[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL "The Videography of System of a Down"
02.09.11
BY MIKEY MIGO
When I think of metal from my late teens I instantly think of System of a Down, Slipknot, and on a lesser level Disturbed or Mudvayne. In the early part of this millennium these were the bands that tore up the metal scene. Before it turned into a speed and growl contest, metal had substance.
System of a Down had, and I honestly still believe do, the potential to become one of the greatest. The instant impact they had on the metal scene was great. The self titled album knocked the door down for them. Toxicity then knocked the whole building down. Through touring, radio play, and great videos the band busted their asses and made their place in music history apparent.
I loved the first two albums. Steal This Album had some good stuff, but they kind of lost me with Mezmerize and Hypnotize. There were some good singles from those two albums, but it wasn’t the same. Daron Malakian did the music and lyrics. Musically, it’s the shit, but I just don’t want to hear his voice for four minutes at a time. He’s a great back up vocalist, but these albums really muzzled Serj Tankian’s signature voice and insanity. I know this to be true because Serj’s solo album, “Elect the Dead” was great. It still wasn’t System.
Now they’re coming back from hiatus for a couple shows. They’re doing European festivals come June of 2011. Being a huge fan, one would hope this would result in a full on reunion. Get back in the studio, work the magic, and put something out there TOGETHER for the world to enjoy. Please. Much appreciated. Thank you!
”Sugar”
(1998 – System of a Down – Dir. Nathan “Karma” Cox) - This video is what got me into the band. I remember seeing it, being blown away and going out to get the CD immediately. The video represents the band perfectly. It’s chaotic, unique, and carries a message. It’s a great song. Its fun, it’s angry, and it’s political. Serj looks like a lunatic in it and I think he may be for its duration. I looked up Nathan Cox and this is listed as his earliest music video. The dude would go on to have a great career in shooting some really awesome videos including stuff for Megadeth, Linkin Park, Chevelle, Soil, Disturbed, Maryiln Manson, Lacuna Coil, and a slew of others. Still, this first shot is really hard to top. Rating: 8.0
”War?”
(1998 – System of a Down – Dir. Deaton-Flanigen) - It’s weird, Deaton-Flanigen are almost exclusively a country video production team. I’ve seen great looking country videos despite my disliking for the music so this may be a hidden gem. It starts and it’s a live video. They use a strobing effect through the whole thing. It’s shot well and looks awesome and it’s a really good live video. It has the anger and rage and it sounds awesome, but for some reason it feels tamer than it should be. By the end of it, I found myself head banging along and looking away at other stuff. Good song, lack luster video. Rating: 6.0
”Spiders?”
(1999 – System of a Down – Dir. Charlie Deaux) - This song and video is easily my favorite System of a Down song. I bought the self titled CD for “Sugar”, but was sold on being a big fan after this song. The video is some kind of weird nautical fantasy situation. A woman lays in water and seems to dream about wandering through the woods. I never really understood the narrative this song is going for. It almost looks like a fan made video to some science fiction show I’ve never seen. It’s not because I lost interest. I’m just in awe. The deep blues and flashes of yellow work so well here. The song is amazing and the visuals are a thing of beauty. I am a big fan of their other songs, but how could anyone argue this one? Great stuff. Rating: 9.0
”Chop Suey!”
(2001 – Toxicity – Dir. Marcos Siega) - This is where more and more people started to take notice. Rightfully so. While the self-titled rocked, this album pushed them into the mainstream. It’s nothing too out there. It’s conventionally filmed by Marcos Siega in a motel parking lot in LA with about a 1000 fans. Still, the video strives on the energy of the band the creative direction of Siega. It’s just a very well done video. It’s a rare situation of a music video and song equally rocking. The walk-through/ghost effect is awesome and this has to be one of the best rock videos of the millennium. Rating: 9.0
”Toxicity”
(2002 – Toxicity – Dir. Shavo Odadjian & Marcos Siega) - Bassist extraordinaire Shavo Odadjian teams up with Marcos Siega as the directors of this one. Like “Chop Suey!”, this is another modern classic. The video intertwines a performance with projection to a white background. A little past the half way mark we get some candid footage. The way the editing is done when the band is in the white background and how they make the crowd appear rocks. Other than that, it’s nothing too cool. The song is great, but the video not as much. It’s solid, but in the tough grading curve that is System videos it’s not on par. Rating: 6.0
”Aerials”
(2002 – Toxicity – Dir. Shavo Odadjian & David Slade) - Shavo gets the ball again here. This time he works with the awesome David Slade. Slade is responsible for movies like “Hard Candy”, “30 Days of Night” and videos like AFI’s “Girls Not Grey” and Stone Temple Pilots’ “Sour Girl”. Awesome stuff. This video, the same. Awesome stuff. This is one of those videos that crosses the line of being a music video to being a short film. We are shown a crazy cgi looking world and we then come into a world where nothing seems right. A weird child-like alien faced type of character hangs out in excess and celebrity. It ends with the boy walking out of the tent and resting. I don’t think this video gets enough love. It’s weird as hell and I think that’s what stalls that. It makes you slightly uncomfortable and puts you in a daze. It’s art of the high variety. Rating: 7.0
”Boom! ”
(2002 – Steal This Album! – Dir. Michael Moore) - Yes, THAT Michael Moore. The band shares the same views of the way with the controversial documentary director. Both the band and director are very outspoken and use their art to attempt to better the world in the vision of what a better world is to them. It makes sense these two powers come together for a very cool protest song. It’s like a documentary crammed into a music video. Really cool stuff here. MTV Europe actually banned this video. That’s some shit. Rating: 7.0
”B.Y.O.B. ”
(2005 – Mezmerize – Dir. Jake Nava) - Jake Nava is responsible for a lot of pop videos. He’s done some recent Beyonce stuff and has won his share of awards. It’s still bad ass. The soilder’s with “DIE” on the faces, the band in a glow of red, and the tension captured is great stuff. Then about a minute in to the clip we get the band entering a party in slow motion. Really cool shots in there. All is good and happy until the “DIE” soldiers from the start rushes in and crashes. Chaos ensues. Not my favorite song. I prefer less Daron vocals, but the video is good. Rating: 7.5
”Question!”
(2005 – Mezmerize – Dir. Shavo Odadjian & Howard Greenhalgh) - The video starts off with some great shots of a child chasing a bird in the city. It then goes into an old-timey looking stage performance of the band. We are then taken into the dream of a little girl. It’s like that rap version of Snow White the gang did in Saved by the Bell meets Tim Burton’s spicy food nightmares. Joking aside, it’s a pretty underrated video. I don’t think I’ve seen it more than three times. It looks great. I love the way its shot and it has a weird English film cadence to it. Rating: 8.0
”Hypnotize”
(2005 – Hypnotize – Dir. Shavo Odadjian) - Outside of a few shots, including the helicopter misting, the video is mainly life performance stuff. Shot in Michigan, we get a really solid performance. The shots and look of the video is top notch. About two and half in we get a weird abstract looking painting that’s from the album. Solid song and solid live stuff. The rest seems a little forced and hokey. Rating: 7.0
”Lonely Day”
(2006 – Hypnotize) – Dir. Josh Melnick & Xander Charity) - The last video released by System of a Down got them a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. It’s mainly candid shots of the band chilling on the bus with footage of Hollywood and fires. It’s well shot and all that, but it lacks anything to make it interesting. It’s one of the best “Daron songs”, but the video is one of the worse. They’ve done better and I really hope WILL do better… Rating: 5.0
What is YOUR favorite System of a Down video?
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