Different

Really really liked the first two System of a Down CD's. Haven't heard Steal this Album, but I've heard Mesmerize and I took a good look at this. Its actually quite a bit more commercial than early System of a Down. Back then they had their rough edges in a good way, and I really liked Toxicity and System of a Down. This...sounds more like Alternative Rock than the System of a Down of Toxicity. The songs are still good, U-fig is cool, Tentative, Stealing Society, there are a lot of good songs here, some with bizarre, funny lyrics. But this just sounds like commercial alternative rock with a bit of a metal bite to it, and I can't say I particularly like this change.

Different sound, still thinkers.

Hypnotize and Mezmerize are similar in style, which is different from past albums. Whether one likes these two albums or not, might have to do with what they liked about the band's previous work. If you're like many of us that still listen to punk after many years, the message, or story is as important as the catchiness of the tune. If philosophy in music is important to you, you may like the change, and these two albums. If not, there are plenty of mindless pop-rock bands to choose from.

Overall, on par with Mesmerize

I remember the guitarist saying in an interview that he wanted Mesmerize/Hypnotize to be released seperately because he felt that if they released it as a double album some of the songs would be ignored. I can see what he's saying, as Hypotize is really just more of the same--not that that's a bad thing. There is a HUGE Faith No More influence in both records which is fine by me since Faith No More is one of my all-time favorite bands. My only wish is that Hypnotize were a little more solid as an album. I really really can't stand the song "Viscinity of Obscenity" for some reason and the whole "war is bad" theme that's in most of the songs starts to get a little tiresome after a while. But aside from that there are some wonderful moments and the lead singer has made a lifelong fan out of me.