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September 14, 2007

New Serj Tankian Video - "Empty Walls"

However brief, System Of A Down vocalist Serj Tankian's DK ditty with the Foo Fighters was one of the VMAs highlights. Stepping outside SOAD and behind a mini-piano for the second video from his debut solo shot Elect the Dead, the king of hyper facial expressions and operatic crescendo has traded in Dave Grohl and the boys for a magician's outfit and preschoolers practicing serious war games amid a code red Playground Terror Alert.

We get the metaphor -- guns, ticker tape confetti, tearing down teddy bear effigies, the silly string (duh), and it doesn't get much more blunt than creepy Abu Ghraib echoes -- but what's the significance of drowning in a sea of plastic balls?

Elect the Dead is out 10/23 on the wonderfully named Serjical Strike & Warner Bros.

Posted at 10:23 AM in
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20 Comments

yawn.....I expected something more subtle and oh, I don't know, inventive from a man that considers himself to be politically minded.

and the use of children? your really grasping at straws to shock your pre-pubescent audience's parents not aren't you serj?

Posted by: Max at 09/14/07 12:56 PM  | Reply
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This is not the first Serj Tankian solo video. Here's the first one http://www.zmemusic.com/singles/serj-tankian-debut-solo-single-and-video-the-unthinking-majority/

Posted by: Tibi Puiu at 09/14/07 1:16 PM  | Reply
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Ok, so I think SOAD has some good songs, but it still baffles me how someone so cartoonish and over-the-top can front a successful, mainstream band that all the kids at Ozzfest will unironically mosh to.

Posted by: Christopher at 09/14/07 1:50 PM  | Reply
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As a big SOAD fan, I don't see a world of difference between Serj now and then. I still like it, but it feels a little emptier, so to speak, than the full group.

Posted by: Brendan at 09/14/07 1:57 PM  | Reply
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you're right, Tibi Puiu. thanks ... all fixed!

Posted by: brandon at 09/14/07 2:29 PM  | Reply
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Zapraszam na ciekawą stronę http://serwisybukmacherskie.com poświęconą tematyce zakładów sportowych. Znajdziesz tam m.in porady jak grać, darmowe typy, systemy bukmacherskie.

Posted by: typer at 09/15/07 12:57 PM  | Reply
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This song is fine. SOAD became really bloated. I hated the guitar player voice and he is all over the last two records. At some point you would hope that the guitar player learns his place in the band... "dude you are cool for backing vocals but no one wants to hear your whine."

Posted by: Indie at 09/15/07 3:12 PM  | Reply
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The children represent how childish Bush and the Iraq War are. This is an amazing song and the children toys just make it pleasant to watch.

Posted by: Jake at 09/16/07 7:37 PM  | Reply
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I agree,i love the video,and the song is retty awesome,and there is a great meaning behind the kids and the toys,i can't wait for the album,it's kinda surprising me and i believe it's different than soad,i love soad, but serj's stuff is different,and it reallt rocks!

Posted by: loly at 09/17/07 9:37 AM  | Reply
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I agree,i love the video,and the song is pretty awesome,and there is a great meaning behind the kids and the toys,i can't wait for the album,it's kinda surprising me and i believe it's different than soad,i love soad, but serj's stuff is different,and it really rocks!

Posted by: loly at 09/17/07 9:40 AM  | Reply
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And to expect the song and accompanying video to be more subtle presupposes that the regime propagating the "war culture" and its nasty actions is subtle at all. Thank You Serj for using your art as a forum for deliberate protest at an intensity that we, who lack your courage to put ourselves out there with our full beings, can readily see.

Posted by: Matt Sarno at 09/21/07 9:21 PM  | Reply
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oh god max and matt Sarno shut up you really bore me and the rest of the people who enjoy the song for what it is!

Posted by: Brian at 10/02/07 11:33 AM  | Reply
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Amazing song and video. Thanks Serj for all the courage and humanity. You're a legend. and to all the idiots who don't understand the song... GO AND LISTEN TO FOX NEWS AND BILL O'REILLY...THEY MISS YOU.

Posted by: Ray Ocean at 10/03/07 1:10 PM  | Reply
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As an Armenian like serj, i think using children is a good idea, it represents how childish but devastating war can be. Its an amazing video

Posted by: Emin Moskofian at 10/06/07 2:16 PM  | Reply
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nice video and song , good to know your still out there serj good job.

Posted by: sword at 10/12/07 11:45 AM  | Reply
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Luv It
Being the large SOAD fan that I am
I enjoy the song and double for the video, so strong, so full,
so awesome

Posted by: cassiemunkz at 10/14/07 3:13 PM  | Reply
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TToTT!!!!!

Posted by: Jhonny at 10/14/07 10:22 PM  | Reply
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Mission accomplished, Serj.
Nice song and video.

Widows accomplished, Bush/Cheney.
Nice war and legacy.

Posted by: Tig at 10/30/07 9:55 AM  | Reply
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"shut up you really bore me and the rest of the people who enjoy the song for what it is!"

Brian, clearly you don't have a clue about what Serj sings about or what he stands for, given that 'what the song really is' IS a protest, it just happens to be in song format. Yes it's got a nice tune, yes it's a well written song, which I imagine is what you're refering to when you say "enjoy the song for what it is", but it's the thought behind it which Serj is expressing. If it wasn't he could have nice inane lyrics about break ups and other crap.

Great song, great video, profound message.

Posted by: Lindsay at 10/31/07 12:44 PM  | Reply
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haha i said the same thing, dude daron sounds so bad i hate when he whines its sound horrible

Posted by: haji at 08/02/08 1:56 AM  | Reply
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