New SOAD album Mezmerize VERY good

The mail comes and the much anticipated Mezmerize is sitting there in the package, and I anxiously rip the package up, throw the T shirt aside and pop in the new album. One word... Evolution. It's AMAZING how different their sound is, and you can hear the evolution from the self-titled, inbetween with Toxicity, and now with Mezmerize. The guitarist, Daron Malakian has clearly been working on his singing, as it seems he sings equally as much as Serj. It enables them to do these beautiful harmonies, and the two voices of Serj and Daron mesh very well. All this while retaining their metal sound, and reinforcing their Eastern European influences. If you are thinking of not getting the album because you don't like BYOB or Cigaro, get the album. They don't do the rest of the album justice, the rest sounds very different. On the other hand, if you do like those two songs, you should still get the album. On top of the music, the artwork kicks ass. I suggest when this comes out on monday, you get it. Here's one extremely happy SOAD fan!

www.pandora.com

I kind of disagree with you.. I got this album, but IMO it isn't as same as the old SOAD albums. They've maintained their style a bit, but the song writing is totally crap IMO. It's a pointless album, song-wise.
 

ORIGINAL: anothersabianguy

The guitarist, Daron Malakian has clearly been working on his singing, as it seems he sings equally as much as Serj.

 
Haha, a total no for me. His screams suck, his normal singing is alright though. Serj on the other hand has great vocal abillities. All in all, I don't think there's comparison. And, most of the songs are sung by the guitarist, which was a total let-down for me.
 
That's just my opinion though..

R.I.P. KeithK

I love this album. I especially love when Goatboy sings.

I am MEZMERIZED by it.  HUEHUEHUEHUEHUHEUEHUEHUE

gg no re thx

ORIGINAL: Nasser

I kind of disagree with you.. I got this album, but IMO it isn't as same as the old SOAD albums. They've maintained their style a bit, but the song writing is totally crap IMO. It's a pointless album, song-wise.

ORIGINAL: anothersabianguy

The guitarist, Daron Malakian has clearly been working on his singing, as it seems he sings equally as much as Serj.

Haha, a total no for me. His screams suck, his normal singing is alright though. Serj on the other hand has great vocal abillities. All in all, I don't think there's comparison. And, most of the songs are sung by the guitarist, which was a total let-down for me.

That's just my opinion though..

Daron is a worse screamer than a singer... Or probably an equally shitty one on both ends, its fucking brutal listening that band live when Daron tries to take over. Im gonna download some songs and check them out, I didnt like Toxicity that much and rarely play it, if its anything like it, im gonna be very dissapointed.

how were you guys able to get the cd before the release date on may 17th?!

ORIGINAL: TAMArockstarDRUMMER

how were you guys able to get the cd before the release date on may 17th?!

I pre-ordered it from their website and it came today.

www.pandora.com

And, most of the songs are sung by the guitarist, which was a total let-down for me.

...then what's the point of having Serj in the band at all?  I enjoy his voice, so having Daron doing the majority of the vocal work is going to be a let down for me.

Calamity Range - My Tunes

ORIGINAL: Hwangman

And, most of the songs are sung by the guitarist, which was a total let-down for me.

...then what's the point of having Serj in the band at all?  I enjoy his voice, so having Daron doing the majority of the vocal work is going to be a let down for me.

For some reason, I doubt the guitarist sings "most of the songs".

I choose to block the posts of men.

That is, DrumRMan and Ultra Man.

For some reason, I doubt the guitarist sings "most of the songs".

Yeah, i'm hoping Daron is still just doing to occasional backup vocal/scream.  I like when they harmonize together, but i wouldn't like to hear an entire cd of Daron vox.

Anyone know where i can hear song clips besides B.Y.O.B.?

Calamity Range - My Tunes

I *LOVE* this album. I haven't been so taken with a new album in a long time. I am really, really impressed with this one. An excellent followup to Toxicity (I don't count STA). Painfully short, but some amazing stuff here - the dual singing, melodies, flat-out thrashing and the usual weirdness. I listened to the album straight through FOUR TIMES in a row. I can't remember the last time I did that with an album. Years for sure. Favorite tracks:
 
Sad Statue
Radio/Video
Lost In Hollywood
BYOB
Violent Pornography

ORIGINAL: Salmacis

(I don't count STA).

Why?

Trippy Music Videos

(I don't count STA).



Why?

 
Because first of all, I don't like it very much, and secondly it is not a beginning-to-end "album", it is a collection of assorted leftovers and such.

You don't like ego brain? or Nunguns?

Trippy Music Videos

You don't like ego brain? or Nunguns?

 
Honestly, I'd have to hear them again. I don't have the album anymore but I will check out those tracks while I am in a SOAD mood, and see if they have grown on me. I just remember being really disappointed with the album after how great Toxicity was. But this new one... wow!

