Daron Malakian's voice ruined System of a Down.

cj_iwakura · Dec 13, 2018

[rant alert]

I love SoaD, been listening to them since their debut.

Serj Tankian is an amazing vocalist, his range is nothing short of scary. He can go from singing to growling to this ear-piercing shriek at the drop of a hat.

I'm aware of his solo stuff, but I'm sticking to his group efforts here, which I think showcase his range a lot better.

On their first album it was primarily Serj doing the vocals, and the same on Toxicity, apart from maybe one or two tracks with their bassist (Daron Malakian) doing backup.

Then you have their stuff on Hypnotize/Mezmerize, half of which has him doing the lion's share of the singing.

And he's terrible at it.

Was there some behind the scene tug of war that lead to him getting more say in the songs? Is it part of why they broke up?

Who knows, but hopefully I'm not alone in feeling that way.

0VERBYTE · Dec 13, 2018

I dont agree. Soldier Song was great with Malakian.

RDreamer · Dec 13, 2018

He does kind of sound like a moderately tone deaf goat at times.

... but it kinda works?

cj_iwakura · Dec 13, 2018

0VERBYTE said:
I dont agree. Soldier Song was great with Malakian.

I didn't mind it, but I'd rather have just had Serj singing. I'll concede it's one of his least offensive attempts though. His voice in She's Like Heroin and Hollywood is like nails on a chalkboard, I can't bear listening to it.

I hear Serj in the background struggling to be heard over this clown, and it pains me.

krazen · Dec 14, 2018

Yeah. Apparently him being a songwriting dictator is why they haven'r dropped a new song. Thing is in his lane Daron is solid, his new Scars on Record is good. But to leave such a talented singer like Serj as a #2 option, lol. its why the later records where he sung a large amount of the vocals are just good, but the Toxicity/Steal this Album sessions are GREAT

DocSeuss · Dec 14, 2018

I love Daron as the backup singer; I think he's fantastic as a backup. They work well together when Serj is the singer and he's the bassist, but I like him as a backup too.

Deleted member 18407 · Dec 14, 2018

SOAD peaked with their self-titled album. It's a great album and they never reached it again.

bremon · Dec 14, 2018

Yeah Daron comes and goes. There are things I like his voice in but certainly it's a minority of songs. I wish he would stick to playing guitar and making weird noises and deep yelling rather than trying to sing lead.

cj_iwakura · Dec 14, 2018

DocSeuss said:
I love Daron as the backup singer; I think he's fantastic as a backup. They work well together when Serj is the singer and he's the bassist, but I like him as a backup too.

That's all good and fine, I'm talking about songs where he steals the spotlight and just makes the song sound awful.

bremon said:
Yeah Daron comes and goes. There are things I like his voice in but certainly it's a minority of songs. I wish he would stick to playing guitar and making weird noises and deep yelling rather than trying to sing lead.

This too. He's a pretty intense screamer, like at the start of BYOB. God he can't sing, though.

Awesome Wells · Dec 14, 2018

Bassist?

But yeah, why you'd overlook someone of Serj's talent and have that voice as background only is baffling to me.

Rackham · Dec 14, 2018

Soldier Side is one of my favorite songs and his contribution to Hypnotize can't be overstated. They're both great and play off each other well. That's part of what made SOAD unique

cj_iwakura · Dec 14, 2018

Rackham said:
Soldier Side is one of my favorite songs and his contribution to Hypnotize can't be overstated. They're both great and play off each other well. That's part of what made SOAD unique

Have you heard their debut album? He doesn't sing at all on it, it's all Serj. Hypnotize is when he started getting involved, and by Mezmerize he's practically doing half the songs.

Rackham · Dec 14, 2018

cj_iwakura said:
Have you heard their debut album? He doesn't sing at all on it, it's all Serj. Hypnotize is when he started getting involved, and by Mezmerize he's practically doing half the songs.

