System of a Down

News flash: Critics who liken System to Yes in Mezmerize reviews are idiots. Not only do such comparisons unfairly raise the hopes of Jon Anderson fans who've waited decades to hear fresh lyrics about faeries, but they obscure salient points about the new disc's less obvious attributes -- like, for instance, how funny it is.

Although Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian are as angry as ever, they don't fall into the humorlessness trap that swallows up so many politically charged tunesmiths. "B.Y.O.B." supplements vivid broadsides about warmongering with often nutty vocals and the occasional lalalalala, while "Cigaro" derides the sort of egotism that can lead to genocide via inspired lines such as "My cock can walk right through the door!" The music is just as lively, switching styles at hyper-speed for reasons that have more to do with the joy of creation than the urge to showboat.

In the end, the main thing wrong with Mezmerize, the first half of a double CD (Hypnotize will be out within months), is its 36-minute length. And there's never been a Yes album that was too short.