andPOP » system of a down

Gamer’s Mind Blog: Infinite Ammo

Brett Caron — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:17:31 +0000

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He can remix a song before the original band has finished recording it.

High Score: Music in Video Games

Dah-dah-dah doo dah-da – duh. If you totally called that as the beginning of the Mario theme, then you’re one step ahead of this article. If you didn’t, prepare to be schooled baby.

Music has always been a part of video games, with a few minor exceptions (Pong, anyone?). From the classic themes of the Mario franchise to the epic scores of Halo and Metal Gear Solid, music has provided a strong influence on the tone and theme of the game in question. By the way, Guitar Hero doesn’t count.

I remember listening to the Hill Top Zone theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 when I played it as a young whippersnapper. I also remember it from my iPod last week. Why? Because it was a great piece of music, 16-bit or no. More recently, the insanely good score from Metal Gear Solid 2, with a full orchestra and composed by Harry Gregson-Williams (The Replacement Killers, Enemy of the State, Phone Booth, and even the Shrek franchise – but we won’t hold that against him) totally kicked my ass via my eardrums. Two very different styles of composition and undertaken very differently, but they had the same result – Sonic and MGS are two of my favourite series of games. Coincidence? I think not.

Just so you know, he's composing something badass right now.

On the other hand, games that simply don’t put too much effort into their musical score tend to bother me. I’m not saying it’s easy – a composer that is writing the score for a movie knows exactly how much time he has, whereas a video game score composer must take into account that every gamer takes it at his own pace. But that frequently becomes an annoyance in games like Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires (or the whole series, for that matter), which a friend of mine has been playing recently. I don’t care for the games to begin with, but I don’t mind sitting around on the computer while he plays. But eventually (sooner than later) I have to ask him to turn it down and I drown it out with some iTunes, because the terrible 30-minute looping electric guitar solo that is the soundtrack for that game makes me want to punch a baby, as Dane Cook so eloquently put it.

And I generally like babies.

Since orchestral scores have become more commonplace and appreciated in modern video games, it has gotten to the point where you can buy the soundtrack. A friend of mine made me listen to the Halo score before I ever played the game, and it was so epic that I played it almost exclusively for that reason (the books were also awesome, contributed by the same friend. The guy loves the Master Chief. I’m reasonably sure he wants to have his babies). You would never have been able to buy the soundtrack for Out of This World, and probably never will. Why? Because it sucked. Also, that was the hardest game I have ever played, and so I deny anything good about it.

I took a break just now to download the Halo soundtrack so I could listen to it while I write this.

Little-known fact: MJOLNIR armour includes a built-in iPod.

Video game music has been such an inspiration and source of creativity for artists across the world for so long and had such a universal impact that many orchestras have played famous tunes from their favourite games (or at least, their conductor’s favourite games). Don’t believe me? YouTube it, baby. As a matter of fact, PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a symphony world tour featuring music exclusively from the video game world. From MGS to the Final Fantasy series to Silent Hill, this show showcases some of the best gaming music out there. Now if only they’d tour their way back to Toronto, I could try and get tickets and not get them because they’re sold out again and cry myself to sleep listening to video game soundtracks at home and drinking copious amounts of beer. Maybe that was too personal.

Other ways artists have celebrated the video game score is by remixing it or doing a cover. There are so many Mario theme covers it’s not even funny. My personal favourite is Vadrum. Write that down. Plenty of indie bands, at least on the Canadian scene, have done covers of their own, varying from famous 16-bit themes to more modern stuff.

All that music and it only costs 40 gold coins. Or 100 rupees.

Basically, although a score won’t save a video game from bad gameplay or a terrible story, it can make the difference between a good gaming experience and the truly epic, memorable games that stay with us for years and years. And by stay with us, I mean stay on our playlists. So let me know what scores and songs are your favourites from the games you’ve played, and any cool covers or remixes that have been done for them.

Personally, it doesn’t get any better for me than when System of a Down sings Link!

Cheers.

System Of A Down Frontman Serj Tankian Releases Solo Album

andPOP Staff — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 14:52:40 +0000

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Serj Tankian, lead singer of System Of A Down, will spread his wings and fly solo on Oct. 23 as he releases his very own album entitled “Elect The Dead.”

The Lebanese-born musician has composed music on the solo album that embraces some of the same hard-hitting System Of A Down style sounds, but also experiments with softer, more acoustic music as well.

Tankian impressively played most of the instruments by himself, but opera vocalist Ani Maldjian makes a contribution to the album, in addition members of System Of A Down, and a few other guest musicians as well.

His first singles to be released will be “Empty Walls” and “The Unthinking Majority.”

System of a Down License Music for ‘Disturbia’

Adam Gonshor — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 03:46:12 +0000

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It’s not easy to convince rockers System of a Down to allow for their music to be used in films.

They had never agreed to license any tracks from their library of music before director D.J. Caruso approached them about using a song in the teen thriller “Disturbia,” out in theatres Friday.

Their criteria? They had to like the movie.

“I had to show them the movie one day at a private screening,” Caruso told andPOP this week. “They saw it, loved it, saw the place for the song and they OK’d it.”

While filming “Disturbia,” Caruso saw a sequence where he said that their Grammy-nominated song “Lonely Day” would be appropriate.