Are you talking about Toxicity or before that? Do you not like the song Lost in Hollywood?

cj_iwakura · Dec 14, 2018

Rackham said:
Are you talking about Toxicity or before that? Do you not like the song Lost in Hollywood?

Before that, their self-titled. And not really, it's one of the ones I cite above.

Click the link for Sugar, that's their first single. (The video won't play inline.)

AmirMoosavi · Dec 14, 2018

Mezmerize/Hypnotize >>>>> everything else SOAD.

Scars On Broadway > Any solo Serj albums (though I do like Elect the Dead).

Rackham · Dec 14, 2018

cj_iwakura said:
Before that, their self-titled. And not really, it's one of the ones I cite above.

Click the link for Sugar, that's their first single. (The video won't play inline.)

I haven't listened to their stuff before Toxicity. I'm not a fan of Sugar. I find it kind of obnoxious to be honest. It's definitely not a song I would show people if I wanted them to appreciate Serj.

I really appreciate Lost in Hollywood because of Daron and Serj working together, in what I feel is harmonious beauty.

cj_iwakura · Dec 14, 2018

AmirMoosavi said:
Mezmerize/Hypnotize >>>>> everything else SOAD.

Scars On Broadway > Any solo Serj albums (though I do like Elect the Dead).

I honestly haven't heard any of Daron's stuff, and I'm not a huge fan of Serj's solo work either(though I respect it), but putting the double album above their self-titled is madness to me. Their self-titled is a flawless album, every track is amazing.

Rackham said:
I haven't listened to their stuff before Toxicity. I'm not a fan of Sugar. I find it kind of obnoxious to be honest. It's definitely not a song I would show people if I wanted them to appreciate Serj.

I really appreciate Lost in Hollywood because of Daron and Serj working together, in what I feel is harmonious beauty.

Fair enough, I do have an exhibit B though.

MUCH more melodic than Sugar, and it's my favorite song of theirs.

Future Gazer · Dec 14, 2018

Lonely Day is the best System song though.

Van Bur3n · Dec 14, 2018

I like Daron as a vocalist, surprisingly that was what he originally did before SOAD, while Serj was just keyboard.

However, he did become quite dominant with the later albums, which hinted at his increasing dominant role in the band in general (which probably led to the hiatus).

I ultimately still think their albums before the double were better. Steal This Album! is the very best of SOAD.

cj_iwakura · Dec 14, 2018

Van Bur3n said:
I like Daron as a vocalist, surprisingly that was what he originally did before SOAD, while Serj was just keyboard.

However, he did become quite dominant with the later albums, which hinted at his increasing dominant role in the band in general (which probably led to the hiatus).

I ultimately still think their albums before the double were better. Steal This Album! is the very best of SOAD.

It's probably my second favorite. it felt like a return to the self-titled era, and it has some great melodic tracks.

vatstep · Dec 14, 2018

No

this shit rules

Deleted member 18407 · Dec 14, 2018

cj_iwakura said:
I honestly haven't heard any of Daron's stuff, and I'm not a huge fan of Serj's solo work either(though I respect it), but putting the double album above their self-titled is madness to me. Their self-titled is a flawless album, every track is amazing.

Fair enough, I do have an exhibit B though.

MUCH more melodic than Sugar, and it's my favorite song of theirs.

Spiders is a great song but I gotta go with Peephole as the best song off the self-titled. I like the weirdo circus vibe of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jekTxx76drA

AmirMoosavi · Dec 14, 2018

cj_iwakura said:
I honestly haven't heard any of Daron's stuff, and I'm not a huge fan of Serj's solo work either(though I respect it), but putting the double album above their self-titled is madness to me. Their self-titled is a flawless album, every track is amazing.

I can't really get into self-titled; I've listened to Mezmerize/Hypnotize all the way through countless times. I don't hate Serj, I even went to see a solo show of his in London in 2012, but I dig Daron's zaniness. I haven't listened to the latest SOB album that much but the debut one was on repeat for me for years.

