System Of A Down

I refuse to elaborate.

Somehow, I'd managed to forget how much of an adrenaline-fueled, psychotic, circus side-show this album is. If you don't know (or remember, in my case) what you're getting into, hitting play feels like being physically assaulted for asking a coworker how their weekend went. But, if you can hang in, by the time "Sugar" rolls around, you've caught the fever and are happily riding the insane-train like the good little distopic droog you always knew you could be. It's just such a mad, manic ride from start to end. Impossible to get off, you just have to hold on and smile at the approaching and inevitable carnage of a head-to-head train wreck. All that to say, I quite enjoyed it.

Did not care for SOD in the 90s, but re-listening now with the wisened (and slightly more hairy) ears of a 37 year old, these guys were really next level. I lumped SOD in with Korn and Slipknot and even Limp Bizkit. SOD is playing in a whole different league. This is Rage Against the Machine territory. They're messing hard with hard rock. Persian scales klezmer polka metal. This is Queens Of the Stone Age territory hard rock. Multiple personality singer brings at least 4 characters into each song. The standard, pro-level metal scream. The playful high pitch jumpy elf. That OOOOUUUGH low yell that metal singers started doing in the 90s. The possessed opera singer. I think the lyrics are actually meaningful at times too. If I liked metal at all I would love this album. A-

Best album on this shithole called earth

No way! What a welcome throwback. Of all the headbanging, nu-metal bands that Alex was into back in the day, SOAD was my favorite. I always loved how Serj Tankian's voice is so clear over these instrumentals. It's a quality that most other bands of this kind lack, as the vocals can get messy and unintelligible very quickly. I absolutely love how he sings on "Darts." Their instrumental performances are always impressive too, a surprising degree of clarity amid the madness. I love when they slow things down for an intro or section here and there. Of course, they are known for heavy, political lyrics. I rarely pick up on lyrics like that, but when I do catch them, it's a nice reminder that these guys (and Serj specifically) have good heads on their shoulders. I hadn't heard this album before, but it's really great. A fantastic debut. Favorite tracks: Darts, Suite-Pee, Suggestions, Sugar, Soil, Mind. Album art: Very strong. Apparently taken from an anti-fascist propaganda poster that said "A hand has 5 fingers! With these 5 grab the enemy!" Hell yeah. 4.5/5

Blows your head off and then shits down your neck. No punches pulled is an understatement

Man does this entire album fuck. So god damned good

ANGRYYY SO ANGRYYYYYY Sounds like a good album, definitely need to be in the right mood for it and a first and introspective listen isn't the right mood in the slightest "Mind" is possibly my favourite. I might come back to this album when I'm feeling a bit more anarchic. ANGRYYYYY

I respect this album but didn't enjoy it.

There's a handful of things "Toxicity" is better at than this one: Serj's better vocals, a more accessible pop-ish structure, clean guitars spitting out thrash-like riffs and surprisingly good solos, and overall better influence and popularity. However, no album inside and outside their discography ever beat the rawness, craziness, and darkness of "System of a Down". My favorite SOAD and an often overlooked masterpiece.

Everyone needs a mother fucker!

Debut from the absolute best by-metal band. The album is new and different in the best possible way and rocks insanely hard. Listening to this was cool because it made me realize that while this band is weird, they’re good because they’re weird in ways we all are, but have put it on record for everyone to see. Kick ass instrumentation and a lot of powerful lyrical themes, this one hits all the right notes.

Never listened to these guys before, and to my surprise I'm impressed. I had a brief flirtation with heavy rock back in the 80s, but I like this more. Will continue to explore this unexpectedly rich vein of entertainment.

