Albums Of The Decade: System Of A Down – ‘Toxicity’
The day the freaks took over! Check out our other Albums of the Decade!
From the years 1988-2000, nobody touched Slayer live. You went out as support to Slayer, you died. You took Slayer out as support, you died. Quite simply, if you went anywhere near Slayer live, you would have your head shoved so far up your ass, you’d be wearing buttock earrings.
But something changed when the band came over to the UK on a co-headline slot with Sepultura. The bands brought over a support band whose album was only available on import at the time and who kicked the living piss out of both bands in spectacular style.
The drummer pounded out crazy rhythms while wearing a gas mask, the guitarist threw out Middle-Eastern tinged metal riffs that were schizophrenic and astounding in equal measure and the frontman had shades of Zack De La Rocha, Maynard James Keenan and Jello Biafra. Oh and he was dressed like an evil rabbi too.
System Of A Down arrived with all of the impact of a multi-coloured, nuclear bomb with their Rick Rubin-produced self-titled debut album. Fiercely political, heavy as hell and the most original band for far too long at that point, System were a cattle-prod to metals backside but even still, the band were treated as something of a novelty due to their overly wacky nature. ‘Sugar’ is a pretty decent example of that.
When ‘Toxicity’ arrived, not only did the band manage to keep their insane/genius elements, they injected hooks that made them worldwide superstars and one of the biggest rock bands on planet Earth.
First single ‘Chop Suey’ was not only an instant metal classic, it also showed how far the band had come in such a short-period of time. More melody, more metal and more madness.
The verses were vicious stabs of guitars and pianos (listen carefully and you can hear them) that combined perfectly with Serj Tankian’s rapid-fire screams and whispers. The chorus it gave way to, the incredible “why have you forsaken me?” section and the final 34 seconds remain some of the finest rock moments of this decade. By all intents and purposes, the song will remain a classic for the better part of our lifetimes.
A sizeable amount of credit for the band’s improvement has to go to the evil genius of guitarist, Daron Malakian. With the blending of subtle picking and thick slabs of heaviness on ‘ATWA’ and the punk rock fury meets Armenian-tinges on ‘Shimmy’, Malakian was taking his creativity to all sorts of new heights.
Perhaps Malakian’s greatest improvement came in the shape of his vocal contributions. “I buy my crack, I smack my bitch, right here in Hollywood” on ‘Prison Song’ (here live at Reading in 2001) was lunacy in the most inspired way and his vocal-gymnastics with Tankian were untouchable. ‘Aerials’ is probably the best melodic example (the verses and last 30 seconds are jaw-dropping moments) but there’s also the random noise-interaction on tracks like ‘Bounce’. Check this clip at 1:13 for what we’re talking about. Mad, innit?
Serj Tankian’s vocals also reached the pinnacle of their brilliance. His ability to create the kinds of vocal lines that are on ‘Jet Pilot’ and ‘Deer Dance’ are unequalled. Riding Malakian’s eccentricities and concocting vocal lines that are unshakably catchy but unbeilievably abstract is something that it can be argued that no other vocalist in music could have pulled off.
A band as unique and unsuited for mainstream consumption as System Of A Down should have no right to have a number one record but that’s what exactly what happened in the US with ‘Toxicity’ (the album was actually US number 1 when the 9/11 attacks occurred and ‘Chop Suey’ was subsequently taken off of many US radio stations due to its speak of ‘self-righteous suicide’). It was a stunning example of brilliance outweighing banality and the mainstream embracing a freak outsider, the record going on to sell an eye-watering 12 million copies worldwide.
System Of A Down went on to headline Download and Ozzfest on the back of ‘Toxicity’s success and when 2010 reformations were mentioned for next year’s Download, you voted in your droves for System Of A Down to be considered. Indeed, when Metal Hammer and Classic Rock held a poll of the greatest rock & metal albums of all-time, voted for by the readers of both magazines, ‘Toxicity’ was in the top 5 of that list. That’s the kind of regard this record is held in.
The metal world is a lot worse off without System Of A Down’s colourful and crazy brand of brutality. They remain on permenant hiatus and any reformation looks unlikely at the moment.
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Shame they are still split. I would love to see them reform next year, instead of serj writing poetry
Needles, Prison Song and Atwa are the stand-outs for me.
Daron and Serj still vocally excellent together….
2010 fingers crossed….
Needles Is by far the best, but an immnese album
Man I’m enjoying the albums of the decade list. It just keeps getting better!
Totally agree with the review.
One of my favourite metal albums, and certainly my fave System album, as it turned me onto them!
