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-

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

Best album on this shithole called earth

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

Man does this entire album fuck. So god damned good

I respect this album but didn't enjoy it.

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.

Everyone needs a mother fucker!

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.

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

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.

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.

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

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!

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. 🤘🤘

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"

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.

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

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

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.

Fire

Insane. Oh dear I love "Peephole", the polka elements and metal/core/whatever elements melt so well. And from that song, everything just gets better. 4.5/5.

10/10

Well holy moly, this brought some nostalgia with it. I remember first hearing SOAD in high school and thinking that they were nothing at all like anything I’d ever heard before. I remember hearing Spiders and Sugar from this album, and lots from other albums too. If you haven’t heard SOAD before, they are some kind of frantic metal music. Not to say they are high tempo speed metal (which they’re definitely not), but the styling often comes across as somewhat manic. And the guitar tones are somehow obviously their own too. This album is just banging from front to back.

Wow I'm surprised it actually holds up quite well

Great dound

I have a clear memories of trying to sell a buddy on this record back in the 90s by calling it carnival metal. It didn't matter to him, but I was ensorcelled. This record was a turning point in metal for me.

This classic album takes me back to my teenage years, vividly recalling the first time I heard Sugar. For a nu-metal record, it has aged remarkably well, showcasing a sound that still resonates today. Without a doubt, it stands as the band’s strongest and most enduring work.

Heavy metal for silly little goofballs (me)

This is everything You should expect form SOAD: fast-paced music and unique lyrics. Great album.

An absolute game changer for metal at large. This debut is not only important because of its commercial and artistic success (that would be even more impressive with sophomore LP *Toxicity*). It's important because it took the best of what the nu-metal formula had to offer (not much, some voices might snarl in the background) and peppered it with touches so personal and idiosyncratic that a lot of *good* metal acts took notes and understood it was how they could put some true soul into their music as well. And it took four Armenian-Americans from California, deeply inspired by the musical traditions of their community, to pull it off. Number of albums left to review: around a hundred, as I've went over the 1000 line and this generator is including albums from all editions of the book Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 433 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 256 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 316

Oh my goodness, such a fun album. Well, when I focus on the lyrics perhaps fun isn't the right descriptor, but it gets me going every time. I was originally thinking there was a bit to much screaming for full marks, but I enjoyed too much not give it a five.

Primer álbum de soad, una de las mejores bandas de los últimos tiempos.

Genius music! So many different parts within one song, Serjs memorable amazing voice and the mix between tension and relief makes the music gorgeous. Even though I can not listen to the whole album in one piece (because of my more calm mindset), I still love their music and it warps me back to my teenage years!

Hadn't listened to this one before, but I love their Toxicity album. Actually only got into it recently enough, as I enjoyed the singles at the time but never really dived into their albums. This was great though, not quite as good as Toxicity, but that doesn't seem to be in the book for some reason. Love the fusion of metal and middle eastern music, and Serj's many different singing styles are brilliant too.

brilliant debut album and anything from soad gets a 5 😂 Favorite track: sugar other picks: know, spiders, war

SOAD passed me by in the 1990s/2000s. Like this. Will seek out the rest of their back catalogue.

SOAD's debut album wasn't really the first one I have ever heard. I started listening to their music probably soon after Steal This Album, and that record, together with Toxicity, is what defines System of a Down for me. But after some time I could certainly appreciate the debut album more. It feels slightly less produced, more "garagey", just dirty, and probably closer to what Serf, Daron and the rest had on their mind when they started writing songs. Great music, will always look fondly at this band.

Where do you even begin with this album? Hearing it again reminded me why SOAD were pretty much the only metal group that survived my personal exorcism of the genre from my record collection when I started developing some brain cells. These guys were so utterly original, poignant, energetic and downright insane. Their sound isn't necessarily flashy - Daron Malakian's guitar work is like a freakish mixture of Tony Iommi's purposeful riffing with Robert Fripp, minus the latter's virtuosity - but every element makes something totally unique. The incorporation of Armenian folk rhythms and completely esoteric song structures just makes every song a whirlwind. But it remains accessible at the same time, there's no pretense here even if Serj Tankian is inclined to get on a soapbox from time to time - and with good reason, SOAD remain a totally righteous group that stands on the correct side of history. Absolutely LOVED rediscovering this again.