I am not, decidedly not, a nu-metal fan. I like some metal, especially 70s-style doom metal and stoner rock. Slow sludgy, heavy shit. With an actual vocal melody, for preference. More recent metal, which tends to veer between screaming and cookie monster growling just gives me the irrits. And I like a groove, so stuff that gets overly proggy with too much clever clogs changing all the time and widdly-widdly bits is also annoying. And the tendency of nu-metal to get overly wrapped up in its own white-boy super-angst misogynistic bullshit is just awful (I'm looking at you Jonathan Davis and Fred Durst). So, that brings us to System Of A Down. Given all of the above, they are far and away the most tolerable nu-metal band I have heard. But being compared to your Limp Bizkits and Korn and Deftones and whoever else is a pretty low bar. I like that the singer can actually sing and choses to from time to time, and they are politically right-on, which makes their lyrics 100 times better than most nu-metal bands. I was talking to my 18 year old son, Hal, and he pointed otu that they strike a really great balance between dumb (which is an important element of all metal) and clever clogs. He also pointed out that they change time signatures and feel suddenly throughout the song, but they don't do it to be clever (like a prog band would); they do it to fuck with you (which is funny). As we were listening, some bonus live tracks came up, and they were awesome. The band was heavy and tight, and you could hear the crowd singing along. It sounded like a really compelling and fun gig. The album itself I found well recorded and energetically performed, but a little boring and repetitive, with some minor sparks of interest (like the oompah band and willfully obtuse guitar solo on 'Peephole'), but I could totally see myself having a great time at a System Of A Down gig. Yesterday I reviewed the MC5s first record, which was recorded live, and these bonus tracks made me wonder what would have happened if SOAD has taken a similar punt with a live debut record. Note to Dimery: why on earth is this record on the list, not Toxicity, which was their big hit, and clearly the more influential album? Final verdict is that this is not really my thing, but the best in class. 2.5 stars, rounding down for the missed opportunity of recording the whole album live.

SOAD proving from the get go that they are one of the most creative, unique, and fun acts in the metal scene. The politically charged lyrics still hit home today, fortunately or unfortunately, and the sequencing and pacing of the album, is top notch to make seamless transitions between silliness and seriousness. Not my favorite from the group, but an incredible accomplishment in its own right.

Stupid teenage me only ever listened to Toxicity as a kid

This shit got my blood pumping. First time I listened to an album in one sitting in awhile. Made me wanna get in a fist fight with a customer. Gave me a stiffy. TWU

ok, listen. system of a down is not for everybody. their later music is much more palatable, and their early music is rather abrasive metal, though there are some people who don't like any of their music. but honestly and musically, this album SLAPS. is it unusual? yes, but i love it. the screaming, the harsh guitar, everything. i have always admired their lyrics and topics. soad has never shied away from any topic. it's because of system that i learned about the armenian genocide when i was a teenager. more than that, they question the meaning of war, describe existential breakdowns while on drugs, deliver scathing criticisms of the catholic church, and plenty more. song after song, system delivers such a strong message. i found myself drawn to this sarcastic lyric of "mind" today: "free thinkers are dangerous." there's so many more i could pick out, but they manage to have such purpose in their lyrics while providing us with such amazing metal music. it's hard to find another artist like system. while i don't think this album is their best, this album was markedly different for its time. i'd give this a 4.5 on the lower side, but since this is the only system album on the list, my loyalty from my youth has me rounding up to 5. it's still a banger of an album after two and a half decades.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I never want to hear this again. Give me some yacht rock instead of angry music.

ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!

Cool

It’s funny. I’ve always known SoaD as a metal band but all the songs I’ve heard from them always seemed to almost transcend the genre. All genres in general. But from this intro track, I definitely feel the metal description. Also very cool opening riff. Ok I know it can’t be but the lyrics to “sugar” sound like “THE KOMBUCHA”. This is some solid metal. I can’t imagine me listening to it a lot since I’m not in that headset but this stuff is pretty good. “Soil” is a rad song. Cool lyrics and guitar. “Peephole” is another dope song. I kinda feel like this would be a 5 star album if not for being a genre I don’t love. The glitchy/tremolo distortion backing vocal is a cool ass effect. I might steal that for something. Ok now I’m just to the bonus live tracks. Great album. If I could do decimals this would probably be a 4.5ish but I might fall back to 4 just because I’ve definitely heard better albums so I need to reserve those 5s. But damn... still a great freaking album. Glad I listened to it.

Frantic, melodic, heavy, political, fun, weird. I listen to this when I work out because it's got it all. I always liked the heavy factor when I was younger but I can appreciate the complexity these guys put in. Toxicity they really came into their own but this album is still great, therefore 4 stars

Not a Rage fan, but there are some cool songs (like Soil) that have excellent guitar work. And, all of the songs definitely have an energy about them (coping, expressing, celebrating) that while this record doesn't do it for me, I do understand it on some level. Steve and his daughter Emily are huge fans, and it wasn't until Emily's wedding reception that I was like "ohhhhhh, it's so much more for them". Emily had the DJ play like 30 straight minutes of Rage towards the end of the night, and about 15 folks (including Steve AND his pregnant wife Kristin) were jumping and singing and smiling. It was cool to be a witness to the joy that transcended the pain & sorrow that so many Rage fans find healing from.