“I listen to a lot of different music and every once in a while there’s a song that seems to fit perfectly in a sequence and that was the song.”

He played the song for Shia LaBeouf, who stars as the troubled teen, and who happens to list System of a Down as his favourite band.

System of a Down also agreed to let the song be used in the trailer for “Disturbia.”

“They really anchored the soundtrack and that’s a big part of the movie. It just worked naturally so I’m glad they saw that it did.”

Read more about “Disturbia” in andPOP’s interview with D.J. Caruso.

SOAD’s Malakian to Launch Side-Project

Eva Lam — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:22:58 +0000

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System of a Down?s Daron Malakian will be tackling a side-project called Scars on Broadway after the band?s summer tour.

“I haven’t decided if I’m going to make it a revolving door of musicians or one solid band,” said the guitarist-songwriter, according to RollingStone.com, “but it all revolves around my writing.”

SOAD released two chart-topping albums in 2005, ?Mezmerize? and ?Hypnotize.? The band is about to film a video for ?Lonely Day? and will tour this summer.

The band plans to take some time off afterwards, and Malakian will use that opportunity to launch his side-project.

?We all want to take a little bit of a break,” he said. “But I don’t want to sit around, so I’m going to make an album.”

Malakian stresses that this does not mean the band is breaking up. “Serj did Serart,” he said, referring to SOAD vocalist Serj Tankian’s side-project in 2003. “We’re always doing things outside of System that come back to System in a positive way.”

KROQ unveils ‘Almost Acoustic X-mas’ Lineup

Eva Lam — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 23:26:08 +0000

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Christmas is coming early to Los Angeles? KROQ this year, with the rock radio station kicking off their 16th annual ?Almost Acoustic Christmas? concert festival on Dec. 10.

The lineup for the first night has been announced and features System of a Down, Nine Inch Nails, Thrice, Fall Out Boy, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold and Rise Against, according to MTV.com.

Night two details will be released later.

Proceeds from the event will benefit several local charities, including Hollygrove, which provides shelter, education and services for abused and neglected children.

Tickets go on sale Nov. 14.

The festival will take place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Calif.

In 1999, KROQ released a compilation album, ?The Best Of KROQ?s Acoustic Christmas,? featuring highlights from past concerts. Last year’s edition included Jimmy Eat World, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, the Shins, Green Day and many others.

System Of A Down, Green Day Lead Kerrang Nominations

Eva Lam — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 16:53:54 +0000

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Nominations for this year’s Kerrang! Awards were unveiled Tuesday, with System Of A Down and Green Day leading the pack with five nods each.

The two bands will go head-to-head in several categories, including best single, best album and best band on the planet, reports the BBC.

The nominations were announced at the Kerrang! Day Of Rock held at the Virgin Megastore in London. Five up-and-coming bands ? Bullet For My Valentine, InMe, Towers Of London, Nine Black Alps and The Mascara Story ? performed and gave autographs throughout the day to kick off the celebrations for the music magazine awards.

U.S. acts dominated the list of nominees, with Foo Fighters and My Chemical Romance, alongside Finnish band HIM, also vying for the best band on the planet title.

Up for best British band are Placebo, Cradle Of Filth, and Welsh acts Feeder, Stereophonics and Funeral For A Friend. FFAF has previously won the best British newcomer award.

The Kerrang! awards, now in their 12th year, celebrate the best in rock music. Seven of the awards are voted for by readers of Kerrang! magazine and users of the website Kerrang.com. Best video is voted for by viewers of Kerrang! TV, and a few special awards are decided by the Kerrang! team.

Public voting ends Aug. 22.

The winners will be announced Aug. 25 at a London ceremony hosted by ex-Stereophonics drummer Stuart Cable and actress-turned-rock-musician Juliette Lewis.

Last year?s Kerrang! Awards saw Metallica winning the best band on the planet title. British band The Darkness emerged victorious as well, winning two awards for the second year running, including best live band.

A new icon award was also introduced last year, with the surviving founding members of ?60s band MC5 receiving the honour.

Here is the full list of nominations for the 2005 Kerrang! Awards:

Best British Newcomer:
Bullet For My Valentine
Fightstar
Towers Of London
Nine Black Alps
THE GA* GA*S

Best International Newcomer:
Trivium
Eighteen Visions
Emanuel
Lordi
Still Remains

Best Single:
Green Day ‘American Idiot’
System Of A Down ‘Bring Your Own Bomb’
My Chemical Romance ‘I’m Not Okay (I Promise)…’
Foo Fighters ‘Best of You’
Nightwish ‘Nemo’

Best Video:
My Chemical Romance ‘Helena’
Green Day ‘Holiday’
System of A Down ‘Bring Your Own Bomb’
Good Charlotte ‘Chronicles of Life and Death’
Weezer ‘Beverly Hills’

Best Album:
Green Day ‘American Idiot’
System Of A Down ‘Mezmerize’
My Chemical Romance ‘Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge’
Foo Fighters ‘In Your Honour’
Trivium ‘Ascendancy’

Best Live Band:
Rammstein
Green Day
System Of A Down
Slipknot
Avenged Sevenfold

Best British Band:
Feeder
Stereophonics
Funeral For A Friend
Placebo
Cradle Of Filth

Best Band On The Planet:
Green Day
My Chemical Romance
System Of A Down
HIM
Foo Fighters