SERJ TANKIAN's 'Imperfect Harmonies' Cracks U.S. Top 40

"Imperfect Harmonies", the new album from singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and political activist Serj Tankian, sold 10,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 35 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Tankian's solo debut, "Elect the Dead", opened with 66,000 units back in October 2007 to enter the chart at No. 4.

"Imperfect Harmonies" is the second solo effort from the SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman. As with "Elect the Dead", Tankian produced the new CD himself at his home studio in Los Angeles.

"Where 'Elect the Dead' was essentially a rock record with progressive melodic elements," Tankian says, "'Imperfect Harmonies' could be classified as rock because it is punchy with many peaks throughout, but the instrumentation is somewhat different. Though there are live drums, bass, and some guitars, the driving aspects are electronic and orchestral. It's quite unique in its sound palette. This is, in essence, music that has sat in the vat and matured to a ripe sensation and is now ready to serve."

"Imperfect Harmonies" is as powerful and musically eclectic as its predecessor. "I have been calling the music 'electro-orchestral-jazz-rock' because it has all of those aspects in prominence within the songs," Tankian says. "A few are more stripped down, but the majority of the songs have this huge wall of sound presented in a way I've never heard before. It's not common to have a song that is both electronic and orchestral since one is synthetic and the other organic, but I found a way of meshing a lot of these colors together."

The album has been influenced by Tankian's experience making "Elect the Dead Symphony", a symphonic interpretation of his debut that had its inaugural performance in New Zealand with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in March 2009. The performance has been captured on the CD/DVD "Elect the Dead Symphony". "The making of 'Elect the Dead Symphony' gave me the confidence and tools to create ensemble pieces for orchestra more confidently and effectively than before," Tankian says. "And that became one of the primary colors for this record along with electronic, jazz, and live instrumentation."

Tankian will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Monday, October 18 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with Tankian by calling 1-800-344-ROCK (7625).

For more information, visit RocklineRadio.com.