Mezmerize Explained

Mezmerize
Type:studio
Artist:System of a Down
Cover:Mezmerize-LP.jpg
Recorded:June–November 2004
Studio:The Mansion and Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre:
Length:36:06
Label:
Producer:
Prev Title:Steal This Album!
Prev Year:2002
Next Title:Hypnotize
Next Year:2005

Mezmerize is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band System of a Down, released on May 17, 2005, by American Recordings and Columbia Records. Upon its release, the album received acclaim from critics. The album sold over 450,000 copies in its first week (over 200,000 more than Toxicity did), and immediately topped the Billboard 200.[4]

At a length of just over 36 minutes, Mezmerize is the band's shortest studio album.

Background

Mezmerize and Hypnotize are considered two parts of a double album. Mezmerize features guitarist Daron Malakian sharing most of the vocal work with vocalist Serj Tankian, splitting the vocals at least halfway on many of the tracks.

Malakian wrote "Old School Hollywood" after playing in a celebrity baseball game for charity. The song mentions Tony Danza and Frankie Avalon, who also played in the game.[5]

In "Radio/Video", there are lines referring to two people named Danny and Lisa. Malakian commented on the song to Revolver magazine:

In the same interview, Daron Malakian talked about "Violent Pornography"'s "non-stop disco" lines:

The Japanese version of the album contains alternate mixes of "Soldier Side (Intro)" and "Lost in Hollywood", the former with additional strings and the latter containing slightly different background vocals, while "Cigaro" as a bonus track on the single for "B.Y.O.B." contains a 4-stick hit intro not present in the retail version. The album artwork is done by Vartan Malakian, the father of Daron Malakian.

Reception

Mezmerize was acclaimed by critics, scoring 85 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 19 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The album debuted at number one in at least 12 countries,[6] including the US Billboard 200, with 453,000 copies,[7] and has since been certified double platinum by the RIAA. The hit single "B.Y.O.B." won a Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Track listing

All music written by Daron Malakian, except "Question!", written by Malakian and Serj Tankian.

Personnel

System of a Down

Vocals

Production

Additional personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

2005–2006 weekly chart performance for Mezmerize! Chart (2005–2006)! Peak
position
European Albums (Billboard)[10] 1
Greek Albums (IFPI)1
Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)5
2018 weekly chart performance for Mezmerize! Chart (2018)! Peak
position

Year-end charts

2005 year-end chart performance for Mezmerize!Chart (2005)!Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 40
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 24
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 65
Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 44
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] 65
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 80
European Albums (Billboard)[17] 31
French Albums (SNEP)[18] 85
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 25
Italian Albums (FIMI)[20] 71
Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[21] 62
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[22] 22
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 43
Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 51
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 46
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 108
US Billboard 200[27] 32
Worldwide Albums (IFPI)[28] 19

