Metal Music Blog

Cool title, eh? Don’t worry, I am a big fan of Serj Tankian. Just read more and discuss with me by leaving your comments.

Last weekend I came across with Serj Tankian’s latest masterpiece, Sky Is Over. I had my radio turned on and I heard them talking about Serj Tankian. I heard them saying “Sky is Over” which sounded like something new to me. I heard the first piano notes of Serj’s new song and I immediately got hooked. I love metal music but I’m also very much into classical, so the piano notes of Sky Is Over really got my attention.

So, the Sky Is Over starts with beautiful piano notes. What makes the first piano part interesting is its simplicity. It is an easy and catchy riff you can quickly learn to play yourself. Soon after the first notes Serj starts singing with his unique sound which in my opinion is the most important “asset” of System Of A Down and Serj’s own project.

Just like the first part, also second piano part is simple and catchy. And I like it. The first more tricky part comes 1:29 when you can easily notice Serj’s background in classical music. In this third part (”laa-la-la-la-la-la-la-laa-la-la-la-la-la-la”..) he nicely combines the typical element of classical music with rock music.

Straight from the beginning the whole song continues in “upwards” direction getting higher and higher until the finale in which Serj presses the last piano note of the whole song. It is strong, it goes fast and it has the cacthy elements of a good rock/metal song. It has an easy-to-remember refrain. It sounds good and fresh! Hey, then what’s wrong with Sky Is Over?

Actually there is probably nothing wrong with Sky Is Over. I just strated to wonder why I quickly find the song becoming boring? I noticed this same effect a long time ago as I intensively listened to System Of A Down. I didn’t find the songs interesting anymore, even though they are great metal songs. So, what is wrong? Why on Earth I get bored with Serj Tankian’s Empty Wall and Sky Is Over, but not with Iron Maiden albums Seventh Son of the Seventh Son or Somewhere in Time? Why I get bored with System of a Down but not with Franz Liszt’s La Campanella or Beethoven’s Turkish March?

May be the reason is that Serj’s music is too easy to understand. May be it is not challenging enough, even though simplicity makes it powerful. If you listen to Iron Maiden’s Infinite Dreams or The Clairvoyant you hear how more complex those masterpieces of Iron Maiden are compared to Sky Is Over.

This same effect happened with Metallica as they started to change their style after so called Black album. Wasn’t their music in Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppers more challenging and tricky? For me it feels like more challenging music lives longer although it might not sell as quickly as much as easier-to-get music. Just compare classical music and pop music, which one lives longer? My point is not to disrespect Serj Tankian and his music. With his classical background Serj for sure can create great music, and I respect him as a musician. I believe making their songs easier to understand is a strategic decision in order to sell much.

What do you think? How do you see this?

Here’s Serj Tankian’s great piece of music - Sky Is Over

This post was written by Headbanger and its original location is in Metal-Music-Videos.Com blog. For more great metal music articles, please visit Metal-Music-Videos.Com!