System of a Down Singer Semi-Successfully Elects the Dead

When a lead singer leaves the band to make a solo album, the resulting work is usually hit or miss. For the self-proclaimed "warrior for truth," Serj Tankian from System of a Down, the entire album is hit or miss.

Half of the songs are enchanting and work well, while others sound like low-quality versions of the good songs.

Most of the songs on "Elect the Dead" is either anti-war or anti-government themed; this is no surprise as Tankian is known for being an outspoken-critic of government. Lyrically each song brings something different to the album, while all centered on the same basic theme, each has a different issue to speak on.

As far as the instrumentals go, the album is very repetitive. The piano intros of "Sky Is Over," "Honking Antelope" and title track "Elect the Dead" are all similar, but eventually differentiate from one another and take the respective songs in different directions.

"Sky Is Over" is the better of the three songs, the lyrics are ambiguous, but have something to do with money and dreaming.

The "Empty Walls" and "The Unthinking Majority," are the two current radio singles, both of which are good solid songs, but are being played out by radio stations like KROQ.

The lyrics of "Empty Walls" are about how the American public only pays moderate attention to the war in Iraq, while "The Unthinking Majority" is about the false pretences under which America went to Iraq in the first place.

The vocal layering of Tankian's voice can be overwhelming at times and even a little annoying. Tankian layers his own vocals throughout the entire album, often times sounding like four or five people singing at one time.

One of the catchier songs on the album, "Lie, Lie, Lie" begins with a frantic piano intro, but breaks into a driving-piano-lead rhythm. The lyrics tell the disturbing story of someone taking joy in killing a loved one.

There are also three bonus tracks for the album available on iTunes, "The Reverend King," "Blue" and "Falling Star."

On the back of the CD booklet, Tankian wrote a message for fans, using the titles of every song describing his inspiration for the album; "The Empty Walls of The Unthinking Majority hide Money from the illusive afterlife and do not Feed Us instead, thereby Saving Us from the conclusive environmental theory that the Sky Is Over. The Baby is run over by the careless Honking Antelope who, quoting from the book of Lie, Lie, Lie, cries Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition. The ground rumbles and out flies Beethoven's C*** screaming Elect The Dead!"

If you support the war in Iraq or the current administration then you will hate this album, but if you were at least vaguely familiar with Tankian's work with System of a Down then you already knew you would dislike it.