CD Review: Scars on Broadway - Scars on Broadway

I remember when I first heard System of a Down. It was way back in 1998, right around the time their debut album was released. The song was "Sugar," it was catchy, it was weird, and it was different than the majority of what was out there. I bought the album and really liked it, although the second single, "Spiders," became my favorite on the record. I also remember telling friends that they wouldn't last, the music was just too weird. Obviously I was wrong, but in a good way, as they turned out some excellent and original music. Now, here we are, a decade removed from that debut and the band is on a long term hiatus. Fortunately this does not mean that we won't get any music from them.

Vocalist Serj Tankian has released a solo album, that I still need to get my hands on, and now guitarist Daron Malakian, with drummer John Dolmayan in tow, has released his Scars on Broadway project. The CD may bear what appears to be a band name, but don't be fooled, this is a distinctly Malakian project, writing, producing, and performing most of the instruments. Want to know something else? This is a really good album.

Scars on Broadway gets off to an energetic start with "Serious," which barely crosses the two minute threshold. While the song is not particularly great, it is terribly infectious and actually made me anxious for the rest of the album, not that I wasn't looking forward to it, but you know. It does contain the great line: "You're too serious, you're gonna make me delirious." I am probably misinterpreting it, but it is a great line, and just the first of many great isolated lines throughout.

Lyrically, Daron Malakian touches on topics such as drug abuse, violence, the deterioration of society, and hippie invasions, important topics all. With all of those important topics (especially the expansion of hippie territory. I kid, I kid), he does not dig into them terribly deeply, which is fine by me. What he lacks in lyrical depth, he makes up with some absolutely fantastic lines strewn throughout. It is almost like he structured his lyrics based around the sounds of they made. That is not to discount the conscious decision to say certain things, I am sure there was a lot of thought behind his writing. Let's just call it a happy coincidence.

As for the music? There is some very nice work throughout the album. Daron brings together metal, punk, classic rock, and psychedelic together under a banner of experimentation. I would hesitate to call him a great guitar player, but he is not afraid to try different things and this record shows him trying all sorts of different sounds and making them work. At times the riffs just make you want to get up and rock out while other times the melody is enough to make you swoon. It is an impressive display that crosses genres and makes it all work as the sound of one man. For example, "Stoner Hate" has a great riff that reminds one of his writing for System of a Down, while the very next song, "Insane" has this beautiful melodic line woven through.

Daron's singing has come a long way since his System of a Down work. To be honest, I could only take so much of his voice, what he did on the latter System albums was pretty much the extent of what I wanted. So, I was a bit worried about how I would react to him here. I was happy to discover that he actually sounds quite good. He has an interesting delivery and he just sounds much more accomplished here.

Overall, this is a strong collection of tunes that is definitely reminiscent of System, yet strikes out on its own to stand apart. This album is clearly an extension of what Daron started earlier and does exhibit a turning of the corner. What will be interesting is how this experience, combined with Serj's solo work experience, will come together when they eventually come back together.

Bottomline. If you like good music, you will not be disappointed here. It is infectious, covers a lot of musical territory and is just very solid. I have to say I was most impressed with the epic sounding melodies on the record. Yes, I like the quirky nature of some of the material, but much of that ground was covered with System. Here, Daron retains the quirkiness, but also moves beyond that and brings us something new and fresh.

Recommended.