Elect The Dead [Digipak] - Serj Tankian > Reviews > Elect the Dead, 6.5/10

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Unmemorable
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Political, has some quite solid tracks .
Disadvantages:	He sometimes shows off too much .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

___________________The Band__________________________

Serj Tankian, Half Armenian and born in Beirut, is mostly known for the years he was with System Of A Down, which from now on I will refer to as 'SOAD.' SOAD went on hiatus (break without an enddate ) and Serj decided to make a solo album. This solo album is however the 7th he has worked on, however, one of the albums he worked on is some band nobody knows, so most people consider this his sixth, and he knows what he is doing.

___________________The Numbers_______________________

Well, lets go past every number.
1 "Empty Walls" - 3:49 ~ 9/10
first track, first video, BOOM, political, shocking lyrics, great but horrifying video, about the war in Iraq, great track, calm singing, and his powerfull driven voice is also in it, that makes you want to sing along, which you will find yourself doing.

2 "The Unthinking Majority" - 3:46 ~ 8.5/10 ( the lyrics rock my socks )
"We don't need your democracy
Execute them kindly for me...
...We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy"
Again political, critical on the civillians aswell, which I respect, because the government alone is not responsible, it is also the people that "Elect the Dead" as it were. The music and variation in this track rocks, but that is kind of a given*

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*This is kind of a given if you are a SOAD fan, because it is quite alike SOAD, because he just has different people, and doesn't get backup vocals from Daron Malakian, which he usually does, but does not change too much.
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3 "Money" - 3:53 ~ 6/10, the intro Annoyed me really bad, the contrast is too big
The intro is very annoying to me, and after that he is SOO calm, a little too much contrast to my likings, and if you do not pay attention this song may scare you up. Lyrics are good, and about the economy, and how people only give about their money.

4 "Feed Us" - 4:31 ~ 6.5/10 allright, but not medal worthy
"You comfortably delete us
When you need your fetus"
Gripping lyrics, the song has calm and less calm in it, but overall it is relaxing, and you get to hear all the aspects of his voice, which I love. The backup music is good, but not something to write to home about.

5 "Saving Us" - 4:41~ 8/10
This song has non political lyrics, he is asking his girl why she destroyed theire relationship, and how he has mixxed up emotions.
The music is alright, but the way he sings does SO much more for me, and even someone that hates SOAD can love this song, its good.

6 "Sky Is Over" - 2:57 ~ 10/10, Not Kidding, it rocks.
"Your not-so-gentle persuasion
Has been known to wreck economies
Of countries, of empires.."
Political, lyrics, the music is smashing here, and works perfect with his awesome voice, and the part with the brutal drum beating between Piano, OH yeah.

7 "Baby" - 3:31 ~ 6/10
Not too special music, singing or lyrics, this is what I consider to be mediocre.

8 "Honking Antelope" - 3:50 ~ 7/10
"We are the cause of a world thats gone wrong.
Nature will survive us human dogs after all."
Vague lyrics, with some nice bits ^ *hint* this is about how everybody is wrecking the world, and how everyone looks at the wrong thing.

9 "Lie Lie Lie" - 3:33 ~ 9/10
VERY crude lyrics, and it sounds so cute, the lyrics are sung cool, and you would not expect something like this with a text like this:
"Take my hand and lets end it all,
She broke her little bones
On the boulders below"
The musical back up rocks, the female vocals add to it, track rocks.

10 "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" - 4:23 ~ 2/10
The lyrics seem to be a stab at religion, but are unclear, the music seems experimental and just annoying, and he raps, and after that he sings annoying, and then some woman squeeling, No, this song puts me off, Sorry Serj, but not worth more then a 2.

11 "Beethoven's Cunt" - 3:13 ~ 10/10, just for the title.
The music and singing is good, and harmonious, it builds up nicely, and yes, look at the title, rocks doesn't it?
"Ive been screaming through these dead lungs."
The lyrics are not bad either, yes, awesome track.

12 "Elect the Dead" - 2:54 ~ 5/10
The track that became title carrier, lot of weight on its shoulders, and handles it badly, even though the title is great, the music is TOO calm, and the lyrics don't get one hair up, kind of a misser, the singing is good though, and the fact he is playing the guiding piano himself makes me give it a reasonable 5.

__________________Conclusion_____________________

1 "Empty Walls" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9.0/10
2 "The Unthinking Majority" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8.5/10
3 "Money" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6.0/10
4 "Feed Us" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6.5/10
5 "Saving Us" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8.0/10
6 "Sky Is Over" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10/10
7 "Baby" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6.0/10
8 "Honking Antelope" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7.0/10
9 "Lie Lie Lie" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9.0/10
10 "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition"~~~ 2.0/10
11 "Beethoven's Cunt" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10/10
12 "Elect the Dead"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5.0/10
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Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 78/120
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~78/12 and 120/12 ~~~ = ~~~ 6.5/10

Okay cd, 6.5 is not bad, but if you compare it to the SOAD material, he is better WITH his band.

I can still recommend it, especially if you like political lyrics, but if you are a hardcore SOAD fan, this may be a slight dissapointment.

--Drop me a line if you find a swear, I think its clean now--