Imperfect Harmonies

Imperfect Harmonies
Studio album by Serj Tankian
Released September 21, 2010 (2010-09-21)
Genre Art rock, symphonic rock, experimental
Length 44:09
Label Reprise, Serjical Strike
Producer Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian chronology
Elect the Dead Symphony
(2010)		 Imperfect Harmonies
(2010)		 Imperfect Remixes
(2011)
Singles from Imperfect Harmonies
  1. "Left of Center"
    Released: June 29, 2010
  2. "Reconstructive Demonstrations"
    Released: November 12, 2010

Imperfect Harmonies is the second studio album by Armenian-American singer Serj Tankian. The album was released on September 21, 2010 through Reprise Records and Serjical Strike Records.

Release and promotion

Imperfect Harmonies was originally scheduled to be released on September 7, 2010,[1] but was later pushed back two weeks to September 21.[2] The paper manufacturing plant that Tankian selected to print the album's booklet ran out of tree-free paper and needed more time to obtain more of the material. Tankian is environmentally conscious and researched this type of paper on his own. Other releases by Tankian that use tree-free paper include his first solo effort Elect the Dead, and Hypnotize and Mezmerize, the last two releases by his band System of a Down.[3]

The first song released off of Imperfect Harmonies was "Borders Are...". The song was released in June 2010 as a free download and also as an online lyric video.[4] Serj Tankian had no involvement with the video. It was created by George Tonikian as a promotional tool while Tankian was on tour.[5] This was followed by the album's first official single "Left of Center." The song was released as a single in July 2010[6] and was later released as a music video in August 2010.[2] These first two songs released from Imperfect Harmonies were described by Tankian as being "the most blatantly political songs on the record. Everything is a bit more philosophical and... more abstract.".[1] Later he released "Disowned inc." on his web page, and also created a game to discover pieces of the song.

The album opened at #35 on the Billboard 200 with 10,200 copies.[7]

Musical direction

In 2009, Tankian collaborated with New Zealand's Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra to perform a symphonic version of Elect the Dead. This pairing resulted in the live album Elect the Dead Symphony released in 2010.[8] The experimentation of mixing orchestra music with rock music inspired Tankian to explore this blend further. In addition to orchestral music, Imperfect Harmonies takes influences from jazz and electronica.[8]

Touring

A world tour in support of the album began August 7 in Pori.[9] Most shows featured The F.C.C. backed by eight classical players chosen from the city the performance took place in. The Lowlands Festival performance was a notable exception to this rule, where the band was backed by the Metropole Orchestra.[10] As with previous tours, only material from Tankian's solo career was played. Beatus, Reconstructive Demonstrations and Wings of Summer were the only songs from the new album that were never performed.[11]

On September 7 the Imperfect Harmonies tour was postponed until after the release of the album,[12] although the tour never resumed.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(67%)[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[14]
Alternative Press[15]
The A.V. Club(B)[16]
NME[17]
PopMatters[18]
Q
Revolver
Rock Sound[19]
Spin[20]
Sputnikmusic[21]

The album divided critics, some of which praised Tankian's new direction,[14][15] while others criticised it for being too much of a departure.[19][20] Overall, the album received generally favourable reviews,[13] although first week sales figures were notably lower than Elect the Dead.[7][22]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Serj Tankian; all music composed by Serj Tankian.

UK release
No. Title Length
1. "Disowned Inc."   4:07
2. "Borders Are..."   4:38
3. "Deserving?"   4:05
4. "Beatus"   4:41
5. "Reconstructive Demonstrations"   5:04
6. "Electron"   3:46
7. "Gate 21"   2:43
8. "Yes, It's Genocide"   3:15
9. "Peace Be Revenged"   3:59
10. "Left of Center"   3:06
11. "Wings of Summer" (featuring Shana Halligan from Bitter:Sweet) 4:45
Total length:
 44:09

Personnel

All songs written, performed, produced, engineered and orchestrated by Serj Tankian.

