Yes, it’s the Front Man of System of a Down giving his first solo album a whirl. The album is called Elect the Dead and is a CD full of the problems of the world. Lyrically it is a bit different than your usual System of a Down album but the sound is just the same. This was quite disappointing. Sure Serj has his own style and lyrically is getting his voice out there but instrumentally it is the same ol’ same ol’. I was hoping with Serj playing all the instrumentation on this album that he would add a little more something to it but my hopes and dreams were shot. Right from the first song, Empty Walls I could tell what I was going to get. I was going to get the same SoaD sound produced by only Serj, singing about the turmoil, hate, and greed of this earth. I was pleased with the songs he produced, once again, lyrically.
Supposedly the man with the worlds master plan has over 4,500 songs recorded and is already talking about putting a new album together on his own. Hopefully Serj puts in a little more time and effort instrumentally to break away from the SoaD machine and bring something different to the table. Sure I enjoy hearing Serj’s ideas about the atroscity’s of the world but also this is music and something other than the same heavy tone with his wild vocals would be a nice change. Also, with the talk of another solo album already before the date of his solo albums debut could this be the end of an era and SoaD’s deconstruction? Only time will tell.
As for songs that stood out for me on this album Empty Walls, The Unthinking Majority (personal Favorite), Feed Us, and Sky is over are really the tracks that stand out compared to the others on the album. Unfortunately this is a low number of tracks, 4 to be exact. Now if you are a SoaD fan boy and really don’t care about the progression of music then this album will be a great one for you. He definitely keeps the SoaD feeling going and has some cool, thought provoking lyrics. As for the rest of us this is a bummer of an album and unfortunately won’t be playing in my playlist for a while so you won’t see this album in my Top 50 on last.fm anytime soon.
Elect the Dead – 2.5/5