Christopher Cross with some Patti LaBelle should've done an album together. A duet of sorts. I imagine that if Patti and Christopher's album had materialized, it would sound a lot like this SoaD album. The deep soft vocals of are soothing and relaxing especially when they hit those low thud-y notes. And the chorus' rwwrawwhhh, rwawrahhhh is incredibly inspiring. This is something you'd put on for an enjoyable Sunday morning with the family or right before you marched into Taliban territory outside of Kabul.

Blast from the past! You can't mistake SoaD for anything else. They are frenetic, powerful, and fun. I played this CD until it was too scratched to play. I'd do it again.

Сожалею, что не слышал этого ранее (это прекрасно). Одноименный альбом группы System Of A Down - лучшее что я слушал из метала, наравне с Deftones. В свое время SOAD показались мне слишком замудренными, заигрывающими с народными мотивами и со странным вокалом. Но после первого полноценного прослушивания альбома я понял всю суть первого, второго и третьего и хотел бы рассказать про это по порядку. Во-первых, SOAD цепляет своим ритмом. Очень удачно получилось, что после сломанного ритма второго альбома Led Zeppelin мне попадается дебютник SOAD. Здесь он играет очень важную роль, дает свежий воздух во время прослушивания и завораживает своими американскими горками, чем то по своей сути схож с подростковой аритмией. Во-вторых, народные мотивы не так уж сильно берут на себя внимания, ведь где-то 80% внимания забирает на себя чистейший и крутейший метал. Но когда они все таки проявляются, то завлекают еще больше. Отличный пример - вставка после 3 минуты трека Soil, один из самых смешных и запоминающихся моментов на альбоме. Ну и, конечно же, в-третьих, самый противоречивый вокал в метале - Серж Танкян. Лично мне в один момент показалось то, чего я теперь к счастью расслышать не могу - его вокал напоминает мне гитару. И ведь правда: в своих партиях он может подключать "дисторшн", "играть бендами" и завывать настоящее соло. В сопровождении лид гитары это слушается максимально органично, и после такого осознания песни принимают совсем иной характер. Естественно, альбом богат реально хорошими песнями. Среди них великая Spiders, которая лично мне по композиции и (от части) вайбу напоминает Искала Земфиры - в каждой из этих песен ждешь как сумасшедший взрывного припева во время спокойных куплетов. Высокие ноты, которые Танкян берет на DDevil надолго останутся у меня в памяти и плейлисте. И напоследок хотелось бы чтобы следующий капс стал одновременно и итогом поста и его началом: ПРОЧИТАЙТЕ ЭТО И ВЫ ПОЛЮБИТЕ SYSTEM OF A DOWN НАВСЕГДА! Заряжающие своей энергией 5/5.

This isn't my music at all, but I can really respect the control the singer has on his voice and also the band has with the instruments. One of those rare moments where a whole band is completely in sync with the idea and it has to be the best of its genre.

nu-metal gem

Classic of heavy genres!

What I love about SOAD is that the vitriol is coming from a genuine place. They're not just overgrown teenagers ranting against their parents.

A pleasant surprise. An excellent album

Reminds me of my childhood

You can hear the middle eastern influence weaved in the rock sounds, I'd never heard this full album but with out a doubt it deserves to be in this list. Not to mention the great amount of activism they do through their platform.

This album gets me so pumped! Didn’t know prior to listening to this how much of an influence SOAD must’ve had on my fav metal artists today. The heavy drop and breakdowns sound so good.

Basically started a new genre. 🤘🤘

Not my bag but respect where it's due. This is 99% better than any other heavy metal I have heard since the 1980s.

It's Ozzy Day on the generator and I got System of a Down. It is the right genre I suppose

- mit der Platte hat mich ein Kumpel damals zum Metal „verführt“ (Danke Jan! Generell habe ich ihm musikalisch einiges zu verdanken, auch Green Day - American Idiot hat er mir gezeigt und durch diese beiden Alben habe ich mich einfach in Rock, Metal und alles was dazugehört verliebt. Ein guter Gitarrenriff bekommt mich immer. Und das obwohl er kurz danach komplett in die Hip-Hop und Rap Richtung abgedriftet ist mit 50 Cent, Kollegah und was weiß ich) - für mich sind da einfach so viele Banger drauf und es hängen viele Erinnerungen daran. Sugar, Suggestions, Spiders und War? stechen besonders heraus, aber auch der Rest ist für mich absolut hohes Niveau. Insgesamt eine tolle Platte, die man auch wirklich sehr gut am Stück hören kann. Lange nicht gemacht, aber hat mir mal wieder sehr gut gefallen. - hoffe sehr, dass dann noch mehr Platten von SOAD hier auftauchen, da mindestens zwei nochmal besser sind, als diese self titled Platte - hat mich dermaßen angefixt, sodass ich heute direkt alle Alben von SOAD hintereinander weg gehört habe 4/5

No idea why they didn't choose Toxicity for this list.

