Scars on Broadway (album)
| Scars on Broadway | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Studio album by Scars on Broadway | ||
| Released | July 29, 2008 | |
| Recorded |
2007-2008 Sunset Sound Studios Los Angeles, CA Steakhouse Studio North Hollywood, CA | |
| Genre | Alternative metal, alternative rock, experimental rock | |
| Length | 45:04 | |
| Label | Interscope | |
| Producer | Daron Malakian | |
| Singles from Scars on Broadway | ||
|
||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (73%)[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AbsolutePunk | (66%)[3] |
| Allmusic |    [4] |
| The Aquarian Weekly | (C-)[5] |
| Kerrang! | |
| Rock Sound | |
| Rolling Stone | |
Scars on Broadway is the first and to date only studio album by Scars on Broadway, a band consisting of System of a Down members Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan. The album contains fifteen tracks, all written by Malakian.
The album opened at #17 on the Billboard 200 with 24,000 copies.[6]
As of April 2010, the album has sold 83,000 copies in the US.[7]
Album
Writing and recording process
On what direction his album will take, Malakian states:
"It will probably be something very heavy mixed in with traditional Armenian and thrash, death, doom, black and dark metal influences. When, or even if, the music comes out, it will still be structured, just like System of a Down's music is."
This electronic idea was demonstrated in all 2005 concerts in which Malakian, instead of merely singing the chorus to the song "Sugar" or "War?," as well as "Old School Hollywood" from Mezmerize, distorted his voice electronically with a Vocoder. Daron, in a recent interview, has said that the sound will be influenced by classic rock such as David Bowie, Brian Eno, Yes, Neil Young, and Roxy Music. Malakian has shifted his songwriting away from SOAD's frazzled metal to more song-based work. "I don't feel we're the mosh-pit band," says Malakian. "That's just where I'm comfortable as a writer right now."
Scars on Broadway began recording on September 27, 2007. For the recording of their debut album, the two will be "accompanied by some great musicians."[8] On December 6, 2007, the drum tracks for the album had been finished and the band moved into the next stage of recording.[9] On July 25, the band released a teaser for the album featuring the song "Babylon"[10]
The band has released "They Say" as their first airplay single. It was accompanied by a video that was shot and released in late June.[11]
The song "Enemy" contains a part of the System of a Down song unofficially referred to as "Drugs", a live-only song that Daron would often play in between songs.
Track listing
All tracks written by Daron Malakian.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Serious" | 2:08 |
| 2. | "Funny" | 2:55 |
| 3. | "Exploding/Reloading" | 2:15 |
| 4. | "Stoner Hate" | 2:00 |
| 5. | "Insane" | 3:07 |
| 6. | "World Long Gone" | 3:16 |
| 7. | "Kill Each Other/Live Forever" | 3:05 |
| 8. | "Babylon" | 3:56 |
| 9. | "Chemicals" | 3:13 |
| 10. | "Enemy" | 3:03 |
| 11. | "Universe" | 4:15 |
| 12. | "3005" | 2:54 |
| 13. | "Cute Machines" | 3:03 |
| 14. | "Whoring Streets" | 3:01 |
| 15. | "They Say" | 2:48 |
| Total length: | 45:04 | |
| Japanese Edition | ||
|---|---|---|
| Track listing | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
| 16. | "Hungry Ghost" | 3:29 |
| Total length: | 48:44 | |
| iTunes Edition | ||
|---|---|---|
| Track listing | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
| 16. | "Scars on Broadway" (Instrumental) | 2:50 |
| 17. | "They Say" (Music Video / Pre-Order Only) | 2:48 |
| Total length: | 50:42 | |
| Best Buy Bonus DVD / UK Edition | ||
|---|---|---|
| Track listing | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "The Making of "They Say" (video) | 3:10 |
| 2. | "They Say" (music video) | 2:54 |
| Total length: | 51:08 | |
Charts
| Charts (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Albums Chart | 43 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 54 |
| German Albums Chart | 23 |
| UK Albums Chart | 41 |
| Billboard 200 | 17 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 22 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 14 |
| French Albums Chart | 88 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 83 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 26 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 58 |
Personnel
Scars on Broadway is:
- Daron Malakian — vocals, guitars, bass guitars, keyboards/organs/mellotrons
- John Dolmayan — drums
- Produced by: Daron Malakian
- Engineered by: Dave Schiffman
- Additional Engineering and Editing by: John Silas Cranfield
- Recorded @ Sunset Sound Studios: North Hollywood, California
- Assisted by: Clifton Allen
- Additional Recording @ Steakhouse Studio: North Hollywood
- Mixed by: Ryan Williams @ Pulse Recording: Los Angeles, California
- Mastered by: Eddy Schreyer @ Oasis Mastering: Burbank, California
- Worldwide Representation: Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group
- Legal Representation: Jon Blaufarb
- Business Management: David Weise & Jacob Jackel for David Weise & Associates, Inc.
- A&R for Interscope: Martin Kierszenbaum and Ben Gordon
- Additional Performances by: Franky Perez and Danny Shamoun
- Artwork by Vartan Malakian
- Cover and Inlay Art by Sandra Cand
- Package Design by Brandy Flower
References
- ↑ They Say Digital release on May 27 2008 :: SOADFans :: The Official UnOfficial System Of a Down Site!
- ↑ "Scars on Broadway". Metacritic.
- ↑ "Scars on Broadway - Scars on Broadway - Album Review". AbsolutePunk.
- ↑ "Scars on Broadway - Scars on Broadway". Allmusic.
- ↑ "Scars On Broadway: Scars On Broadway". The Aquarian Weekly.
- ↑ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - SCARS ON BROADWAY's Debut Lands In Billboard's Top 20". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
- ↑ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - SCARS ON BROADWAY Announces Comeback Show". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
- ↑ Scars on Broadway website
- ↑ Scars on Broadway (System of a Down) Announce Live Debut
- ↑ YouTube - Scars On Broadway - Babylon Album Teaser
- ↑ Scars on Broadway to release a new single July 8 :: SOADFans :: The Official UnOfficial System Of a Down Site!