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Against all odds, the completed Mezmerize/Hypnotize project is actually greater than the sum of its parts - in fact it quickly becomes impossible to think of it as anything else than one epic piece of work.
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'Hypnotise' is full on, paranoid, insane, intense, terrifying, and it's telling the truth too... dangerous stuff in other words.
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System of a Down confound and irritate even as they rock.
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Los Angeles Times"Hypnotize" has some of the circus-is-in-town surrealism that links System to the Frank Zappa avant-rock tradition, but overall it's more of a fundamental rock album. [20 Nov 2005]
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Entertainment WeeklyIt's a strange brew that may not be everyone's cup of tea; still, there's no denying these cats have their singular system down pat. [25 Nov 2005, p.100]
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The fact that this angry, avant-garde record, like its predecessor, will probably top the US charts is simply remarkable.
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The New York TimesThe band's best album so far. [21 Nov 2005]
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System Of A Down's music is highly layered and complex, but never succumbs to self-indulgence. Every track is tightly-coiled and urgent because, even while they're trying to broaden your horizons, SOAD are aware of the need to rock hard.
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Q MagazineSystem Of A Down remains the one metal band non-metalheads can enjoy. [Dec 2005, p.156]
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BlenderHypnotize has a little bit of everything: protest, pretension, comedy, brute force, delicacy, compassion, crassness, fury. [Dec 2005, p.143]
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As the less ambitious of the two albums, Hypnotize is at once more aggressive and more restrained.
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Reaffirms the Los Angeles-based band's strong pop sensibility.
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SpinFor what it's worth, Hypnotize is the project's better half. [Dec 2005, p.102]
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BillboardNot that the band's blend of metal; world music; jagged, breakneck rhythms; and non sequitur lyrics don't still connect, but it is nowhere near as dazzling as it was on its first two go-arounds. [26 Nov 2005]
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That exhilarating directness gives Hypnotize a distinct edge over the more mannered theater of Mezmerize.
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By destroying the momentum of the of the new record by tossing in a trio of very weak songs that are the very definition the word "filler", what could have been a landmark hard rock double album becomes merely a good one.
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UncutIn many ways [it] seems in thrall to its predecessor. As a study in System Of A Down's multifarious strengths and occasional weaknesses, however, it's indispensable. [Jan 2006, p.110]
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Alternative PressHypnotize isn't a radioactive pile of suck, but had the Down boys offered some genuine hairpin turns in their aesthetic, there might be more reason to pursue a more meaningful dialogue that transcends the tired notion of "System just being System." [Jan 2006, p.127]
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Even if Hypnotize is full of missteps, its existence as a separate entity is what makes Mezmerize nearly perfect.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 234 out of 260
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Mixed: 15 out of 260
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Negative: 11 out of 260
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martinwMay 11, 2007the best band of its kind!!!
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Nov 15, 2016
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UnclePhilNov 23, 2005