Chart positions

Chart (2010) Peak
The Billboard 200
35
Top Canadian Albums [29]
21
Czech Republic's Top 50[30]
17
German Albums Chart[31]
18
European Top 100 Albums[32] 35
Finland Albums Top 40[33]
14
French Albums Top 200[34]
29
Italian Albums Top 100[35]
23
Japan Album Charts[36] 155
Polish Albums Chart[37] 24
Russian Albums Chart[38]
23
UK Albums Chart[39]
86

References

  1. 1 2 Graff, Gary (July 19, 2010). "Serj Tankian Mixes It Up on 'Imperfect Harmonies' Album". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Serj Tankian: 'Left Of Center' Video Released". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner. August 23, 2010. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  3. ↑ Sciarretto, Amy (September 9, 2010). "Serj Tankian Uses Tree-Free Paper for 'Imperfect Harmonies' Booklet". Noisecreep. AOL Music. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  4. ↑ Blackout, Cody (July 30, 2010). "New Music: Serj Tankian 'Borders Are'". KROQ-FM. CBS Radio. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  5. ↑ Neilstein, Vince (July 21, 2010). "Serj Tankian: The MetalSucks Interview". MetalSucks. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  6. ↑ Toor, Amar (July 1, 2010). "Serj Tankian, 'Left of Center' -- New Song". AOL Radio. AOL. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  7. 1 2 "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - SERJ TANKIAN's 'Imperfect Harmonies' Cracks U.S. Top 40". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  8. 1 2 Peters, Mitchell (August 20, 2010). "System of a Down's Serj Tankian Stays Busy With 'Harmonies'". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  9. ↑ Medrano, Eira (2010-07-04). "Imperfect Harmonies World Tour Kicks Off August 7 At The Sonisphere Festival | Serj Tankian's Official Website. Get up to date news, tour dates, merchandise and more". Serjtankian.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  10. ↑ "Interview with Solo Artist and System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian « Interviews «". Puregrainaudio.com. 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  11. ↑ "Serj Tankian Album Statistics: 2010". setlist.fm. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  12. ↑ "Imperfect Harmonies Tour Postponed | Serj Tankian's Official Website. Get up to date news, tour dates, merchandise and more". Serjtankian.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  13. 1 2 "Imperfect Harmonies". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  14. 1 2 Jurek, Thom (2010-09-20). "Imperfect Harmonies - Serj Tankian : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  15. 1 2 "Serj Tankian - Imperfect Harmonies". Alternative Press. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  16. ↑ "Serj Tankian: Imperfect Harmonies". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  17. ↑ "Album Reviews - Album Review: Serj Tankian - Imperfect Harmonies (Serjical Strike)". NME. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  18. ↑ Colgan, Chris (October 7, 2010). "Serj Tankian: Imperfect Harmonies". PopMatters. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  19. 1 2 "Serj Tankian - Imperfect Harmonies". Rock Sound. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  20. 1 2 "Serj Tankian, 'Imperfect Harmonies' (Serjical Strike/Reprise)". Spin.
  21. ↑ "Serj Tankian - Imperfect harmonies (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  22. ↑ "Blabbermouth.Net - Serj Tankian, Rob Zombie, Soilwork, Exodus, Skindred First-Week Sales Revealed". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  23. ↑ "Imperfect Harmonies Serj Tankian [CD]". Cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  24. 1 2 "Serj Tankian Imperfect Harmonies USA Promo TRIPLE CD (520844)". Eil.com. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  25. ↑ "Imperfect Harmonies (Deluxe): Serj Tankian: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  26. ↑ iTunes. "Imperfect Harmonies (Deluxe Version)". Retrieved September 12, 2010.
  27. ↑ "Serj Tankian - Serj Tankian Home page". Serj Tankian. Archived from the original on 2010-10-24. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  28. ↑ "Imperfect Harmonies (Best Buy Exclusive) - CD - Tankian,Serj". Bestbuy.com. 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  29. ↑ "CANOE - JAM! Music SoundScan Charts". Jam.canoe.ca. 2012-02-16. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  30. ↑ all: Economia, a.s. (2012-02-17). "Média, marketingová komunikace a kreativita v reklamě". MaM.iHNed.cz. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  31. ↑ ":: MTV | Album Top 50 KW 8 | charts". Mtv.de. 2011-09-22. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  32. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20101118121836/http://www.billboard.com/. Archived from the original on November 18, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  33. ↑ "Soittolista | YLEX | yle.fi". YLEX. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  34. ↑ "Disque en France". Disque en France. Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  35. ↑ "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Classifiche". Fimi.it. 2011-07-22. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  36. ↑ "サージ・タンキアンのCDアルバムランキング、サージ・タンキアンのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  37. ↑ "OLiS: sales for the period 27.09.2010 - 03.10.2010". OLiS. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  38. ↑ "Музыка: Бабурями по иконоСтасу". Lenta.ru. 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  39. ↑ "Official UK Albums Top 100 - 25th February 2012 | The UK Charts | Top 40 | Official Charts Company". Theofficialcharts.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
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