I just remember being really disappointed with the album after how great Toxicity was.

Actually, i credit STA as responsible for getting me back into the band.  I really disliked them for a long while, and then some coworkers kept playing STA over the work p.a.  After 2 or 3 times through, it clicked.  There's some amazing tracks on it, and it's suprisingly cohesive (IMO) for a b-side cd.

Calamity Range - My Tunes

Anyone know where i can hear song clips besides B.Y.O.B.?

you can go to the sysetm of a down webiste
http://www.systemofadown.com
 
look under the news section... they have cigaro and byob to listen to, as well as the byob music video

The album is balls the wall awesome. I  read that the reason you hear more of the guitar players vocals is because he wrote most of the songs, they consider this album to be his baby.

Carpe Diem

BYOB has some great 80s-Metal guitar touches. Does that appear on the rest of the album?

I like it,(after the very first listen...5 mins ago) it is definitely different though and I can see how some people will be turned off from some of their new progressions...
 
favorite tracks:
 
question!
violent pornography
BYOB
 

BYOB has some great 80s-Metal guitar touches. Does that appear on the rest of the album?

 
Yes, in spots. Some great rif****e.
 
I am listening to this album WAYYY too much and I fear I will burn it out but I can't stop returning to it. Been throwing in older System to try and satisfy the urges. Works sometimes.
 

i listened to the album a couple of times....
and i really love holywood something.....very cool poppy and great riff.

** Mr. rackman**
Check my site if you will.
http://www.freewebs.com/frust

There is "Old School Hollywood" and "Lost In Hollywood" (the next single, btw...)

Finally a radio friendly band that cant be pigeon holed. The fact that they alienate as many fans as they entice makes them badass!

I think mezmerize is awesome. I can totally see how I might get burnt out on it really quick. It is not that long.
 
I've been bugging the crap out of my wife with "Tony Danza cuts in line" from OLD SCHOOL HOLLYWOOD.
 
The robotic voice is so cheesy you can't help but say WTF!

all i know is that this cd is gonna melt in my car stereo 

HEY MAN LOOK AT ME ROCKING OUT...I'M ON THE RADIO!!!
 
I can't believe all the thread pissers hear?!?!? I love this C.D and don't think there is one bad song on it...totally fun, totally metal and there is even some good drumming in there. It is bands like SOAD and Tool that are helping keep mainstream rock alive and they deserve a little more respect. Count me as a fan and somebody that is glad they exist... 

ORIGINAL: Bruins

I can't believe all the thread pissers hear?!?!?

 
Nothing wrong with opinions..

R.I.P. KeithK

Nasser, I totally agree...it just seems latley with almost ever thread goes like this.
 
Thread Title:
I like Air.
 
Second post:
I disagree, air is good, but not as good as hydrogen and oxygen.
 
 
It just seems like the second post is always a pisser overall.  You cannot like SOAD everyone has different tastes...I heard there are people out there that buy Offspring c.ds...now that is some crazy shit.

ORIGINAL: Bruins

it just seems latley with almost ever thread goes like this.

 
It's MP.com.. what would you expect.. BABY!
 
 
k..I'll shut up now and let the SOAD'ers talk.

R.I.P. KeithK

ORIGINAL: Salmacis

I listened to the album straight through FOUR TIMES in a row.

 
Wow that must have taken minutes!!!
 
Love this album. Waaaaaay to fuckin short! I think they could have definately put both albums on one release instead of two.
 
Lots of cool hooks. Lots of old school metal riffs (I mean that opening riff to BYOB might as well be on Kill 'em All), cool vocal stylings - but they still maintain thier sound without sounding the same. That, IMO, is VERY diffucult to do. Just look at the downfall of KoRn, Limp Bizkit and (yeah I'll say it now, even thought they'll prolly come back and torture me again) Linkin Park. These guys go allot of mainstream notariety by writing one song and changing it slightly over and over and over again. You can only do that for so long uintil even the most feeble minded minions get sick of you.

Cygnus Alexander Sessa
Born 08.13.08
The great bringer of balance arrives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp-gvRteK3A&feature=email

ORIGINAL: Bruins
It just seems like the second post is always a pisser overall.  You cannot like SOAD everyone has different tastes...I heard there are people out there that buy Offspring c.ds...now that is some crazy shit.

 
 
wow... offspring is one of my favorite bands. you've highly offended me
 
ixnay is one of my all time listened to CD's

I listened to the album straight through FOUR TIMES in a row.

Wow that must have taken minutes!!!

 
LOL! It did, it did... my two favorite albums of this year have both been painfully short (the other being VDGG's Present). But hey, at least there are no skipper tracks on this one, unlike Toxicity's "Bounce" and "Psycho".

ORIGINAL: Salmacis

I listened to the album straight through FOUR TIMES in a row.

Wow that must have taken minutes!!!

