System of a Down
Marmalade

Lately, I have little free time left, between homework, tests, hanging out with friends, and daily visits to this beautiful site. When I can, however, I browse the Internet a bit, maybe searching Google for things I like.
Two weeks ago, I ended up on the Italian fan site of System of a Down, and with curiosity bubbling inside me, I started exploring it from top to bottom. The artwork was definitely well-curated, as were the various sections. When I landed on the lyrics section, I found myself facing not only the lyrics of the five albums but also a collection of b-side lyrics, EPs, and cover songs. I was a bit taken aback, I admit, as I thought I knew everything about SOAD (having purchased all their albums). And yet, bam! a list of thirty unknown songs to me appeared before my astonished eyes, all of Armenian origin.

Trying not to make a big fuss about it, I wrote down all the song titles and five minutes later I was already frantically glued to my trusty Limewire version 4.12.6. Among all the titles, I decided to start with "Marmalade", which seemed the most promising of all. Later on, I would also download "Temper", "Starlit Eyes", and "Snowblind" (which I might review someday), but for now, I decided to focus on the previously mentioned song. So, after about five minutes, the song was already inside Windows Media Player, ready to be listened to. First of all, I noticed that the year of release was 1998, the same as the release of the first self-titled CD. Therefore, I logically expected a song driven to the maximum, with raw and pure riffs, with a melody not easily assimilable (all typical elements of the first CD). And yet, after double-clicking with the left mouse button, the first notes started. Absolutely unfamiliar to "System of a Down". Acid notes.

The song, then, after a brief acid prelude, began: and here I found myself again taken aback, because if this wasn’t an easily assimilable melody, it meant I had forty viruses in my hard drive. The Armenian style was unmistakable, with extremely simple chords, Serj Tankian’s voice sometimes rasping, sometimes croaking, sometimes growling, sometimes whispering, but for the melody, I would associate this song more with "Toxicity" than "System of a Down". For heaven’s sake, nothing of this song (or almost nothing) was bad, yet the surprise had quite influenced me. The chorus was extraordinarily melodic, with Tankian’s voice clinging to the listener’s brain before gently climbing it, the riffs always slightly psychedelic and absolutely irrelevant from the point of view of aggressiveness.

Around one minute and fifty seconds, the solo began, absolutely in old-school Daron Malakian style (the one lacking the little devil...): and once again, one was faced with very high-pitched chords separating much darker parts, with Shavtar Odadjan simply directing the traffic. Incredibly, everything under the sign of the psychedelic. Not marked psychedelic, a slight hint, and also quite singable, strong enough, however, to disorient the SOAD fan’s compass. Definitely extravagant.

Two weeks ago, I would have given this composition a one, maybe two because they were my favorite band. Now I feel able to give a full four, because the song truly deserves to be listened to. Not just one listen, but at least five or six. Obviously, it’s a matter of taste, and someone might not find it up to the band’s potential. But you have to hear it and re-hear it. And then judge, just as I did. Your evaluation will certainly be wiser.

P.S. With great pain, many DeBaser users criticize SOAD with the reasoning of their extreme musical insufficiency in live shows. Well, here is the trial by fire for you. First, download the song from iTunes or a p2p program. Then go to the official YouTube site (www.youtube.com) and type "marmalade" in the search field. Then, in the list of obtained results, click on the one with a background color between yellow and orange. It’s a live performance by System of a Down, recorded in New York in 1998 under the MTV2 cameras. And the song is indeed "Marmalade". Live. After listening to it, ask yourself if it still makes sense to say that SOAD sucks live. But only after comparing the two pieces, though. Salut.