I didn't know what to expect, I simply saw Serj on the cover, realized this is a book written by him and knew i needed it asap.
This was politically heavy, but like Serj says, we can't talk about him as an individual without considering the world that shaped him. I learned so much about the history of Armenia and Turkey and am immensely grateful to Serj and his efforts to shed light on the past and get geopolitical heads to acknowledge the crimes against humanity they've committed or abetted.
We talk about music too of course. Serj even sings a short bit in the audiobook. Did I mention he narrated his book himself?

Read this if you're a fan and wanna get to know him. Read this if you hate him and want to understand him. Read this if you could use a well articulated and easily comprehensible crash course on the Armenian genocide. Read this if you're nosey and wanna know why the band went on hiatus, kinda fell apart and still struggle to truly rekindle their initial flame. Read this if you have no idea who this man is but you want anecdotal evidence on the benefits of mediation.

Serj Tankian is just too cool. His memoir is his story, the story of System, the story of his family, the story of Armenia. It's packed full of wisdom and politics—and a dash of humor to make it all go down a bit easier.

So I'll admit it, I'm not a System of a Down fan - but my husband is and through him I've learned about Serj (my husband is of Armenian heritage so that was another reason why I wanted to listen to this book).

While there is a heated debate between people calling for celebrities to keep their personal opinions to themselves... and for them to use their public platforms as a way to shine a light on the injustices of the world, I really enjoyed hearing Serj talk about finding the balance between being an artist and being an activist. For the record - I think that as long as you have done your homework and educated yourself on a cause, that it is your humanitarian duty to use your platform to speak for those who can't.

Serj has lived an interesting life and I really appreciate the energy and care he has put towards speaking out on the Armenian genocide, the climate crisis, what happened after 9/11, among other world events. Down with the System is much more about Serj than it is about the band (though naturally they feature heavily in this memoir), so for me that worked well. For readers looking for a down and dirty behind the scene tell all about the band... this might not be the book for you.

Overall this was an interesting read and I'm glad I took the time to learn more about Serj and about the band.

I appreciate that Serj narrates the audiobook for this so readers get to hear his story through his own voice. And there's a bit where he sings a few refrains from a song so that was a bonus.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Hachette Books in exchange for an honest review.

Came for SOAD’s story, stayed for Serj Tankian’s story-telling. Down with the System is an insightful, poetic and vulnerable memoir (of sorts). The themes of ethnicity, social injustice and capitalism are well-explored throughout, highlighting the activist efforts of Serj Tankian. Like Serj himself, this memoir is “interesting, multi-layered and diverse.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the e-ARC.

I loved this audiobook! it was a great listen and I appreciated learning more about system of a down.

I’m a huge System of A Down fan and have been looking forward to reading Serj’s memoir since I first found out it was happening. I loved seeing the behind the scenes bits about the band and his musical process. I knew he was Armenian and a lot of his music was influenced by the Armenian genocide, but I didn’t actually know much about the genocide prior to reading this book. It was heartbreaking and I learned a lot. Definitely recommend this book for fans of the band and anyone who wants to learn more about the topic.

I received a copy of this audiobook via NetGalley (thank you Hachette Audio). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

my rating: 3.5

I enjoyed this book. And I am extremely pleased that I was able to listen to the audiobook, narrated by Serj himself.

This book is probably not what you think it is. Sure, there is plenty of behind the scenes info about System of a Down (SOAD)—group dynamics, specific song origins, reflections of life on the road, music as art--but that makes up a relatively small portion of the page count. At the heart of it, Down with the System is a book about activism and each individual's responsibilities to combat injustice. A large portion of this book is about the Armenian genocide and the resulting generational trauma so don't go into this one expecting a rompy tell-all from the singer of your favorite metal band in the early aughts.

Reading this book left me feeling better connected to the music I grew up with and more importantly helped me to explore my own relationship with politics and activism (what I've come to expect from SOAD in general).

A must-read for SOAD/Serj Tankian fans, metalheads in general, and those who want to know more about the music industry. Also a decent choice for people that want to learn more about Armenian history or read about personal experiences with the Armenian genocide.

