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 Elect the Dead by Serj TankianReview by psychomessiahs, October 30th 2007, 19:34:02 | |||
I have been in love with System of a Down ever since their self-titled album in 1998, I connect a lot memories of my life to songs of them and I was really sad when I hearded the band is going to make a "break". But then I got an Email from Serj (the newsletter of course  ) saying that he realeased a song called "The Unthinking Majority" for free to listen, checked it out and loved it. Decided to buy the LP.
Introduction: Serj Tankian is an armenian singer/songwriter/pianoplayer/writer that is famous for being the lead-singer of the band system of a down formed in 1995. Regardless of his fame as SOADs singer he always did stuff independent from his band like releasing "Cool Gardens" a (fucking amazing) book containing poems of his. Since 2007 he releases music solely on his own. Serj Tankian is known for his efforts to help poverty, stop wars and prevent genocides, he co-founded the Axis of Justice together with Tom Morello, guitarplayer of the band Rage against the Machine. Music: Just as one could have expected when listening to the three prereleased songs: The Unthinking Majority, Empty Walls and Feed Us, the overall sound isn't that much different from the System of a Down-Sound we were used for the last two albums. Yet it is little different with the piano playing a more important role in the arrangment. The Songs are good to listen, drink a beer, cry or commit suidice to, not really to party or to pogo to - they are just too intense and emotional (and slow paced) but not boring at all. The playlist starts off with the powerfull "Empty Walls" with its lead sentence "I left you yesterday - Before you killed my family" playing on the innocent civilian casualties in the american terror acts in the middle east. It continues over "Feed us" and "Saving Us" to "Praise the Lord and pass the Amunation" concluding with the name giving "Elect the Dead" A very minimalistic piece of music consinsting only of a piano, a guitar and a few effects to leave Serjs voice out there alone, and what a voice that is.. Deeper Meaning: Each and every lyric deserves a PHQ article on its own, and would certainly bust the space I could give them in this overall review. But as it has to be said, focus on the fucking lyrics! They well deserve it and you wont regret it. So many metaphors and symbols - such a powerful way to express what the singers wants to say and at the same time hide it beneath a curtain. Videos: Serj has stated in Interviews that he is going to release a video for each and every song on the record, giving young talented video artists a chance to have their work be seen. The 2 videos out there so far are so wonderful and creative that it makes me piss my pants in impatience to see the rest. __ Edit: All videos will be free to watch on Serjs Homepage. There are 3 Videos available so far. Summary: In the End "Elect the Dead" will do good to your ears and -if you allow it to happen- to your brain aswell. Fans of System of a Down will dig it no question because of that amazing voice we know and love, those that dont know SOAD or Serj should check it out simply for the godlikeness of Serjs Voice. Oh, and those that didn't like SOAD in the first place can suck my ass  (but should aswell check it out, for the same reason.)
Overall Rating: Price 7/10 - The LP costs about 15€ which is ok, but nothing to dance in joy. Ears 9/10 - Great music no doubt, but my favorite songs of SOAD are the harder, more progressive ones e.g. "Sugar", "Prison" etc and thus I am a bit disappointed to get a whole Lp of "Roulette" or "Lonely Day" 
Brains 10/10 - Amazing lyrics - They could aswell be poems. ---------------- Total: 9/10 |     Links:
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| How readers rate this Review: 9.33/10 (6 votes) | |||
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