Ugh, I hate this. When did System of a Down become political? Stick to playing music, guys.

If Frank Zappa was an American-Armenian metal band. What's not to love?

What an album! System of a Down has always been kind of it's own thing. Yes it's nu metal, but it almost feels impossible to compare to others still. This fast, punchy, heavy, manic(?), frantic, silly sound they have going on is very special and recognizable. But other bits have a very large sound almost like a score, aaanndd then it goes back into something weird again like something that sounds like gypsy music. I love it, but I would understand if people find it a bit much and/or weird. On top of all this is some very critical lyrics that tackles big problems with society, government, or institutions - so that's also nice. Personally I would have chosen the "Toxicity" album, I feel like that had bigger cultural impact, but this is a good album too Standouts Sugar Spiders DDevil War? 5/5

****

It's maybe like a 4.5 but I'm just so happy to see this band on the list that it gets a 5. Suite-Pee rips so hard

Ball-busting ass-blasting energy. Unapologetically loud and in your face, this album captures angst and chaos in such a unique way. And yet it also manages to seamlessly carry weight and more somber depth as well. Such an incredible album for when you're just mad. Impossible to not head bang to

This might be my favorite metal album, period. What a fuckin' swing right out of the gate. The amount of creativity, talent and relevant messaging on display here is absolutely insane; not to mention the dynamics in the playing (a rarity in so much modern music). I don't know if I can say this about most other records, but if you don't like this one, you're wrong. I mean come on, everyone needs a mother... FUCKER

if what's going down in the brain could be displayed by albums instead of emotions like in the movie inside out, this would be one of the 5 albums that describe the states between which my brain is constantly jumping back and forth during my casual day this is the only way i can put my thoughts on this album into words

Listened to this one a lot back in the day, was certainly a throwback. Liked the production, and a how they would change tempos and styles throughout added a lot of interest to the tracks. 4.5/5 rounding up for nostalgia

Teringhard, eigenzinnig, op de juiste manier enorm boos en op sommige momenten catchy. Je kunt dit niet luisteren zonder af en toe een keer mee te stuiteren of heel vies te kijken. Arenaline by proxy. Zowel de gitaar, de drums als de bas klinken heerlijk. En dan hebben we ome Serj nog met die Armeense snik in z'n soms haast opera-achtige stem. Er zijn weinig zangers die zo heerlijk kunnen schakelen, soms middenin een zin of zelfs middenin een woord, tussen verdriet, boosheid en psychose. Neem op dit album bijvoorbeeld 'Suggestions' of 'Spiders'. Ik heb slechts 1 puntje van kritiek en dat is gericht aan de bedenkers van deze lijst: Toxicity was overduidelijk de beste keuze geweest voor deze lijst, met nummers als Chop Suey, Toxicity en Aerials. Dat album is veel beter als je mensen die SOAD nog niet kennen wil overtuigen van hun kwaliteiten. Vooral qua zang/harmonieën wordt op Toxicity de lat nog even wat hoger gelegd en laat de band zien dat ontzettend hard en ontzettend mooi hand in hand kunnen gaan. Dit self titled album is denk ik te choquerend. Voor mij komt dit self titled album denk ik op de 4e plaats, na Toxicity, Mesmerize en Steal This Album, maar voor Hypnotize. Maargoed. Ook dit is voor mij een dikke 5. System of a Down, geniaal. #dankbaar *biddende handjes emoji*

System of a Down were probably the first band that I ever really got into. I was maybe 11 or 12 years old when I discovered Toxicity and played the whole thing three or four times every single day for a whole year. I fell in love with the band. I would listen to their entire discography front to back nearly every single day, though I'd often skip their debut as I just didn't like it. As time progressed, I moved on to other artists and shaped my taste in music, and rarely returned to System. It was maybe one or two years ago when I listened to their debut for the first time in years, and it instantly struck me as so incredibly creative and unique. The complete rawness of everything was incredible. The sickeningly catchy riffs and the character of Serj Tankian's voice was just something that I couldn't find anywhere else, at least at the level of quality here. Out of every track here, the opener Suite-Pee is not only the best here, but their very greatest song. Just that opening riff is one of the greatest moments in all of music. I cannot really point out a song here that brings the album as a whole down. This is by far their greatest record and one that I cannot stop myself from coming back to every few weeks. One of the very most important albums to me.