What a great memoir! The perfect amount of entertainment mixed with serious topics! As a System of a Down fan, I didn’t know most of this information. I love how the audiobook is narrated by Serj himself, adds so much to hear his emotions in certain places!

as a member of the armenian diaspora, i was really intrigued to read this because of serj's activism and pride in being armenian. i often felt growing up that i was not armenian enough because i was born in america, though his story about his grandfather's experience in armenia made me feel very connected with my ancestors. some of the messages really hit home for me and i've always felt this *need* for connection, for belonging. so i felt very reaffirmed by this memoir.

to be honest, i haven't listened to a lot of system of a down! i've listened to some but i'm not their biggest fan. however i enjoyed reading about their dynamics, their start, and the armenian activism interwoven throughout their musical journey. this memoir provided a lot of background on song writing, tour life, and tankian's other musical endeavors.

whether you're a fan, a member of the diaspora, or looking for an interesting memoir from a popular musician, this was a really cool read and i'm happy to have read it.

As a long time System of a Down fan, I was primed to love this book…oh and I definitely did. This was a tour de force of history, music, politics, generational trauma, activism, family, and love. Serj Tankian is a born poet and storyteller, first in his music and visual art, now with the prose of his memoir (of sorts). And OF COURSE I loved the narration. Only Serj Tankian can properly deliver the honest, powerful words of Serj Tankian.

Big fan of the man's music.
Thought I might like to hear him
talk about his life.
He seems pretty interesting.

Not so much.......

This proved to remind me why I
do not like either biographies
OR audiobooks.

I am sure this is amazing if
you have way more patience than me.

Admittedly, going into this memoir I was a fan of System of a Down and that is what drew me to Serj’s story in the first place. That being said this is not just a music memoir and holds farther reaching appeal to not only music fans, but also fans of art, activists, political enthusiasts and lovers of history. There really is something for everyone in this book.

I truly appreciated being able to learn more about the Armenian genocide as I had only a small understanding of it. Throughout the book Serj speaks on his family’s experience with the genocide and how those experiences drove him not only as an artist and activist but just as a human being. The stories he told were so relatable and I found myself thinking of how I handle tough situations in my own life and reevaluating reactions.

Of course Serj himself reading this memoir made it just that much more enjoyable. It’ll definitely be tops on my list of not only nonfiction books to recommend but audiobooks especially! This was an amazing piece of writing and storytelling.

As a teenager I had heard a bunch of System Of A Down songs, and now my daughter is a big fan of the band, so when I saw Serj Tankian was putting out a memoir (of sorts lol) I knew I wanted to listen to it. The story starts with an Armenian backstory of Serj's family, as he is a proud Armenian man. I wouldn't expect any less of his book. Once the book started getting into how the band started I was invested.

Of course Serj is new to narrating, so I don't want to critique it too much, but sometimes you can tell he was reading from a page as there were weird pauses in the sentence, like he forgot the words in the sentence. He wrote the story so it was just odd to me. It didn't ruin the book whatsoever, I just thought it could of been edited before the audiobook comes out.

Great book all around! Thanks Netgalley!

Down With The System: A Memoir (of sorts) audiobook, narrated by Serj Tankian himself, was an eye opening journey through the life of the System of a Down frontman. Tankian’s candid exploration of his upbringing, musical career, and activism, is inspiring.

From his roots in Beirut to his rise to rockstar status, Tankian’s story is one of resilience, passion, and social consciousness. Hearing his story straight from him also added so much depth and authenticity to an already compelling narrative.

Whether you’re a fan of System of a Down or simply interested in a thought-provoking memoir, I think this audiobook is a must listen.

Tankian’s unique perspective and eloquent storytelling made this an enlightening experience that will stay with me. I have so much respect for Serj and can’t wait for fans to get to read/listen to his story.

I got about 5% through the audiobook before realizing that I need to temporarily DNF and wait for the book to release so that I can annotate while he speaks. There is so much important information here as politics, family, culture, and, of course, System of a Down history. Being a fan of the band and Serj for over 20 years, this is going to be a damn epic read!

I grew up knowing of SOAD and I knew their singles but never actually learned anything about them — especially Serj. This autobiography not only tells the story of his life but the history that shaped his family for many generations.

I knew very little about the Armenian genocide, except for what I learned on KUWTK, which was very minimal. It wasn’t something I was taught in school.

This really opened my eyes to what is happening in the world and the parallels of what has been documented throughout history and what is still happening in the world. There was no agenda pushing, just stating facts as a family member of a survivor, a person hated just because of the nationality they were born to.

