A couple days ago, one of the greatest websites ever to be online was shut down by the cops and a couple recording organizations, the owner/administrator OiNK was arrested and brought in for questioning (though thankfully released later that day). Those organizations are now off trying to spread lies about OiNK and basically trying to bullshit their way into the court. Hopefully the admin OiNK doesn’t get in any other trouble with the law due to his website.
The only reason why I wrote about this is to vent a little…as it was my favorite website. It allowed me to experience so many new bands (and I later bought some of their stuff) and see music in a completely new way. For that I will always be thankful to OiNK, and hope for the day another “OiNK” shall rise again.
Yes I know I am a bit late on this topic, but I still think it is worthy of note. Al Gore, the man who made global warming and the climate issues confronting the world famous is now also a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. So here’s to the 45th Vice President and the 43rd President of the United States…Al Gore!
As promised in the previous blog post, here is my personal review of Serj Tankian’s (System of a Down’s frontman) solo debut, Elect the Dead. I will first review each song (going in order of track number), and then review the album overall.
1. Empty Walls (Second Single)
This is the song that everyone was waiting for when Serj released his first single “The Unthinking Majority”…it is the “rocker” and the flagship song that people will often associate with the album for years to come. Every moment of the song is great, and it provides much food for thought, with words like “When we decline, from the confines of our mind” it truly makes us question quite a few things. The video of the song is also top-notch, as it has Serj sitting in a room playing the piano in while children reenact events from 9/11/01 onwards.
Rating: 
5/5
2. The Unthinking Majority
The first song to be released off of “Elect the Dead” is another great one. Another hard-rock type song. It was basically the song that made us all think…he might be on to something with this solo stuff. After 3 months almost since its release the song is still great.
Rating: 
4.5/5
3. Money
Here is another wonderful song. It starts out with a little keyboard/piano, light rock action and out of nowhere breaks into a wild chorus which adds a beautiful contrast to the verses which are quite melodic and “sing-a-long type”. The meaning behind it is open for personal interpretation, and I personally can’t think of which one I like more. Only someone like Serj could execute a song like this properly.
Rating: 4.5/5
4. Feed Us
My favorite track on the entire album, this one just has it all. The social perspective that we all loved from System of a Down, a little acoustic guitar riff mixed with an electric, hard drums and just a diverse song all around. Serj’s vocals are top-notch here, probably the best on the album.
Rating: 5/5
5. Saving Us
The third song which was released by Serj Tankian, though not as a single, I suppose you can call it a “web-single” as it was released on last.fm and myspace. The video is beautiful, it depicts a hobo walking around a city, a sort of “alternate reality” which the people in the city hold up signs with random current sociopolitical issues. While the video is well done, the song is probably the weakest factor on the album, it certainly is a good song, but simply does not hold up when compared to the other songs.
Rating: 4/5
6. Sky is Over
Another incredible song, though quite short (2:57). Serj’s vocals are again beautiful, the whole song is just well put together, another diverse song and again another sociopoltical statement from Serj. The piano work is probably the best on the entire album and the guitar riffs are well done as well.
Rating: 5/5
7. Baby
This song got a great cheer from the crowd at Irving Plaza. It also starts out melodic, a bit of an acoustic guitar playing with some piano and launches into an awfully catchy chorus. The lyrics and the chorus are great as well, it is simply another masterpiece by Serj.
Rating: 4.5/5
8. Honking Antelope
I honestly have no clue where Serj thought of the title for this one, but his vocals and the guitar work are great. Keep in mind he recorded all of the instruments by himself at his own home studio, it just makes this song that more good. The flow to the whole song is good as well, but who knows what Serj was thinking with the song title.
Rating: 4.5/5
9. Lie Lie Lie
Instant classic, need I say more? Don’t worry, I will. 
Check this song out for yourself, it contains one of the most catchy chorus’s and just is a perfect song.
Rating: 5/5
10. Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
My second favorite track on the album, it is a unique song with a intriguing title. All the SOAD junkies will remember the line from the opening of “War?” (only the music video). It also was the name of a few other songs and poems since WWII. I love this song personally, not only because of my anti-theist ways but because of the wild nature of it. The main verse is quite catchy and so is the chorus.
Rating: 5/5
11. Beethoven’s Cunt
You read that right, the song’s title has “cunt” in it. I personally don’t really get what the title has to do with anything that Serj discusses during the song. But I suppose we can come to expect that from any member of System of a Down. A certain line from the song is also quite thought-provoking “Civilization is on trial”, another “open to interpretation song” that we came to love SOAD for.
Rating: 4.5/5
12. Elect The Dead
The final track as well as the album name, this song is another masterpiece. It is basically the only slow paced song, the music mostly consist of Serj playing the piano, and a few rogue instruments playing to provide a little exta “oomph”. Serj puts his heart on the line with this song, and again it is open for your personal interpretation.