Well I'm a little biased, SOAD is one of my favorite bands. It's chaotic and violent, but so intricate. And this is probably my least favorite of their albums, but still a banging good time

No notes

Classic

Excellent.

Cla$$ic

hooooooooly shit

This is the sound of bottled up frustration and disappointment in the government, being slowly poured out onto concrete.

Oh I did love this! Not heard this album specifically until now, and really enjoyed it! Musically brilliant, pointed in themes and... everything I loved Toxicity and Steal This Album for. :)

Good

Still amazing.

A great and influential nu metal release that combines thrash , punk and world music.

Perfect - and their next album is even better!

Alternative metal. I'm a huge huge fan of SoaD, especially their early stuff. The self titled album is so unique in it's playful and energetic sound. Crazy rhythmic, each song is catchy in its own way. Drums and guitar are always amazing, with bass holding it all together. Not to mention Serj's and Daron's insane vocal ranges. From weird shrills and high pitched screams, to the lowest of growls, with a huge range of clean vocals in between. Lyrics are either absurd or full clear political thoughts, seemingly switching from one to the other at the drop of a dime. This album really has nothing I don't like. My one complaint I guess is that it drags juuuust a bit right at the end with the last two or three songs. It's ok though because these songs are still amazing, just maybe not placed well within the album. Overall fantastic album, not really much to complain about. Just so much fun. Duh I'll revisit. 5/5

Not my choice of SOAD album to go on here (Seriously? No Toxicity or Mezmerize?), but still a VERY solid outing from the band. Love this album.

Got me right in the middle school. Nostalgia 5

So rarely are my middle school tastes in music vindicated.

10/10

I'd forgotten how good this album is. I go back to Toxicity a lot more frequently than this. I should remember to go back to this more often.

Love.

Late 1998. I was becoming jaded amid a sea of toothless music like Brit pop, pop punk, etc that was huge at the time. Then I was introduced to this album. What a revelation. Weird, heavy, melodic. Drops and breakdowns. I hadn't heard anything quite like it before. It wasn't until Toxicity that they really hit their stride, but this album alone had enough influence on the metal of today to be worthy of this list.

not quite the majesty of toxicity but a great album and as far as a debut goes is pretty hard to beat

One of my all time favs

Fav

An album that completely changed the genre forever. Even better live. Sugar.

I've considered myself a System of a Down fan for quite some time now, but I have then realization every now and then that the only two albums by them I've properly listened to are Hypnotize and Mesmerize, which I know aren't exactly the two big ones. Luckily today I can finally change that by listening to their debut, and quite a debut it is! I'm normally more down for their more out there stuff found on the later records, instead of this heavier, nu-metal influenced sound, and I'll also say I'm missing Daron Malakian's voice, but otherwise this album makes up for all of that by just being an incredible metal album. Every note feels purposeful, rather than just being technical noise with no melodic qualities, and the more the album went on the more I found myself absolutely enveloping into the rawness of each yell and silly little scream produced here. Its powerful, while still having a lot to say, and while the album is perhaps not as memorable as those hit tracks as their career goes on, in the moment of this record playing I don't care, as it is just so gut punch-y. It never annoys, it never is a bore, and its pure, avant-garde, bliss, in the heaviest of ways.

One of the most bizarre and fun metal bands to ever do it. I've learnt that Toxicity isn't on this list, which is insane, but this is not too far from the quality of that album. It's all over the place, heavy and silly in equal parts, with some of the wildest vocals you'll ever hear. Rare to find a band that is truly unique in every sense of the word, but here they are.

So happy to see SOAD make this list, wasn't expecting it. As a young lad who'd started listening to pop punk about 6 months before, System were a revelation for me, cheers to Wallys brother for the recommendation. Took Davei a little bit longer to get into them, he thought we were turning into goths for a bit, good times. SOAD are unique, no one else really sounds like them, even today. Serj's voice is so strong, they can hit so hard but also be really weird and strange. This album is a bit less polished than the others but it's got loads of classics. Went to see them in Manchester when we were 16/17, furthest we'd travelled for a gig back then and I can still remember how good it was. Love em, love this album.