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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) "Scars on Broadway"   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Monday, July 28, 2008 Liner notes: "Scars on Broadway" By Andy Rathbun Herald Columnist "Scars on Broadway" Scars on Broadway WHY CARE?: As multiplatinum metal act System of a Down nears the two-year mark on its hiatus, one of the group's chief songwriters, Daron Malakian, delivers an album with help from System's drummer, John Dolmayan. TRIVIA: Malakian's girlfriend gave him a human skull for Christmas, he told Rolling Stone. Granted, he said he also likes Disneyland and 1980s pop band Wham! HIGH POINT: The midtempo track "Kill Each Other/Live Forever" takes the band's prog metal bent and mixes in some Beatles influences, while the rollicking "Serious" skips between furious tempos and melodic choruses, a signature Malakian move. FANS ALSO LIKE: System of a Down, misanthropy, alarmist politics. ANDY SAYS: The lyrics are bad. "Sometimes, I said sometimes, I go crazy, like I'm crazy," Malakian sings on "World Long Gone." Sigh. Granted, metal isn't about words, it's about raw power. There's some of that here, but often not enough. Most songs are enough to tide over fans waiting out the hiatus, but no substitute for the real thing. GRADE: C "We Have Cause to Be Uneasy" Wild Sweet Orange WHY CARE?: The group had a song featured in "Grey's Anatomy" in 2007; that track, "Land of No Return," is included here, on the group's first full length. TRIVIA: Lead singer Preston Lovinggood has a name perfect for a hospital soap. Also, the Washington Post name-checked him in a 2006 article about the music scene in the group's hometown of Birmingham, Ala., calling him "John Mayer with a backbone." HIGH POINT: The album starts strong with the heartfelt, spooky "Ten Dead Dogs," a tuneful mix of acoustic and clean electric guitar. FANS ALSO LIKE: "Grey's Anatomy" rock -- you'll know it when you hear it. ANDY SAYS: While the album starts fairly strongly, it grows tepid, failing to repeat the heights of its first half. Nonetheless, some songs are worth downloading, including the jaunty "Tilt" and the banjo-laced Americana of "An Atlas to Follow." GRADE: C Andy Rathbun arathbun@heraldnet.com 425-339-3455

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