad, a track which I do believe Daron sung very well. It's a haunting yet beautiful song, a song telling of the dreams shattered in Hollywood and the lies people are told there just so they can be used to make money off of. It's definitely not a happy tune, but like "Aerials" from "Toxicity", it ends the album on a haunting but beautiful note and in the end it works out for the best.
Each of the tracks on this album really are memorable, I just named what I see as the main highlights. The hardest thing to do for me is to remember how each individual track on an album goes, and I can do that with this album. This is a record I can't wait to listen to again. For a band as successful and mainstream as SOAD, they're still amazingly talented musicians, more than likely the most talented musicians to have been on the Top 10 in the Billboards in a looooooooong time. All metal / hard rock fans, as well as music coinsurers should pick this album up. It's an early contender for record of the year, no doubt about it.
Mezmerize Poster
Mezmerize [Explicit Content] System of a Down Label: Sony Release Date: 5/17/2005 1 Soldier Side (Intro) - 1:03 2 B.Y.O.B. - 4:15 3 Revenga - 3:48 4 Cigaro - 2:11 5 Radio/Video - 4:09 6 This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm on This Song - 2:08 7 Violent Pornography - 3:31 8 Question! - 3:20 9 Sad Statue - 3:25 10 Old School Hollywood - 2:56 11 Lost in Hollywood - 5:20Four CD's and nearly ten years into their career, System of a Down continue to be the Gilbert and Sullivan of this generation, delivering razor-sharp political commentary via beautiful, quirky melodies and discordant harmonies.
The group has mastered the ability to be both successful and subversive--with 2001's Toxicity selling over six million copies and debuting at number one on the Billboard charts, their success in indisputable. As far are their subversive-ness, the lyrical content on Mezmerize is a solid stream of anti-war, anti-corporate and anti-celebrity sentiment. The disc's first single proves as beautifully schizophrenic as anything the band has released. "B.Y.O.B." opens with guitarist Daron Malakian's rapid-fire riff, then frontman Serj Tankian's anti-war screams of "Why do they always send the poor?"; less than a minute later, a nearly-surreal jump to a facetiously perky, beach party chorus that could easily be found on a Britney or Justin record: "Everybody's going to the party/have a real good time." Guitarist/co-songwriter Malakian takes increased vocal time on the disc, including the hilarious, size-obsessed "Cigaro" and celeb-slapping "Radio/Video". Witticism aside, musical and lyrical intensity peaks with the operatic "Question!" and the emotional piledriver that is "Sad Statue", the groupšs unflinching statement on war and Lady Liberty.
The only shortcoming of Mezmerize is, quite simply, that it is short. Clocking in at a mere 38 minutes, the reason given is that this release is one-half of a two CD set--with part 2, Hypnotize, expected in late fall 2005. --Denise Sheppard
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