Tahun 2006, System of a Down (SoaD) memproklamirkan cuti panjang. Kini dua personelnya malah merilis album perdana dengan band baru Scars on Broadway. Ini dia!
Daron Malakian, gitaris dan John Dolmayan ternyata membentuk Scars on Broadway atau biasa dipanggil Scars pada tahun 2003. Musik Scars memang alternative rock, namun tak dipungkiri banyak nafas SoaD dalam lagu-lagu mereka. Sedikit metal.
Wajar saja, ke-15 track dalam lagu ini semuanya ditulis Daron. Album ini pun diproduserinya sendiri. Selama 9 bulan Scars yang digawangi Daron, John, Franky Perez, Danny Shamoun dan Dominic Cifarelli itu berkutat di studio. Seperti apa hasilnya?
'They Say' dipilih sebagai hits pertama. Rock "aman" dengan nuansa baru. Meski Daron bukan orang baru di kalangan musik, sepertinya ia masih coba-coba bereksperimen dengan mainan barunya ini. 'Serious' yang disimpan sebagai pembuka album malah dirasa lebih catchy didengar.
And all will fall In love with your eEgo trippin.. Everybody's lookin for a sunday mission...
Ain't nobody searchin for a second chance.. Im just lookin for a new romance...
Because you too serious.. You're gonna make me delirious...
Because you too serious for me...
'Funny' dibuat dengan programming yang unik. Lagu rock yang bisa membuat Anda ngedance. Selebihnya, lagu-lagu Scars menawarkan rock yang seperti kebanyakan. Namun lagu seperti 'Exploading / Reloading', 'Stoner Hate' atau 'Babylon' juga 'Cute Machine' musti Anda curi dengar.
'Wh*ring Streets' lebih mellow dari yang lain. Lagu dibuka dengan petikan gitar listrik yang lumayan memanjakan telinga. Secara keseluruhan, Scars masih bermain rock aman.
Namun tambahan programming juga perkusi misalnya di lagu 'Enemy' mencuri perhatian. So? Why so serious??
Daftar track album self titled Scars on Broadway:
1. Serious
2. Funny
3. Exploding / Reloading
4. Stoner Hate
5. Insane
6. World Long Gone
7. Kill Each Other / Live Forever
8. Babylon
9. Chemicals
10. Enemy
11. Universe
12. 3005
13. Cute Machines
14. Wh*ring Streets
15. They Say
HISTORY
Early Incarnation (2003)
In 2003, Daron Malakian (lead guitar), Casey Chaos (vocals), Greg Kelso (rhythm guitar), and Zach Hill (drums) recorded a demo tape entitled "Ghetto Blaster Rehearsals" credited to the name Scars on Broadway. However, in 2007, an official letter on the band's website states that these tracks are not in any way affiliated to Scars on Broadway as it exists today and that the music is from a disbanded project from 4 years ago.
Scars on Broadway (2005-present)
In December 2005, Malakian stated in an interview that he "could release ten solo records tomorrow." and that he has"tons of material laying around. After these albums, - (Mezmerize and Hypnotize) - I'm gonna go off to learn how to brain and do something on my own, just like Serj. And no, System of a Down is not breaking up. We're just gonna do like KISS and put out our own solo records."
Following System's hiatus, Malakian announced his latest project — Scars on Broadway — a band which would include System of a Down bassist, Shavo Odadjian, and himself. Ultimately, Odadjian was not involved with the band, and instead System drummer, John Dolmayan became a member.
The band's website featured a countdown timer, counting down to 15:00 PST of March 28, 2008. Additionally, above the timer, in quotation marks was the phrase "They say it's all about to end." When the countdown ended, the song "They Say" was made available on the site. The song is also available for listening on the band's official MySpace page, it is no longer available for free download.
Scars on Broadway played their first live show April 11, 2008 at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, CA. They have also confirmed to be playing with Metallica at KFMA Day 2008 in Tucson, AZ[2]. On January 22, 2008 Scars on Broadway were announced to be performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 26, 2008[3]. On May 17th of that year, the band also performed at the sixteenth annual KROQ Weenie Roast. Additional tour dates were announced on their official website on the 30th of May [3].
On May 2, 2008, Scars announced on their official website that their debut album, Scars on Broadway, will be released on the 28th and 29th of July.
Starting from May 28th, 2008, "They Say" is available for purchase at iTunes Music store. On July 20th, 2008, "They Say" was featured as iTunes' Free Single of the Week. On June 20th Scars on Broadway released a teaser for their single "They Say" on a MySpace bulletin. In the teaser, the video is said to premiere soon.
The video for their first single "They Say" premiered on Yahoo's music page on June 27th. The song "Chemicals" was made available to listen to on the band's MySpace page on July 8.
On July 25th, it was announced that "They Say" would be a downloadable track for the video game Rock Band on July 29 for Xbox 360 and July 31 for PS3. [2]
On July 28th 2008, Scars On Broadway was released to critical acclaim, with Kerrang! giving it a rare '5 K' rating.
On October 6th, 2008 the band announced that they were cancelling their North American tour. An initial press release claimed that Malakian's "heart wasn't into" the tour [4], but the band later issued a statement through its website that the tour was actually canceled due to Malakian's need to sort out "personal things that require [his] undivided attention." [5]
[edit] Musical Style
As from its early days, Daron Malakian always addressed the project as just rock, and "a lot more rock driven, although there will be some metal influences in the System of a Down style".
On what direction the debut album will take, Malakian states: "It will probably be something electronic mixed in with traditional Armenian and thrash, death, black, and doom metal influences. When the music comes out, it will still be structured, just like System of a Down's music is."'.
In a recent interview, Malakian stated that the music will be influenced by classic rock acts such as David Bowie, Brian Eno, Neil Young, and Roxy Music. He also stated that he shifted his songwriting from System of a Down's frazzled metal to more song-based work, inspired by Neil Young and David Bowie.
"I don't feel we're the mosh-pit band," says Malakian. "That's just where I'm comfortable as a writer right now," he said, hinting at the band's rock over metal music approach. Songs like Chemicals and The Enemy among others show the deep influence of drugs, namely heroin and meth on the band and its members.