El Bombastico · Dec 14, 2018

I've seen some bullshit hottakes but goddamn...

ChaosXVI · Dec 14, 2018

I go back and forth on which I prefer, but pre-Mesmerize and post-Mesmerize are 2 very different styles largely due to Daron. Depending on my mood, I like it more than the earlier albums.

I just wish they'd finally make some new ones already...I thought for sure with Trump getting elected, the one silver lining would be a new SOAD album.

Gabbo · Dec 14, 2018

I don't know about ruined, but songs where he's the lead are generally less fun to relisten to except old school hollywood

ChaosXVI said:
I go back and forth on which I prefer, but pre-Mesmerize and post-Mesmerize are 2 very different styles largely due to Daron. Depending on my mood, I like it more than the earlier albums.

I just wish they'd finally make some new ones already...I thought for sure with Trump getting elected, the one silver lining would be a new SOAD album.

You'd think Bush, Obama, and then Trump would have had System and Rage putting out new material, but here we are lesser for it

cj_iwakura · Dec 14, 2018

ChaosXVI said:
I go back and forth on which I prefer, but pre-Mesmerize and post-Mesmerize are 2 very different styles largely due to Daron. Depending on my mood, I like it more than the earlier albums.

I just wish they'd finally make some new ones already...I thought for sure with Trump getting elected, the one silver lining would be a new SOAD album.

I follow Serj on FB, he's still very active politically, but I guess the System spark just isn't there anymore.

Deleted member 2254 · Dec 14, 2018

Daron's increased use was one of the reasons the Mezmerize/Hypnotize project worked less. Don't get me wrong, both albums had excellent pieces on their own, but much of it felt like wacky for the sake of wacky, and there were a lot of B-sides passed off as album material (which makes sense, normally a band writes 20-30 songs and selects 10-15 for the album, here they selected 23). Daron's voice was never particularly good, but its limited and smart use gave the songs more variety and style. Once they started to have whole songs centered around him, it definitely fell apart. Lost In Hollywood is a good song despite Daron, for example, not because of him.

Spenny · Dec 14, 2018

As someone who thinks Mezmerize/Hypnotize is their best work I strongly disagree. Serj and Daron work so well together.

jviggy43 · Dec 14, 2018

I agree with you for the most part but wouldnt say ruined. Now however the tables have turned and daron sounds much better than serj live (guitar playing has cleaned up a lot too). Serj clearly is done with music but darron has never been better.

cj_iwakura said:
I follow Serj on FB, he's still very active politically, but I guess the System spark just isn't there anymore.

Serj isnt happy that daron makes the majority of money off system so he isnt going to make a new one until that gets settled. However daron did write all the music for their albums so by and large he is the driving force behind the compositions even if serj's voice is what made them stand out

cj_iwakura · Dec 14, 2018

jviggy43 said:
I agree with you for the most part but wouldnt say ruined. Now however the tables have turned and daron sounds much better than serj live (guitar playing has cleaned up a lot too). Serj clearly is done with music but darron has never been better.

Serj isnt happy that daron makes the majority of money off system so he isnt going to make a new one until that gets settled. However daron did write all the music for their albums so by and large he is the driving force behind the compositions even if serj's voice is what made them stand out

The notion of someone like Serj being hung up on money more than the message isn't a pleasant thought, but rose-tinted glasses and all that, I guess.

I do agree that I never liked System live, they're all about the studio.

chrisPjelly · Dec 14, 2018

He's fine, but there definitely was a jarring period where he transitioned from screams/grunts, to playfully whiny (I have no idea how to describe it), to a serious lead.

I think he worked out best when his high pitched voice was able to balance with Serj's lower, more powerful, range back then.

Clefargle · Dec 14, 2018

Now THIS is a position I can get behind

Daron's vocals AND his terrible lyrics are far surpassed by Serj's Stuff.

