An exhilarating, thoughtful, and beautifully written memoir by musician, songwriter, and lead singer-lyricist of Grammy award-winning metal band, System Of A Down, Serj Tankian.* * Serj Tankian will be the first to admit that his band, System Of A Down, was “unlikely a chart-topper as had ever existed in modern music history: a band of Armenian-Americans playing a practically unclassifiable clash of wildly aggressive metal riffs, unconventional tempo-twisting rhythms, and Armenian folk melodies, with me alternately growling, screaming, and crooning lyrics that could pivot from avant-garde silliness to raging socio-political rants in the space of a single line.” After all, as Serj concedes, “it's not easy listening.” * Even so, there's no doubt that System's music had struck a chord with millions of listeners across the globe ever since they burst on the scene in the mid-1990s. With nearly 40 million album sales, three albums topping the Billboard charts, and a devoted legion of fans, the band dominated the alt-rock and metal scenes just as the world hurtled into a new millennium, redefining the very idea of what rockstars could and couldn't talk about, could and couldn't do, could and couldn't represent.* * In*DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM,*Serj presents readers with a memoir that is far more than just a*rock 'n' roll fable. It's an immigrant's tale, it's an activist's awakening, and it's a spiritual journey from darkness toward light. And all of this comes down to the fact that Serj himself has had the chance to live an extraordinary life-thanks to a combination of luck, circumstance, struggle, talent, and spiritual awakening. Born to Armenian parents in Beirut, Serj grows up hearing bombs drop outside his childhood home during the country's civil war, before moving to Los Angeles at the age of seven. As a young man, he is immersed in the SoCal community of “Little Armenia,” learning more and more about the brutal genocide faced by his ancestors while helping his parents adapt to the constraints and contradictions of the American Dream. Then, during a pivotal drive home from an LSAT class, Serj decides to turn away from a promising future in business and law to make music instead-a decision that leads him to touring five continents as the lead singer of a hugely popular rock band, hitting number #1 on the Billboard album charts the morning of 9/11, and then having the hit single from the same album banned from radio two days later. In the years that follow, his uniquely singular story continues, as he*evades glass bottles hurled at a cancelled show by angry Slayer fans, teams up with Tom Morello to push social justice causes on unsuspecting metalheads, argues with LAPD officers over the best way to quell rioting fans, and defines new sounds and singing tactics with Rick Rubin.* * Braiding together Serj's thought-provoking insight with heartfelt and poetic prose,*DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM retraces*Serj's remarkable and unlikely journey, and explores what it's taught him-about music, about art, about activism, and about himself. It's an unforgettable ride that will leave you breathless-and an absolute delight for new fans and old ones alike.
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Down with the System: A Memoir (of Sorts)
An exhilarating, thoughtful, and beautifully written memoir by musician, songwriter, and lead singer-lyricist of Grammy award-winning metal band, System Of A Down, Serj Tankian.* * Serj Tankian will be the first to admit that his band, System Of A Down, was “unlikely a chart-topper as had ever existed in modern music history: a band of Armenian-Americans playing a practically unclassifiable clash of wildly aggressive metal riffs, unconventional tempo-twisting rhythms, and Armenian folk melodies, with me alternately growling, screaming, and crooning lyrics that could pivot from avant-garde silliness to raging socio-political rants in the space of a single line.” After all, as Serj concedes, “it's not easy listening.” * Even so, there's no doubt that System's music had struck a chord with millions of listeners across the globe ever since they burst on the scene in the mid-1990s. With nearly 40 million album sales, three albums topping the Billboard charts, and a devoted legion of fans, the band dominated the alt-rock and metal scenes just as the world hurtled into a new millennium, redefining the very idea of what rockstars could and couldn't talk about, could and couldn't do, could and couldn't represent.