Rating: 5/5
Overall, Elect the Dead by Serj Tankian is probably the best album of 2007. It has a nice mix of songs that are quite diverse and have a sociopolitical theme throughout. The listener is the one who can make their own interpretations and get what they want out of it (and there certainly is much to get from it). An inspirational album to any questioning mind on a deep level while remaining an entertaining album on the surface.
Overall Rating: 5/5
Next up: The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution
External Links:
Serj Tankian’s Official Website
Buy Elect the DeadÂ
Tags: elect the dead, serj, serj tankian, tankian
On September 29 at 1:00 pm…I made the best purchase I have made in my lifetime…I bought tickets to the Serj Tankian and The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello) performing at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza in NYC (Wednesday, Oct 17th). My life from that point onwards was spent constantly day dreaming of the day I would finally get to see my two favorite musicians live.
So…fast forward a few weeks…its October 17 and the day is finally here! I made a plan with my sister to pick me up from school about half way into the day…(so we can have time to get home, and do stuff before we leave for NYC). After a little while of driving and taking the train we finally arrived at the Fillmore at around 7:45…the doors had opened around 7:30 but luckily…musicians like to perform really late…so it didn’t get going till 9:00pm. So for about an hour I pushed my way through until I got all the way to the front…(basically 15 feet away from the stage!).
The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello) opened up with his solo work. Songs like One Man Revolution, Let Freedom Ring, The Road I Must Travel, Maximum Firepower, Union Song and a couple other which I can’t think of name. Then he performed some new song called “Lazarus on Down” which in the middle of…a second voice came out of the speakers…it was Serj!!! The roar of the crowd at his appearance was literally deafening. He did a little background type humming and singing for one song and went backstage. Morello then performed a couple other songs like “Guerrilla Radio” and then he did a cover of Woody Guthrie’s song “This Land Is Your Land” and he ended off with a strong fist in the air and huge applaud from the crowd (me included). Morello also had little side speeches between songs, during tuning his guitar and such. He said things like “we must put the war criminal that is in the white house in front of a war crimes board…and a jury packed with a few members of this crowd.”…Awesome way to kick a night off.
After Morello wrapped up, there was about a 20 minute wait, (for audio technicians to get stuff set up). So around 10:00pm…the FCC (Flying Cunts of Chaos) appeared (the FCC is the live band that tours with Serj… ) Finally Serj Tankian in full costume showed up on the stage for his own performance. The crowd went nuts and you could barely hear anything but the crowd for a minute or two…
Serj opened up with The Unthinking Majority to which the crowd started up a mosh-pit of sorts and had a couple folks being passed through on top of the crowd. With my luck…out of nowhere in the middle of “Empty Walls”…someone picked me up and I went flying through the crowd which was amazing. The feeling of floating with a few hundred people going wild is remarkable. Once I got back into place…Serj was still performing at an amazingly high level and it was a great concert from then on. He performed most of the songs off his new album while taking pauses in the middle for thanking the NYC crowd which absolutely loved the guy. The songs were really hard but had a nice polished touch to them that only Serj could add with his vocals.
After the show ended, I headed over to the little gift shop area (makeshift that is) and bought 130 bucks worth of memorabilia. A Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead hoody for $55, a Serj Tankian Elect the Dead T-Shirt for $30, a Nightwatchman T-shirt also for $30 and the Nightwatchman CD for $15. All well worth the money!
Overall it was possibly one of the best nights I have ever had…the music is still going through my ears…(possibly because I stood right next to the stage (and thus next to the speakers). Serj Tankian and The Nightwatchman certainly deserve all the credit they get, and then more. Their passion for truth and music is second to none, and the inspiration that it can give to any young radical like myself is incredible.
Look for a couple CD review blogs of the Serj Tankian’s Elect the Dead and Nightwatchman’s One Man Revolution albums soon!
Over the past couple years, I personally have undergone a period of deep and critical thinking on the subject of “god” and religion. My research first led me to Islam (surprisingly the religion of my parents) and I was quite satisfied with the answers it gave. It seemed to me like the obvious truth and I personally defended it at any chance I could. Since my family was also Islamic, it was also a great comfort to be closer with certain people I never had been. Islam provided this sense of community and brotherhood which I really had never felt previously, as I suppose most religions do. So for a few months, I tried to live my life as closely to what I believed Islam asked of its followers.
In that period of time, I had realized that I had never actually read the Koran beyond simply reciting it in Arabic. So I set out to actually read the “holy book” and further my knowledge of Islam and hopefully of the world. I looked for the English translations that were generally accepted by the scholars in Islam (not the hardcore fundamentalist, but the more intellectual batch). Once I began to read the book, it led to a startling discovery…I simply did not believe most of what was printed in the supposed holy book. It really came down to the line between what has been proved (science) and what was simply here-say. I, being a person who always fully supported the advancement of science was now at a crossroads.
Shall I accept religion, and throw away every single rational explanation for the creation and evolution of the Universe? Or shall I reject religion? I choose science. I never knew what the implications accepting science were nor did I care, since I certainly knew what the implications of rejecting science were; a life of ignorance and superstition.
To be continued…
Update - Click here for Part 2
Subscribe in a reader