Tedmilk · Dec 14, 2018

I kinda agree. Peak Daron was on Toxicity where he sang backing vocals and his voice added interest on certain songs where he was used as more of a 'special effect' for certain parts (i.e. the short acapella before the end of Deer Dance, the bridge of Needles etc). I do think he tried to take over from Serj too much later on and his voice isn't really good enough to carry a whole song like Serj.

DoubleYou · Dec 14, 2018

RDreamer said:
He does kind of sound like a moderately tone deaf goat at times.

... but it kinda works?

Haha, in a weird way I agree with this completely.

ActWan · Dec 14, 2018

Not a fan of his tone in SOAD. It works sometimes, but mostly I don't like it.
...he's pretty good in Scars On Broadway though.

TheChuggernaut · Dec 14, 2018

Can't really agree. Self titled is probably my least favorite SOAD album. But I'm also weird and I think Steal This Album is the best SOAD album.

I liked Elect the Dead more then the first SOB album, but I haven't liked any of Serj's other stuff and I didn't bother to check out the new SOB thing

YuYu · Dec 14, 2018

What?I like most of Mezmerize(got the album when it was released) and I really liked Lost in Hollywood.

Giruvegan · Dec 14, 2018

I think this is the song that got me hooked on Serj's voice:

Daron's has a different vibe. I don't hate it but it's probably the reason I prefer older SOAD to anything past Steal This Album

Galkinator · Dec 14, 2018

Nah. Daron's voice & talent is obviously nowhere near Serj's, but their duets and harmonies work pretty well and many of my favorite SOAD songs have both of them singing.
His voice is nothing special at all but it just works in the context of SOAD perfectly well and I grew on it.

Deleted member 45211 · Dec 14, 2018

I dig it, but it also helps that I listen to almost every SoaD song as if it were being sung sArCaStIcAlLy.

ChubbyHuggs · Dec 14, 2018

cj_iwakura said:
Was there some behind the scene tug of war that lead to him getting more say in the songs? Is it part of why they broke up?

Who knows, but hopefully I'm not alone in feeling that way.

cj_iwakura · Dec 14, 2018

Tedmilk said:
I kinda agree. Peak Daron was on Toxicity where he sang backing vocals and his voice added interest on certain songs where he was used as more of a 'special effect' for certain parts (i.e. the short acapella before the end of Deer Dance, the bridge of Needles etc). I do think he tried to take over from Serj too much later on and his voice isn't really good enough to carry a whole song like Serj.

This sums up my feelings. I didn't mind him on Toxicity at all, he works fine in small doses.

Camwi · Dec 14, 2018

I would agree to a certain extent, but Lost in Hollywood is fucking fantastic.

Pomerlaw · Dec 14, 2018

Serj Tankian is an amazing vocalist, his range is nothing short of scary

His voice can be annoying too though, there is something about it that you either love or hate.
I loved it at first but can't stand it anymore. lol

ucanadam · Dec 14, 2018

Lost in Hollywood is great song though?

Future Gazer said:
Lonely Day is the best System song though.

also this.

AtmaPhoenix · Dec 14, 2018

vatstep said:
No

this shit rules

Hell yeah. This is my favorite SoaD song, glad there are other people out there with impeccable taste.

Deleted member 48205 · Dec 14, 2018

Personally I always liked their first album the best and it doesn't have Daron on it at all but some of their later stuff with him is still really good. I think he works in smaller dosages the best, his part on "Hypnotize" for example. Lonely Day is dogshit though

ucanadam · Dec 14, 2018

Kazura said:
Personally I always liked their first album the best and it doesn't have Daron on it at all but some of their later stuff with him is still really good. I think he works in smaller dosages the best, his part on "Hypnotize" for example. Lonely Day is dogshit though

How can anyone listen this and say man this is "dogshit".
Ban this terrible user.

Deleted member 28815 · Dec 14, 2018

I like it all. Wish they were still around.

Daron Malakian's voice ruined System of a Down.

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