* * In*DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM,*Serj presents readers with a memoir that is far more than just a*rock 'n' roll fable. It's an immigrant's tale, it's an activist's awakening, and it's a spiritual journey from darkness toward light. And all of this comes down to the fact that Serj himself has had the chance to live an extraordinary life-thanks to a combination of luck, circumstance, struggle, talent, and spiritual awakening. Born to Armenian parents in Beirut, Serj grows up hearing bombs drop outside his childhood home during the country's civil war, before moving to Los Angeles at the age of seven. As a young man, he is immersed in the SoCal community of “Little Armenia,” learning more and more about the brutal genocide faced by his ancestors while helping his parents adapt to the constraints and contradictions of the American Dream. Then, during a pivotal drive home from an LSAT class, Serj decides to turn away from a promising future in business and law to make music instead-a decision that leads him to touring five continents as the lead singer of a hugely popular rock band, hitting number #1 on the Billboard album charts the morning of 9/11, and then having the hit single from the same album banned from radio two days later. In the years that follow, his uniquely singular story continues, as he*evades glass bottles hurled at a cancelled show by angry Slayer fans, teams up with Tom Morello to push social justice causes on unsuspecting metalheads, argues with LAPD officers over the best way to quell rioting fans, and defines new sounds and singing tactics with Rick Rubin.* * Braiding together Serj's thought-provoking insight with heartfelt and poetic prose,*DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM retraces*Serj's remarkable and unlikely journey, and explores what it's taught him-about music, about art, about activism, and about himself. It's an unforgettable ride that will leave you breathless-and an absolute delight for new fans and old ones alike.
An exhilarating, thoughtful, and beautifully written memoir by musician, songwriter, and lead singer-lyricist of Grammy award-winning metal band, System Of A Down, Serj Tankian.* * Serj Tankian will be the first to admit that his band, System Of A Down, was “unlikely a chart-topper as had ever existed in modern music history: a band of Armenian-Americans playing a practically unclassifiable clash of wildly aggressive metal riffs, unconventional tempo-twisting rhythms, and Armenian folk melodies, with me alternately growling, screaming, and crooning lyrics that could pivot from avant-garde silliness to raging socio-political rants in the space of a single line.” After all, as Serj concedes, “it's not easy listening.” * Even so, there's no doubt that System's music had struck a chord with millions of listeners across the globe ever since they burst on the scene in the mid-1990s. With nearly 40 million album sales, three albums topping the Billboard charts, and a devoted legion of fans, the band dominated the alt-rock and metal scenes just as the world hurtled into a new millennium, redefining the very idea of what rockstars could and couldn't talk about, could and couldn't do, could and couldn't represent.* * In*DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM,*Serj presents readers with a memoir that is far more than just a*rock 'n' roll fable. It's an immigrant's tale, it's an activist's awakening, and it's a spiritual journey from darkness toward light. And all of this comes down to the fact that Serj himself has had the chance to live an extraordinary life-thanks to a combination of luck, circumstance, struggle, talent, and spiritual awakening. Born to Armenian parents in Beirut, Serj grows up hearing bombs drop outside his childhood home during the country's civil war, before moving to Los Angeles at the age of seven. As a young man, he is immersed in the SoCal community of “Little Armenia,” learning more and more about the brutal genocide faced by his ancestors while helping his parents adapt to the constraints and contradictions of the American Dream. Then, during a pivotal drive home from an LSAT class, Serj decides to turn away from a promising future in business and law to make music instead-a decision that leads him to touring five continents as the lead singer of a hugely popular rock band, hitting number #1 on the Billboard album charts the morning of 9/11, and then having the hit single from the same album banned from radio two days later. In the years that follow, his uniquely singular story continues, as he*evades glass bottles hurled at a cancelled show by angry Slayer fans, teams up with Tom Morello to push social justice causes on unsuspecting metalheads, argues with LAPD officers over the best way to quell rioting fans, and defines new sounds and singing tactics with Rick Rubin.* * Braiding together Serj's thought-provoking insight with heartfelt and poetic prose,*DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM retraces*Serj's remarkable and unlikely journey, and explores what it's taught him-about music, about art, about activism, and about himself. It's an unforgettable ride that will leave you breathless-and an absolute delight for new fans and old ones alike.
