Tuesday, July 16, 2013

CD REVIEW: Serj Tankian “Orca”

            When I first got this CD to listen to, I thought someone had played a joke on me.  I just assumed someone had somehow found my email address and thus sent me this email under the clever disguise of this being a Serj Tankian album, just to see if perhaps I would review it and post the review so they could then laugh at me for it.  

            Does thinking that make me paranoid?   Technically I’m not paranoid if it does happen to me one day, so I always have to be on guard.  *ninja stance*

            In any event, this is in fact an actual release of music from the frontman for System of a Down and, well, we’ll see how people feel about it now that it’s been out for a week or so.

            When you listen to this, it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve ever heard Serj Tankian do before.  I’ve listened to his previous solo albums, as well as the System of a Down albums, and they really don’t sound like this.  It’s really just not what you expect from him.

            Classical.  Orchestra.  Symphony.  All words I would use to describe “Orca”.  It plays out like the soundtrack to some great ala John Williams or Disney (Yes, this might be the only time Serj Tankian is ever compared to anything ever having to do with Disney)

            There is also a certain sense of beauty in these songs that the classical music fan in me can appreciate.  If this were to be the soundtrack for a movie, most of the songs would probably play during a time of great peril (Such as a ship at sea, being tossed around by the wind and waves) or during a time of great action (a pursuit perhaps).  Don’t let the labels of “classical” and the like fool you—there is still an understated violence here.

            The thing about this album is that when you think about it on paper, it doesn’t work either way.  One could hardly imagine a critic of classical music being open to reviewing something by someone associated with a band such as System of a Down, let alone being able to picture a System of a Down fan listening to classical music.

            If you ask me though, I think Serj Tankian designed it just that way.   While he probably doesn’t care if he is accepted by classical critics or not (Though he should be embraced for this bit of brilliance) he also probably figures that if System of a Down fans don’t buy it, well, they’ll buy the next System of a Down record still and be that much more appreciative of it.

            Come to think of it, Serj Tankian is quite the genius, isn’t he?

http://www.serjtankian.com/
http://www.serjtankian.com/
http://www.serjtankian.com/

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