LOL! It did, it did... my two favorite albums of this year have both been painfully short (the other being VDGG's Present). But hey, at least there are no skipper tracks on this one, unlike Toxicity's "Bounce" and "Psycho".

Psycho is an awesome song, are you kidding me? I honestly don't think theres a System of a Down song I don't like. Bounce is probably my least favorite though.

www.pandora.com

How long/short is the album?

Calamity Range - My Tunes

ORIGINAL: Hwangman

How long/short is the album?

37 minutes

"It is I - Turkey Volume Guessing Man!" - Crow from MST3K

"Military Intelligence - Two Words Combined That Can't Make Sense." - Hangar 18

37 minutes

...ouch.  I guess me purchasing it depends on the price now.  There's no way i'm paying more than 10 bucks for such a small amount of music.

Calamity Range - My Tunes

ORIGINAL: Hwangman

37 minutes

...ouch.  I guess me purchasing it depends on the price now.  There's no way i'm paying more than 10 bucks for such a small amount of music.

Circuit City will have it for $8.99 and Best Buy for $9.99.

I've abstained from listening so tomorrow will be a good day .

"It is I - Turkey Volume Guessing Man!" - Crow from MST3K

"Military Intelligence - Two Words Combined That Can't Make Sense." - Hangar 18

My work is having a midnight sale for it, so i'm hoping that means it will be 9 or 10 dollars.

I've heard "BYOB" and "Cigaro," and both were pretty damn good...i just don't see why they have to release such short albums.  There's nothing wrong w/giving fans a value.

Calamity Range - My Tunes

Just got it in the mail along with the t-shirt, FREAKING AWESOME! Highly Recommended. Rock On

Man, Bounce is one of my favourite songs. To each his own, I suppose...

...so, opinions, now that it's been released?

Calamity Range - My Tunes

Love this album. Totally kicks all the ass.

It is short, but not much shorter than the rest of their albums. I mean, their longest album is what, 44 minutes? And could you honestly say that an 80-minute SOAD album wouldn't get boring? Around minute 55 I'd be checking my watch.

All IMO of course.

"The process of belief is an elixir when you're weak / I must confess, at times I indulge it on the sneak / but generally my outlook's not so bleak (and I'm not meek!)" -Bad Religion

Zandro, I completely agree!  Listening to SOAD is best in small doses.

I kind of like it being short in a weird kind of way: It's definitely a "no track is to be skipped" album, so one song just leads to another great song and so forth...

Wow, now that I typed that, I don't think anyone will know what I'm trying to describe....oh well.

ORIGINAL: VandyDrums

I kind of like it being short in a weird kind of way: It's definitely a "no track is to be skipped" album, so one song just leads to another great song and so forth...

Wow, now that I typed that, I don't think anyone will know what I'm trying to describe....oh well.

It pretty much defines Slayer's Reign In Blood, now theres a kickass short, extremely short album.

ORIGINAL: Hwangman
I've heard "BYOB" and "Cigaro," and both were pretty damn good...i just don't see why they have to release such short albums.  There's nothing wrong w/giving fans a value.

As long as it's real value, not 40 extra minutes of filler like a LOT of CDs I can think of right now. That's the one thing I do kinda miss about the LP/cassette days: single albums being as long as they needed to be.

ORIGINAL: PincheJoto

ORIGINAL: Hwangman
I've heard "BYOB" and "Cigaro," and both were pretty damn good...i just don't see why they have to release such short albums.  There's nothing wrong w/giving fans a value.

As long as it's real value, not 40 extra minutes of filler like a LOT of CDs I can think of right now. That's the one thing I do kinda miss about the LP/cassette days: single albums being as long as they needed to be.

Hear, hear!  Back in the days of LPs, bands had to pick their very best material and go with it.  80 minutes of music is often too long, and can get kind of tedious.  I'd rather pay $14.99 for a short album that constanly entertains me and fits together as a work of art than pay $9.99 for a long album that comes across as "just a bunch of songs" and has dull points to match the great songs.

"Music either moves you, or it doesn't. Nothing else matters."

I'm liking the album, it's just a little too dancy/poppy/catchy for my tastes.  It's like they ditched all the political/poetic/meaningful stuff in favor of a bunch of ironic pop music.  It's still good, don't get me wrong, it's just kind of disappointing.  Doesn't carry the same weight as the first two.  Hopefully Hypnotize will be more my style.

ORIGINAL: Astronaut Down

I'm liking the album, it's just a little too dancy/poppy/catchy for my tastes.  It's like they ditched all the political/poetic/meaningful stuff in favor of a bunch of ironic pop music.  It's still good, don't get me wrong, it's just kind of disappointing.  Doesn't carry the same weight as the first two.  Hopefully Hypnotize will be more my style.

I couldn't disagree with you more. I think this album could be their most poetic/political/meaningful of the four albums.

