It has been a lovely weekend of
hanging out at home. I’m a very social person but everyone needs a little down
time. Sheila and I chilled out, played board games, and on Saturday went for
brunch and a wee stroll around downtown. Today I’ve put on my ugliest clothes
and in so doing laid down a firm position that I plan to lounge around the
house all day.
I’m starting the day’s lounge with
a music review but if you’re reading along, I guess you were expecting that.
Disc 774 is….Steal this Album!
Artist: System of
a Down
Year of Release: 2002
What’s up with the Cover? This album has no cover – instead
the packaging is designed to look like a bootlegged CD. That’s so clever,
System of a Down! You’re really sticking it to those Soulless Record Execs
encouraging people to steal the album. You’re also sticking it to musicians, by
the way, who get screwed out of revenue every time someone steals an album. But
you sure showed the system, didn’t you?
It is
worth noting that this album is not bootlegged, but put out by massive
recording company Columbia Records, a division of Sony music. This makes the record
title not a protest, nor a clever joke, but just a boat-load of hypocrisy.
How I Came To Know It: My buddy Spence bought me this
album as well as “Toxicity” for my birthday one year. Spence has amazing taste
in music and I get a lot of good ideas from him on what to check out next. The
bad things I’m going to say about this album do not reflect what I think of his
musical tastes as a whole.
How It Stacks Up: I have two System of a Down
albums, this one and “Toxicity.” Of the two, I’m going to take a leap of faith
and say that “Toxicity” is better.
Ratings: 2 stars
“Steal This Album” is an innovative and hard-driving
metal album that desperately needs some creative direction, starting with a new
lyricist. Sadly, Neil Peart is otherwise committed.
I have a bit of a reputation among my fellow music
enthusiasts for being overly focused on the lyrics. I don’t think that’s
entirely fair, but I definitely focus on lyrics more than most people. I’d
blame it on the degree in English Literature but I’ve been like this since I
was a kid – it is one of the things that drew me to metal music in the first
place.
And for this reason, “Steal this Album!” really
annoyed me with song after song crammed full of truly horrendous lyrics. They
are worse than the ‘yeehaw!’ crapitude of Nashville pop country songs about
drinking beer. At least that music doesn’t think it is going to change the
world.
And it isn’t the subjects ‘discussed’ on “Steal This
Album!” either. The record attacks rampant consumerism and war, which are two
perfectly legitimate things to be unhappy about. Other artists just do this so
much better.
When Bruce Springsteen or Steve Earle write a
protest song, they infuse it with specific stories or viewpoints. This provides
an emotional centre that helps you relate. When Iron Maiden does it, they draw
in historical or literary elements that provide context to what they are
singing about. Tool’s lyrics are dark but they also thoughtfully expose
disturbing aspects of the human condition.
“Steal This Album!” dismisses subtlety, history and connectivity
in equal measure. Listening to it makes me feel like I’m at a poorly-organized political
protest and someone is yelling slogans at me through a megaphone. “Boom!” is a particularly bad track for
this, with vocalist Serj Tankian spewing buzz words and jargon with a
rapid-fire delivery.
A lot of artists don’t have much to say lyrically. Kyuss
comes to mind as a very cool metal band where it is more about the groove than
the words. That said, Kyuss wisely sets the vocals back in the mix and makes
them part of the musical arrangement, rather than a narrative you need anything
you need to follow along.
Not System of a Down. They put the lyrics nice and
high in the mix and sing them with maximum clarity. It’s like they think telling
us all to watch less television and stop killing each other are original
thoughts. Stop shouting and tell it with a story, Serj.
By contrast, this album has a lot going for it
musically. The grooves have a powerful energy crackling around them and System of
a Down have a good understanding of the role of syncopation in making
interesting music. They know how to combine a series of seemingly unrelated
beats and guitar riffs and then playing them back and forth against one another
to create something new. I enjoyed the innovation that went into some of these
compositions. They are a slightly less complicated Tool in their construction, and
even being mentioned in the same sentence as Tool is high praise.
“Mr. Jack”
is a kick-ass song with a powerful groove and the lyrics aren’t too bad either,
which is a nice change. “Roulette” is
a stripped down ballad where the band shows some real heartache and worth a
listen as well.
The records has 16 tracks, which is two too many,
but at least they are all short and the album comes in at a tasteful 41 minutes
long.
Much as I like aspects of this album I can’t get
past its faults, so I’m going to find someone who will enjoy it more fully than
I can.
No comments:
Post a Comment