"Tentative" 4.Reception Professional ratings Aggregate scores
Call it post-modern metallic art rock, if you will, and you wouldn't be too far off the mark. Lyrically, Hypnotize brings more of the same old SOAD modus operandi, yet musically this is a much more cohesive album than Mesmerize was, with the songs flowing together like a well-defined concept album. This time around they guys go about touching upon the continued strife in the Middle East, drawing up memories of Tiananmen Square, and generally requesting that all who choose to listen, listen with open ears. Naturally the lyrical content strewn throughout the album's 12 songs is as pointed and political as all SOAD albums have been to date. Zappa, both in their intricate musicianship and their use of comedy to deliver socio-political commentary. In fact this track finally exposes the band's heavy debt to Mr. Then there's "Vicinity Of Obscenity," which must be listened to in order to be believed. Just listen to the aforementioned "U-Fig" which "you and me should go outside and beat 'em, beat 'em, beat 'em, beat 'em, beat 'em, beat 'em/all pathetic flag waving ignorant geeks/and we'll eat 'em, eat 'em, eat 'em, eat 'em, eat 'em, eat 'em…" The guys dip into a Pink Floyd vibe, delivering dark, mildly psychedelic elements on "Holy Mountains." Naturally, given their proclivity to switch things up at a moment's notice, the song quickly morphs into sweltering passion mixed with throat charring rage. How else can you explain the decidedly classic Motley Crue guitar crunch of "Tentative"? Or the atonal riffing on "U-Fig"? Lyrically, the band is alternately pointed and cryptic, dishing up somewhat leftist commentary amidst sing-a-long choruses that resonate with a surface quality of parody that masks the deeper intentions. It's somewhat hard to swallow, but you gotta give it up to the guys for challenging any pre-formed conceptions their fans (or new listeners) might have. Yet just when you've settled into their Mussorgsky like use of repetitive motifs, they burst out with "Stealing Society," which serves up some bizarre '50s rockabilly/vintage rock essence in the midst of all the clamor.
Case in point, the title track, borrows pieces of vocal inflection from the previous three tracks, but takes it all up a notch, injecting a sweet guitar break into the middle for added emphasis. But here it all seems to come to a head, as the songs melt into one another and the two reprise familiar melodies from track to track and work on a more level-headed sense of vocal harmony than every before. Their vocal workouts have always ridden the fine line between impassioned seriousness and vaudevillian schmaltz, drawing upon the rich traditions of confliction that have always resided at the heart of metal. "Kill Rock 'N Roll" goes for the gut, but also includes that trademarked SOAD sense of humor and over-the-top flair, most notably in the vocals, especially when dueling frontmen Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian dip into mock crooning territory. In fact the two songs sound like one long number just broken into two sections (it's a lot like the structural and artistic conceit behind the two albums). This blends seamlessly into "Dreaming," which again utilizes the guitar driven skirl and makes use of the band's operatically inclined vocal flair. To their credit, SOAD kick off the album with bombastic promise in the form of "Attack," a skirling blitzkrieg of razor blade guitars, hyper generated rhythms that part way to reveal almost serene tandem vocal melodiousness before tacking off into a musical rant that lives up to the title.
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