I can't wait for hypnotize this fall, and I can't wait for their summer tour also.

www.pandora.com

I think this album could be their most poetic/political/meaningful of the four albums.

After 3 or 4 listens, i get that feeling too.

I also retract my statement about "value" on cds (at least in SOAD's case)...this album is exactly as long as it needs to be.

Calamity Range - My Tunes

Really?  I used to love their lyrics, like Spiders:

The piercing radiant moon,
The storming of poor June,
All the life running through her hair,

Approaching guiding light,
Our shallow years in fright,
Dreams are made winding through my head

Now it's a bit heavy on the "can't you see that we love my cock" stuff.  I mean, "everybody everybody everybody living now, everybody everybody everybody fucks / everybody everybody everybody living now, everybody everybody everybody sucks"?  Really?

I dunno, to each his own I guess.  I just identify more with their earlier stuff I suppose.  However, I too am looking forward to Hypnotize quite a bit.

I also agree that this a pretty damn good cd. But at the same time, I think it was way to short. Me being a damn near prog only listener, kind of freaked me out everytime the next song would come on. The songs were short. But other than that, I like it alot. I just hope that their second coming of new material will be a little longer at least. Overall, great cd, and I hope they come to SA town when they tour with Mars Volta, that seems to be a very promissing show.

This album has me floored. No album has dominated my playlist like this since Ayreon's Human Equation last year. I probably hadn't listened to SOAD for six months prior to this release, and bought it on a lark after seeing positive reviews here. Turns out it was money well spent, and currently my #1 album of 2005! (Though it will surely be replaced by Octavarium... 'tis the nature of things.)

Now all I need to do is pry it out of my CD player before I tire of it...

"Music either moves you, or it doesn't. Nothing else matters."

ORIGINAL: Astronaut Down

Really?  I used to love their lyrics, like Spiders:

The piercing radiant moon,
The storming of poor June,
All the life running through her hair,

Approaching guiding light,
Our shallow years in fright,
Dreams are made winding through my head

Now it's a bit heavy on the "can't you see that we love my cock" stuff.  I mean, "everybody everybody everybody living now, everybody everybody everybody fucks / everybody everybody everybody living now, everybody everybody everybody sucks"?  Really?

I dunno, to each his own I guess.  I just identify more with their earlier stuff I suppose.  However, I too am looking forward to Hypnotize quite a bit.

I agree that there were very emotional and lyrically beautiful songs before this, but if you are gonna put it that way and pick out the jumpy random lyrics songs on this album, I can do the same for the self titled. "The Komboucha mushroom people jumping around all day"? What does that mean? "I want to fuck my way to the garden"? It's the same for every album. Some really meaningful songs, and some others. "Lost in Hollywood" is a beautiful song, as are some others on the album.

www.pandora.com

Now all I need to do is pry it out of my CD player before I tire of it...

 
Yep. This is my problem. I love this album but I can feel it getting burned out already. I listen to it way too much but I can't help it! The same thing will happen with 8V, and has happened with the last several DT albums actually.

Wow.

This album floored me on first listen. I can see where Astronaut Down is coming from in terms of the lyrics (Hi Joe! ), but I love it anyway. John Dolmayan, in particular, is on fire throughout this album.

My favorites so far are "Revenga", "Question!", and "Radio/Video".

"Either he's dead or my watch has stopped." -Groucho Marx

http://www.smockrock.com
http://www.astronautdown.com

ORIGINAL: AstronautEd



John Dolmayan, in particular, is on fire throughout this album.

 
 Word  

Refined Servility clings to the categorical imperative and is the mortal enemy of those who wish to deprive duty of its unconditional character. - Friedrich Nietzsche

It's all about Quality not Quantity.

ORIGINAL: High Speed Kurt

It's all about Quality not Quantity.

 
Indeed. I do however find it ironic how a band with such anti-capitalist lyrics can release two 37min cds withing months of each other. It's not a bad thing. Just ironic.
 
BTW anyone read the article on John in MD this month? Pretty dam good stuff. His kit grew to more than twice its previous size! And theres one part where he talks about Revenga, and how the beat he played at first noone liked - and they asked him to play something else. So he did, then after a few weeks he brught back the old beat and everyone loved it... especially Rick Rubin! LOL. He dosent even think they remember asking him to change it... that is until they read the article. Anyways... cant say Ive never doen that before.

Cygnus Alexander Sessa
Born 08.13.08
The great bringer of balance arrives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp-gvRteK3A&feature=email

Love that cymbal work in the Revenga choruses.

ORIGINAL: Salmacis

Love that cymbal work in the Revenga choruses.

Yea man, he's improved so much. Even started to add some double pedal.

www.pandora.com

This is making it extremely hard to do maths homework.

The car is on fire,
And there's no driver at the wheel.
And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides,
And a dark wind blows.