It was because of the strife Serj faced growing up, he was able to channel his angst into poetry which turned to some of the lyrics we can stream today or listen on the radio.

The most amazing part (to me) was that even growing up in a less than ideal upbringing, playing in one of the biggest metal bands of their time, Serj is still no confrontational when he can be and tries to preach about peace.

I felt very inspired reading this. It was nothing like I expected and was pleasantly surprised. There are just as many happy moments as there is sad.

Down with the System (A Memoir of Sorts) by Serj Tankian
Overall Grade: A-
Personal Stories: B+
Writing: A-
Best Aspect: This is very different than recent memoirs I listened and it contains a lot of deep and thought provoking passages.
Worst Aspect: A bit long in parts and it made me zone out a little.
Recommend: Yes.

One of the best audiobooks I've heard in a long time. I always appreciate a memoir narrated by the author, but this is next level.

4.5 stars
Thanks to Net Galley for the early preview of this audiobook.

I have been a fan of System of a Down since I first heard them. This book was a great compliment to the music and energy of SOAD. However, I would say this book could be broken into three parts. There is a large bit of Armenian history that I found very interesting (which kind of perpetuates throughout). Then the early days and peak of SOAD. Followed by Serj’s life and his independent acts, etc. Though, a major part of the book is solely on Armenia.

Overall, I am not sure how I truly feel about Serj. Usually in these memoirs, the author comes out looking totally ‘innocent’ and more likeable than the reader had thought previously (at least in my experience). However, in this book, I feel like he could have or should have done things a little differently, especially considering what the needs of his band were. I would be very curious to hear about Darron’s ‘rebuttal’ or answer to this book, if he has an opinion on it. Darron is the lead guitarist and second vocalist. I find it very interesting that Darron is an avid Trump supporter whereas Serj is completely the opposite. Plus, those two are brothers-in-law as they married sisters.

In any case, I learned a ton about Armenia and all the struggles and issues that they have had over the last 100+ years. I know that this book may be one-sided, it’s hard to imagine that Serj isn’t telling the actual, historical truth on Armenia’s history with the 1915 genocide from Turkey and how Turkey has such a stronghold on what the ‘media’ and certain politicians have to say about Armenia. It sounds like Armenia is in a similar situation as Ukraine with Russia invading them. Armenia has been invaded and attacked by Azerbaijan, but it seems that you never hear about that in the States.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. There is one line in his book that is very similar to a line from Matthew Perry’s memoir where he talks about a friend of his who is no longer with us but others, who are less desirable, still walk among us. Though, he didn’t name drop anyone like Keanu Reeves.

Audiobook narrator Serj Tankian rating: 5 stars
There should be no other person to read this book. His voice is terrific! He even puts in little laughs here and there and kind of sort of sings a little. I wish there were more singing.

“Down with the system” by Serj Tankian
Rating : 5/5
Genre: Memoir

‼️Please include trigger warnings, some of the first few pages were very disturbing (which is fine, but it might be a bit too much for some people)‼️
Please know this: I al very biased! SOAD is my first musical love.. I breathed the band as a teenager… I was overjoyed to learn about this.

I dislike memoirs, because they usually have a lot of drama and negativities… and knowing that, I inhaled this book. I loved learning little facts about the band and learning the backstory of some of the songs. There is a lot of DRAMA, but I was aware of most of them, and what do you expect to learn from a celebrity’s memoir?

It’s very hard to criticize the book. It’s a memoir! And Serj is an amazing songwriter, and not a book author. I really wished the story followed a more straight timeline, but then some stories would have been very hard to follow. All the stories were really easy to follow as it’s written, but I just got a bit annoyed when we went back a few years.

I am ashamed to say, as a person who was born in Iran, I learned about the Arminian genocide from Serj’s activism (mostly form 1915 movie) and I always admire how outspoken the band is. I am thankful for all Serj has done, and this book taught me a lot more. It’s very helpful when the information comes from people whose voices were so formative to me as a teenager.

Narrator review: I have reviewed both the ebook and audiobook, and the audiobook is hands down chef’s kiss! Serj does a great job! He delivers the humor and anger so perfectly that it gives you all the perfect feeling. Extra points for him including some singing! This audiobook elevated my experience of enjoying the book.

Thanks for letting me review this book.