I’d say as a whole the album’s great from start to finish, but if I have to pick out personal favourite tunes, Forest, Psycho, Aerials, Chop Suey, Bounce, and Prison Song are the best (of the best!) xD
S.O.A.D to headline Download 2010 with Rammstein!
oooo joel now THAT would be a dream download right there.
Toxicity is probably one of the only albums I can listen to in this day and age and would still sound as fresh as the day I bought the album (which must of been in 2002) you don’t get many albums like that
Damn right!
I’ve been dying for Rammstein to return (and was thrilled to see a studio update is featured in the new Hammer out tomorrow =D), and if you’ve seen their concert at Nimes Arena from Volkerball I’m sure you’ll agree they’re more than capable of putting on a stunning pyrotechnic display to make KISS’s 2008 set look like a sparkler in comparison.
And System are still much loved despite going on hiatus, and as cool as Serj’s solo stuff and Scar’s On Broadway is/was, System is where Serj, Daron, John and Shavo belong!
What is wrong with you fuckin’ people??? SOAD were fuckin’ shit!! I hated everything about them. That cunt’s shit excuse for singing, that little wanker playing guitar trying to be all “check-out-how-weird-and-kooky-I-am”, their politics, their crap music, all that make-up shit they used to get done up in. Fuck man, there is just so much to loathe about that band, all you dicks must have cloth-ears and shit for brains.
best album of the decade hands down
get system and manowar to headline download next year..
Each to their own Skumbo…
You can tell its the Summer holidays can’t you Skumbo. Go home and come back when youve grown up and can actually create an argument which isnt based purely on swearing, snap-statements and insulting the people who don’t agree with you – Because in all honesty, had an Eminiem fan came up to you and said the same, you’d have pulled out the old intolerence card and used it in the crusade against people who happen not to like metal.
TBH, you sound like a religious person: Believe in what I believe otherwise your an idiot.
Woooooo! I mentioned this album as a possible contender for album of the decade and im sticking with it. (totaly agree with klown and joel at how immense download would be with SOAD and Rasmmstien). Madder than a sackful of mad badgers getting beaten by a mad man with a mad stick! Love it.
Absolutely classic album. Had it blaring out in the car today, its just pure genius!! It will be a tough call between this and The Blackening if this goes to a vote!!! And Skumbo, grow up. Muppet.
So average glad they split up and can wait for ever for a money grabbing piss poor reunion
Pfft!
Piss poor reunion!?
They are on HIATUS, not split up you fool!
There’s a world of difference between the two.
Lets hope hiatus becomes split and they never bother ears again
It’s kind of inevitable really, not only because the majority of people on this page love them, but because a dozen bands seem to have reformed or are planning to reform in recent years xD
IMO, one of the best studio albums ever.
I’m right, you cunts are all wrong. They suck arse!!! It’s hard being the only one on this website with any musical credibility…
Bahahahahahahahahahahaha!
I’m sorry that last comment made me laugh… a lot.
Skumbo, I bet you’re one of those supposed ‘real metallers’ that’s all “Ooooh, detah to false metal! All other genres suck etc etc…”
Those with musical credibility tend to have a bit more of an open mind when it comes to musical taste.
If System suck, then why is one of their albums being regarded one of the albums of the decade by Metal, and I’ll repeat that in case you’re stone deaf, METAL Hammer.
And also, how come they’ve headlined Download and Ozzfest successfully?
This album is singularly responsible for getting me into metal.
Prison song blew me away, right from the start.
In my experience, people either love or hate SOAD, but each to their own. The amount of people I saw at Damnation Festival wearing System tops shows that anyone can listen to them, from the Pitchshifter/Latitude fans, to the Carcass/Berzerker/Napalm Death fans!
Whats musical credibility? Is that like selling like 12 million copies of an album that sounded original and fres and absolutly nothing like all the one hit wonder nu-metal bands were poppoing up left right and centre at the time?
Thanks for sharing this cool info about SOAD…
http://www.punkai.com/i/?a=57
“A sizeable amount of credit for the band’s improvement has to go to the evil genius of guitarist, Daron Malakian. With the blending of subtle picking and thick slabs of heaviness on ‘ATWA’ and the punk rock fury meets Armenian-tinges on ‘Shimmy’, Malakian was taking his creativity to all sorts of new heights.
Perhaps Malakian’s greatest improvement came in the shape of his vocal contributions. “I buy my crack, I smack my bitch, right here in Hollywood” on ‘Prison Song’”
Daron was imo the success and downfall of the band. Toxicity had just the right amount of his vocal contributions; Mes/Hypno took it a little too far & the vocals / lyrics just wernt clever anymore. The more he sang, the less unique Systme became & it almost seemed as if Serj was being pushed out. If System do make any more new stuff I’d love to see more of the balance the Toxicity era had.