Friday, December 09, 2005

Not really a personal update, but its something I took a lot of time to write out, so i'm gonna post it here too. It was posted at a message board, so ignore any references to a "Xylus."

1: Attack – Like Xylus mentioned, this song starts off the album much the way “Prison Song” started off Toxicity, with a bang. Daron and Serj harmonize so well, which is evident throughout the whole album. “We should attack!” seems to set the tone of the whole album as well, making it seem like its all an attack on the status quo that’s bogging us down. The back and forth between Serj’s screaming and Daron’s singing is great, and I didn’t get tired of it. The instruments all flow together perfectly, the guitar and drums subdued during the singing parts, more loud and clashing through the more vocally intense lyrics.

2: Dreaming – John’s super quick drumming sets the pace for the remainder of this song, fast and somewhat in your face. I absolutely love the chaotic singing, where it sounds like there’s tons of voices going on at once, there’s just a whole lot to listen to and pick up on, giving you reason to listen to the song more than once. Once again the frantic vocals of Serj mix well with the actual singing done by both him and Daron.

3: Kill Rock N’ Roll – Daron, Serj, you guys didn’t kill rock n’ roll, you guys made it worth listening to over and over again. The song seems to be about the music industry as a whole, how a lot of stuff seems to be recycled from past hits and past successful groups, and how there’s not really all that much innovation going on. “Every day I’m watching you die”, seems to agree with that point as well. While the “eat all the grass that you want,” part doesn’t really make too much sense to me, it just seems to be SOAD’s randomness peeking through. The way “roll” is screeched by Daron at the end seems to end the song on a perfect note.

4: Hypnotize – Ah, the first single, and one of the best songs on the album. Definitely worthy of having the whole album named after it. Serj’s voice goes up and down so well, and I like how he sang the first couple lines, and then let Daron sing the next couple. The India-esque sounding section is oddly calming, and from what little I’ve gathered from the lyrics seems to fit the words themselves.

5: Stealing Society – Unlike Xylus, I actually love this song as well. I absolutely love the quickness of both the guitar and the drums going on throughout the whole song. The drum beats throughout the parts where Serj sings about two skies, two sons, etc. have a great groove to them, and I find myself unable to stop my head from nodding. Must be the drummer in me. I didn’t pay uber close attention to the lyrics, even though I know what they say, I don’t exactly know what System’s trying to portray through them, so its somewhat of a mixed bag. The section where Daron starts singing about drugs mixing in a dead movie star is somewhat reminiscent of 50s rock, which isn’t a bad thing, IMO. The lyrics “Just a stupid motherfucker, if I die I die,” seem to point to drug users as a whole, just trying to feel the best they can at any given moment, no matter what the consequences might be further on down the line.

6: Tentative – Not sure what to say about the song at first as I listen to it, but the chorus, about how we’re all going down seems to be a shot at the current government, how it seems that Bush has screwed things up so badly for us once again, it doesn’t seem possible for anyone else to come and get things back to the way they should be. I agree with Xylus about the bridge starting from around 1:45, its very melodic and beautiful, something you really don’t hear a whole lot of in other groups out there today, especially the “harder” acts, like System seems to somewhat fit into.

7: U-Fig – This and Vicinity of Obscenity are definitely in my top three songs for this whole album. The manic screaming/screeching of Serj talking about melting in the sun, hiding in the sky and whatnot is just awesome. The rapid fire repeating of “beat ‘em,” is just too sweet for words. Serj seems like he’s trying to distance himself from the rest of the ignorant populace that makes up our country, not to mention the world as a whole. He seems to be saying too many people just agree with the President just because he’s the President, putting all their faith in the man when its obvious to a lot of people that he’s not the most capable man for the job. Serj just wants to beat some sense into their heads, is all.

8: Holy Mountain – Until Xylus mentioned what the song was about, it didn’t even hit me. Even now when I start listening to it I can’t really picture what they’re trying to say, but I’m sure as I listen to the lyrics it’ll come to me. Anyway, as for the song itself, it slows things down quite a bit in the beginning, which isn’t a bad thing by any means. The way Serj sings “can you feel their haunting presence?” is in itself haunting, which I can’t tell for sure was intentional or not. Also, like Xylus, the hatred Serj feels for whoever/whatever the song is about is just dripping off of “Liar! Killer! Demon!” and when you sing along with the song, you get just as pissed off as he seems to be. I’m glad the tempo of the song picked up near the end as well, because as I said before, I’m more a whore of their actual music.

9: Vicinity of Obscenity – God how I love this song. Trying to sing along with it feels like such a great accomplishment once it’s through. The random back and forth from fast to slow is just too awesome for words. The chorus, when it seems to completely stop the hard rock for something resembling reggae, like webhead said, is just sweet in its insanity. I love System’s weirder songs, and this one seems to take the cake for weird. Beat the meat? Treat the feet? Who can really say what the hell they’re talking about, but damned if I care, its just too odd not to love.

10: She’s Like Heroin – Not sure exactly what to say about this one…it seems to be a continuation/offshoot of “Lost in Hollywood” from Mesmerize. It just seems to be a shot at all of the people in Hollywood, and possibly even Kate Moss in particular (“Selling ass for heroin,” in case you were wondering…I can’t remember if she actually did heroin or not, someone help me here). Another random song, but I don’t think it was nearly as intentional as it was on “Vicinity of Obscenity.”

11: Lonely Day – Even though the song does seem somewhat out of place with the rest of the album, I still love it. I know I can identify with the lyrics, there’s been a lot of real lonely days in my life, and one in particular fits the bill for this song perfectly (my 21st birthday for anyone that’s wondering). I’ll never miss that day, but I’m glad I survived it. That which doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger, as they say. So, considering the song is so identifiable for me, this song sits high on my favorite System songs list. I absolutely love the guitar work about 1:40 in. The song as a whole is very beautiful, lyrically and musically. Very flowing.

12: Soldier Side – After getting a taste of this song on Mesmerize, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the full song when I heard it was going to be on this album, but now that I hear it and have experienced it, wow….i’m just blown away. Definitely my favorite song on this album. They seemed to portray the helplessness of both a soldier being sent off to war, and the parents/loved ones they left behind to fight the war. The lyrics are extremely powerful, they portray the emotion perfectly, and it nearly brings tears to my eyes every time I hear this song. I can’t relate totally to this song, but I can somewhat, with my friend Jeremy being sent off to Iraq. The lyric “God is wearing black,” is powerful by itself, and seems to stand out in my mind when I hear this song. Welcome to the Soldier Side, indeed. It makes me wonder how many people actually think about what the soldiers themselves are going through in their minds when they hear they’re going to be sent off to war. A perfect end to a great album.

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