System of a Down lead singer Tankian’s forthright debut recounts his intertwined evolutions as an activist and a musician. The grandson of Armenian genocide survivors, Tankian grew up in Lebanon in the late 1960s and early ’70s before his family fled the Lebanese Civil War for California in 1974. Both of those historical traumas shaped the artist and his progressive, antiwar, anti-genocide worldview. Inspired to “change the world around me with art,” Tankian imbued his music with commentary on the Armenian genocide, police brutality, and U.S. foreign policy. He chronicles the evolution of System of a Down from early jam sessions with his bandmates that “coalesced into... big, bruising, angry shards of progressive metal,” to the group’s breakout 2001 album Toxicity, whose release was complicated by Tankian’s remarks decrying U.S. foreign policy following the 9/11 terror attacks. Asserting that fame and fortune were “never my motivation,” Tankian is at his most impassioned and eloquent when discussing his activism and the complicated feelings about his Armenian roots that fuel it—“If you’re chased out of your homeland, a part of you is always trying to get back there, even generations later,” he muses. Heavy metal fans will welcome this expansive look at one of the genre’s key figures. (May)
From the Publisher
**The *INSTANT* NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** *USA TODAY Bestseller* *SUNDAY TIMES Bestseller**
“Serj Tankian is a demonic/angelic visionary and his new memoir-festo is pure fire. This book is searing, inspiring, and entertaining as hell.”—Rainn Wilson
"My great friend, Serj Tankian, is not just an influential and groundbreaking musician and singer, but he also has a deep poetic soul which shines through in his songs, his politics, and his personal life. From his thunderous career with System Of A Down to his relentless advocacy for human rights, this book reveals the life of a true artist of the people."—Tom Morello
“Serj has a way with words. Just listen to System Of A Down to find out. Now we get to experience a whole book of his words.”—Rick Rubin
"A very satisfying and potent account of Serj Tankian's wild journey from Beirut to California to Yerevan. It's a journal recounting the crazy birth of System Of A Down, but it's also a manifesto about politics and art. It's cool and it's hot, just like System. Ultimately, it's the story of one man's melding of political fire, creative juices, and spirituality. I loved living inside Serj's head!"—Eric Bogosian
“A passionate rock artist paying more than just lip service to politics.”—Kirkus
"Tankian is at his most impassioned and eloquent when discussing his activism and the complicated feelings about his Armenian roots that fuel it... Heavy metal fans will welcome this expansive look at one of the genre’s key figures."—Publishers Weekly
"...[A] complicated but riveting narrative of heavy metal, global relations, and the intergenerational trauma of a man whose ancestral culture was all but decimated during the Armenian Genocide of 1915... While the book is filled with historical context... it also reveals an incredibly thorough look inside the inner-workings of one of the most popular metal bands of the 21st century."—Forbes
"An in-depth look at Tankian’s life both inside and out of the band... For anyone who picks up this book and is unfamiliar with System of a Down or Armenia, you will still be entertained, as there are moments that can make you laugh, cry, or anything else 'between the sacred silence and sleep.'"—Melodic Magazine
Library Journal
04/26/2024
Grammy Award-winning group System of a Down, with their aggressive, chaotic, heavy metal sound, stood out from their musical peers in the late 1990s and 2000s. Lead singer Tankian tells his distinctive story in this memoir. With influences as eclectic as Jane's Addiction, Frank Zappa, and traditional Armenian folk music, the band consisted of four American musicians with Armenian heritage. Tankian was born in Lebanon, and he shares with readers that his formative years as an immigrant came with stresses and tragedies. System of a Down brought social and cultural concerns to the forefront, particularly those related to the Armenian diaspora, and also brought a thrilling musical experience to their audiences. Tankian is also an activist, painter, poet, and filmmaker who has a good feel for narrative, so his portrayal of his pre-rock star years is just as compelling as his life in fame. In fact, his rock star story doesn't show up until later in the book than readers might expect. VERDICT Fans of the latter-era metal scene will gain a lot from this music memoir. It's also ideal for readers involved in political and social activism.—Brett Rohlwing