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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!
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Good Tune. Ill have to pick up the whole album.
Not a bad idea at all
YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING WITH ALL THESE THINGS YOU SAID MY FRIEND
why does no1 enjoy music anymore ? everyone complains about music not having meaning or being in your words “to easy to understand” no1 enjoys the sound of the music, enjoys the amazing singing. just enjoy it people dont read to much into it
Before I begin, I’d first like to say the jon, in the last post, said it best: just enjoy the music.
With that said, I agree that what makes music “good” or “bad” does not necessarily have a connection with its “complexity”. But what makes it get boring fast? Hmm, I very much agree that the music of Beethovem, J.S. Bach, Mozart, and even modern ones that you’ve mentioned, like Metallica and Iron Maiden, is awesome, and doesn’t get boring. My high school music teacher has listened to Beethoven hundreds of times and says that it never gets boring. Meanwhile, you have awesome music like that of the Beatles, which just doesn’t get boring, and in my opinion, their song “She Loves You” is a lot simpler than, let’s say, Iron Maiden’s “Only the Good Die Young”, yet “She Loves You” does not get boring, at least to me, I think because it is a very emotional song. So, if you take the great YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, his songs are super complex, and sound awesome to me, and don’t get boring because every time I listen to it, I pick up something new. What’s funny is that it took me 10 listens to some of Yngwie Malmsteen’s songs to start liking them. Lol, my dad has been listening to Mozart’s Requiem for decades, and even to this day he sometimes hears things he never noticed before…now that’s what I call complexity!! So if a song impacts you profoundly on an emotional level, then you will never get bored of that song (Disturbed’s “Believe” and “Darkness” did it for me). Also, if you love complexity, songs like Mozart’s and Beetoven’s “Turkish March” (yeah they both have one, lol) will do it for you. I think what mostly matters is how the song impacts you. if it impacts you a lot, then the song won’t get boring. It can be complex and unpowerful, simple and powerful, uncomplex and boring, or complex and powerful.
Ok, after some second thoughts, I should note that it is pointless to categorize music like I did above. There is simply too much about it we don’t know, and probably ever will. There is something magical about music, that cannot be explained. But every person is affected differently, and at different levels.
I think in your particular case, the variation in such pieces as “Clairvoyant” or “Turkish March” keeps your toes tingling even after your 100th listen. OR, it’s the complexity, in which there is so much stuff going on that you don’t notice it until after a hundred listens. Or maybe there is something else that I cannot think of, which causes Serj Tankian’s “Sky is Over” to become boring to you after a while. Maybe we should ask Mozart and Beethoven huh? They’d probably know best =). Oh, and I agree there is definitely something magically profound about Serj Tankian’s opening piano notes, as you said. For some people, this profound experience can never get boring. Who are we to try and label music? We are only scratching the surface of this Divine Gift (after all, God Gave Rock n Roll to you, as the immortalized KISS said it haha) So, in the end, it all depends on your personality and your own tastes/preferences, and basically who you are as a person. Which is why I think jon said it best: “just enjoy the music”.