Enjoyed this a lot - loud, tuneful, great vocals. Played a bunch of times today, perhaps more in the future. A bit sweary but never juvenile

SPIDERS, this song is so amazing. I first heard it on the Scream 3 soundtrack, I really love this album. I sit, in my desolate room, no lights, no music, just anger.

Ah, teen angst. But this drives hard and meaningful. It's harder than their more popular stuff so a bit difficult to get into. I'm a fan of Tankian's vocals but they make everything work. I suppose this could be considered the "heavy metal" that I actually like. I don't think it counts. Favourite track: "Know"

A nice early-morning album to wake up, grab a brush and put a little makeup

There‘s a sign at my wall that reads: Nu metal 🚫 New metal 🚫 No metal ✅ For this album I‘m going to make an exception because it really is something special - but just this one time ☝️

Jello Biafra's son, grounded upstairs for not doing his chores because he's just discovered existentialism, sings in ten different inventive ways that he will not tidy up his bedroom to his only friend, his dog, which is why half the vocals sounds like "woof woof woof". This is fun, though not my flavour of angry.

What if Metal but silly? Yeah, I know there’s Iron Maiden, but sillier.

Did you know? ALF was the first television show to be presented in Dolby Surround Sound.

System of a Down Along with Tool, System of a Down, are one of those metal bands that are always cited as being smarter and more interesting than their peers, but listening to this I don’t really get it. You can hear some slightly more pop-punk/nu-metal elements, some Queen-esque theatricality and moments that reflect their Armenian heritage but on the whole it's just more of the same, double kick drums, heavy guitars, shouting, screaming and burping and GCSE level lyrics about war and bad things. Thank god genocide exists otherwise these people would have no lyrics to describe how angry they are. It probably doesn’t help that this has come two days after Megadeth, if this had come first I probably would probably have had more tolerance for it. Again I can completely appreciate that this is good if you are into it, but the more metal we get, especially this close together, the harder I find it to find moments of interest. This wasn’t Sepultura levels of irritation so I’ll stick with the standard 2 stars. 🔽🔽 Playlist submission: Soil, as I like that little guitar riff at 2.36 onwards

Just out of control. Needs to reorganize.

Wow…although there are worse things than getting ear raped, I couldn’t say I enjoyed the experience 1,5

Tried. But his voice sounds like the guy singing “Love Shack”.

I know these guys are like the "good" Nu-Metal band or whatever but at the end of the day, they are just Nu-Metal. Even if they are for hipsters and not people who punch drywall in their basements while getting a caffeine high on Rockstars. 1/10

A refreshing change from the delicate subtlety of Chopin.

3/10. Spiders made the playlist. There were some moments where I thought “wait a minute, does everybody need a mother fucker?” and then rethought that as loud monster-like noises rang from my speakers

maybe if I wasn't driving to target in my 😚✨😜 mood while listening to this is would've been better

Ekki kaffibollinn minn

If I could give this less than 1 I would! Not my cup of tea at all!

Very loud.

Nope. Didn't make it through the first song. Definitely not my sound, groove, or anything else. I know a lot of people just love this, but I would commit 0 stars if possible.

Love this album.

This makes Metallica look like the ABCs

One of my favorite albums of all time by one of my favorite bands of all time so I am a bit biased. 10/10

Dope

GOATed

Beautiful screams. 5/5

Fantastic. 5/5

Man, I forgot how good this was. I remember the first time I heard this I had a problem getting over Serj Tankian's goofy vocalisms, but like Billy Corgan's nasal singing and Geddy Lee's soprano, I got over it pretty quick. System of a Down is very much the only band that's still sort of relevant from the nu-metal era of the 90's. For me they took the Rage Against the Machine political fuel and ran with it in a whole other direction musically. I very much like that they took inspiration from Armenian traditional music and rhythms while combining that with modern instruments and modern (at the time) metal instrumentation. It makes for a really heavy yet technically distinct style without getting too far in to the progressive mindset of total instrumental self indulgence or the pure stylistic methods of regional/folk styles. Serj has constantly had interesting (and good!) things to say and the way he expressed himself in his lyrics is unlike any other singer of the era. Sure there are some really insane things he says that don't make any sense but in this album and, especially in later ones, he hits just as hard as Zach De La Rocha's very literal lyrics when he wants to. I had forgotten that I could listen to this all the way through without a desire to skip anything. Not even the circus tuba in Peephole made me want to skip it. Really great stuff.

