steve kwan user experience designer

Mezmerized

(June 17th, 2005 - 7:06PM)

I downloaded the new System of a Down album, Mezmerize, and I've been looping it on my iRiver. What a weird, disjointed, nonsensical band. None of the songs make sense, and at least one of the songs goes from metal to acoustic. I think I even heard an accordion in there somewhere. In short, it's a really screwed up record.

And yet, it's amazing.

Somehow, all of the strangeness and incongruity of Mezmerized fits together into a wicked record. Songs like Question! are hardcore and yet friendly enough for radio play.

System of a Down is an incredibly difficult band to categorize. When you read a critic's review that says an artist is uncategorizable, that's usually meant as a compliment. However, it's also usually wrong. When Moby released Play, critics said he defied genres, but after listening to the album I realized he could quite easily fall into the technoshit category. In the case of System of a Down, however, they just may be actually uncategorizable. What other band transitions so well from heavy metal to soft rock?

One thing that really stands out about System of a Down to me is that they are undeniably ugly. And that's a great thing. Rock isn't about being pretty. I'm tired of listening to Chris Cornell sing about his pain. A real rock star is a very, very ugly man. Or woman.

I saw System of a Down play on Saturday Night Live; if it were possible to kick someone's ass through a television set, it would have been a lot like their performance. It was incredible. Unless, of course, they were pulling an Ashlee Simpson, but who knows?

The first time you listen to System of a Down, you're likely to think to yourself, that's shit. But it's worth a second listen, because you might realize, that's good shit.

Faces not even a mother could love - unless you're mother's a roadie.