Notes and References

  1. Top 50 Best Nu-Metal Albums of All-Time. Loudwire. Rae. Lemeshow-Barooshian. January 8, 2019. January 10, 2019. August 18, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190818221233/https://loudwire.com/top-50-nu-metal-albums-of-all-time/. live.
  2. Web site: Nine Years Later, System of a Down Still "Mezmerizes" Me. WRVU. Zach. Blumenfeld. November 18, 2014. January 11, 2019. January 11, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190111121749/http://wrvu.org/nine-years-later-system-of-a-down-still-mezmerizes-me/. live.
  3. Web site: On 'Mezmerize', System of a Down pushed nu-metal to its limits . October 17, 2022 . October 17, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221017184716/https://crackmagazine.net/article/long-reads/mezmerize-system-of-a-down-nu-metal-limits/ . live .
  4. Web site: Harris . Chris . System Of A Down Top Billboard With Mezmerize . MTV News . MTV . 25 May 2005 . January 26, 2023 . January 26, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230126185631/https://www.mtv.com/news/ns6q2p/system-of-a-down-top-billboard-with-mezmerize . dead .
  5. Web site: System of a Down: Doubleheader . Moss . Corey . 2007 . . January 7, 2015 . January 14, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150114092613/http://www.mtv.com/bands/s/system_of_a_down/news_feature_050307/ . dead .
  6. Web site: System Of A Down Mezmerizes Music Fans Worldwide. Columbia. Records. December 22, 2016. August 13, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090813061147/http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=%2Fwww%2Fstory%2F05-25-2005%2F0003689636&EDATE=. live.
  7. Web site: System Of A Down Mezmerizes Music Fans Worldwide. Columbia. Records. December 22, 2016. September 14, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110914221040/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/system-of-a-down-mezmerizes-music-fans-worldwide-54516757.html. live.
  8. Alan Di Perna https://www.guitarworld.com/features/daron-malakian-21st-century-schizoid-man (September 29, 2008)
  9. Fabrizio Pedrotti https://fabriziopedrotti.com/2019/07/18/shavo-odadjian-system-of-a-down-nunca-va-a-morir/ (July 18, 2019)
  10. Eurocharts: Album Sales. Billboard. June 4, 2005. 117. 23. 71. May 4, 2021. March 23, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230323115057/https://books.google.com/books?id=6xQEAAAAMBAJ&q=Billboard+Eurocharts+Mezmerize&pg=PA70. live.
  11. Web site: ARIA Top 100 Albums for 2005. Australian Recording Industry Association. July 2, 2021. July 26, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200726083547/https://www.ariacharts.com.au/annual-charts/2005/albums-chart. live.
  12. Web site: Jahreshitparade Alben 2005. de. austriancharts.at. March 13, 2021. December 6, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121206235543/http://austriancharts.at/year.asp?id=2005&cat=a. live.
  13. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 2005: Albums . Ultratop . nl . March 13, 2021 . April 19, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140419120544/http://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=2005&cat=a . live .
  14. Web site: Jaarovezichten 2005: Alternatieve Albums. Ultratop. nl. May 22, 2014. June 23, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140623144503/http://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=2005&cat=aa. live.
  15. Web site: Rapports Annuels 2005: Albums. Ultratop. fr. March 13, 2021. December 24, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081224160435/http://www.ultratop.be/fr/annual.asp?year=2005&cat=a. live.
  16. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 2005. dutchcharts.nl. nl. June 5, 2021. June 18, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120618115520/http://www.dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=2005&cat=a. live.
  17. Year End European Top 100 Albums Chart 2005 01 - 2005 52. Billboard. https://web.archive.org/web/20060415014752/http://www.billboard.biz/bb/biz/images/pdf/YearEndEuropeanAlbums.pdf. April 15, 2006. June 9, 2021.
  18. Web site: Tops de l'Année - Top Albums 2005 . . fr . March 13, 2021 . July 15, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200715105250/https://snepmusique.com/les-tops/le-top-de-lannee/top-albums-annee/?annee=2005 . live .
  19. Web site: Top 100 Album Jahrescharts - 2005. Offizielle Deutsche Charts. de. March 13, 2021. April 12, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170412061606/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-2005/. live.
  20. Web site: Classifica annuale 2005 (dal 03.01.2005 al 01.01.2006) – Album & Compilation. Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. July 5, 2021. March 18, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200318054616/https://www.fimi.it/top-of-the-music/classifiche.kl#/charts/11/2005/0. live.
  21. Web site: Los Más Vendidos 2005 . . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20100215130547/http://www.amprofon.com.mx/Archivos/PDF/top_anual/Top_100_Album_2005.pdf. February 15, 2010 . dead .
  22. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 2005. The Official NZ Music Charts. March 13, 2021. December 16, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141216140236/http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/albums?chart=2086. live.
  23. Web site: Årslista Album – År 2005. Sverigetopplistan. sv. March 13, 2021. October 13, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201013061429/https://www.sverigetopplistan.se/chart/83?dspy=2005&dspp=1. live.
  24. Web site: Årslista Album (inkl samlingar), 2005. Sverigetopplistan. sv. March 13, 2021. January 22, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210122002339/https://www.sverigetopplistan.se/chart/42?dspy=2005&dspp=1. live.
  25. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2005 . de . hitparade.ch . March 13, 2021 . November 10, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211110052100/https://hitparade.ch/charts/jahreshitparade/2005/alben . live .
  26. Web site: The Official UK Albums Chart - Year-End 2005. UKchartsplus.co.uk. Official Charts Company. 5. May 31, 2021. February 22, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120222101152/http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/ChartsPlusYE2005.pdf. live.
  27. Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 2005. Billboard. March 13, 2021. December 27, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141227214858/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2005/top-billboard-200-albums. live.
  28. Web site: Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2005. IFPI. https://web.archive.org/web/20081117003309/http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/top50-2005.pdf. November 17, 2008.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mezmerize".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.