Hated metal bands of the 90s but really appreciate them now. I think this album is chaotic and beautiful, loved it!

cinema

Maybe it was just because it was Monday but this HIT

If I die, inject this straight into my balls and I’ll come back to life.

the debut of famed heavy metal group system of a down, and already they come swinging with craziest, punchiest rock music you'll ever hear as soon as you press play. it's all over the place, bouncing off the walls, and yet it still has a solid structure to it. like many other metal album, system of a down top isn't afraid to get topical and political with their lyrics... the material hits even stronger with the cool, sometimes wacky instrumentals and especially serj tankian's vocals, which are so unbelievably bonkers, you wonder if he recorded it all wearing a straightjacket. these guys are undisputed kings of nu metal, and yet they break that mold when it comes to what's typically expected of the genre. it's a must hear i think!

Love me some SOAD, this was an easy listen.

This is unique for sure. I saw them at an Ozzfest in '06, they were pretty intense. There wasn't any one in the lineup I wanted to see that year, but my brother wanted to go. I made the right choice by going. I never really listened to these guys, by the time they came out I was more interested in a barstool and wasn't keeping up with new tunes. But anyway, this album is strong. They are really forging their own sound and this is some next level stuff, way above average.

Listened before (like 20 years ago), have always preferred Toxicity but I should not have because this one is really a magnificent record and deserves more listening

Loud and primal and exceptionally well done. Raw energy comes out of this concept album. A keeper.

> The Beatles Yeah I said it

Heard before, still great.

I'm surprised it's not toxicity but I'm not complaining Will I listen to again: 100%

Love.

Hadn't listened to this album by SoAD yet, and I dont know why. This was awesome.

Perfection. Fast, frenetic, fabulous. A must have for any music library.

Greatest band

My taste is coming in hot for this one, but this is genuinely one of my favorite albums from one of my favorite bands. This being your band's first album is amazing, and such a new and fresh sound at the time was really what put them on the lights (talking about the nu metal scene). Just a fun listen everytime, and it only gets better with time. Not much to add, just my opinion and taste taking over. And it's not even their best album, imo.

I grew up listening to SOAD and still do to this day. Their blend of genres withing songs. Serjs voice. The messages in the songs still being relevant today. There is so much I could say but nothing negative in my mind. Some of it might be nostalgia but I could listen to this every day and never get tired.

Mój goat <3 Sama przyjemność ze słuchania. Serj to jeden z najlepszych wokalistów jakich znam, a instrumenty idealnie pasują. Imo System ma lepsze albumy, ale ten też jest świetny i definitywnie ma odrębny styl. Uwielbiam przerwy w Sugar, uwielbiam refren z Spiders, uwielbiam końcówkę z Soil. Tylko trochę brakuje wokalu Malakiana. Ale miło trafić na ten album zaraz po kupieniu biletów na ich koncert

Decidedly thrashier than some of their later outputs. Let's goooooo

Heavy. Dynamic. Manic. I like it. The only problem I have with this album is, it’s not Toxicity. That’s more creative and it has their biggest hits. I don’t have a favorite song. They’re all good.

I forgot how incredible this album is. So frenetic and angry, but the truth is no music like this had ever been made before and it signaled great things to come for the band. A truly innovative album and very worthy of inclusion on this list. 5.0/5.0: Iconic

doesnt get much better than serj and daron

My relationship with SOAD is odd because whenever I listen to them I fucking love it but I never think to put them on? Either way, this is so much fun and so heavy and so weird, big ol' 4.5*

WAKE UP

I was raised on and radicalised by System of a Down - a group of misfits with little in common but their shared heritage and the want to scream about the existential threat that faces their people. My initial thought was that this isn't the album that belongs on this list; Toxicity being the obvious choice. But this self titled record is truly lightning in a bottle. By the time it had been recorded and released System were the biggest band in the world, they just hadn't happened yet. Soil, War?, Mind and P.L.U.C.K are assaults on the listeners senses, calling them to action and for once it worked. There has been no better advertisement for the injustice of the Armenian race than System of a Down. And no band for a long time before or since SOAD have so brazenly thrown politics into global arenas and stadiums and been so warmly embraced. I was going to give this a 4, reserving the 5 for Toxicity (despite its absence on this list) but I can safely say this is a five star album, no quibble.

🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

Belter of an LP, straight bangers from start to finish. Some of the best nu metal you will ever hear.

It's so energetic, and there are practically no skips. 10/10

Original and fresh! It holds up with time.

LOVE THIS ALBUM. What Nu Metal is supposed to be: hard, loud, and purposeful