Reviews (page 7 of 8)
Angry roaring over monotonous background guitar isn’t really my jam. I did enjoy Spiders, even if he does sound like a particularly hungover Marianne Faithfull. The rest is just power and volume over substance.
Stick to metal, enough with this nu-metal bullshit Best Song: Spiders Rating: 4/10 Stars: 2
message/vision is important but my god those vocals sounded goofy out of place
Intense! I appreciate it for the power and energy they bring to this album but at this stage in my life I don't feel like this music suits me.
Again fuck nu metal, but this is campy and they're actually having a good time. I think I just like Serj Tankian, by association via the love he gets in NZ. This sounds a lot better than the other nu metal here, actually mixed properly, massive blown out guitars,punk heritage is clear. The variety within the album is also notable improvement from other genre offerings
At least it’s interesting
Great voice and band is technically proficient, but I just don't enjoy the music.
Over rated
It's not Tony Bennet elevator music, is it? Amongst the roaring there's a couple of alright tunes trying to get out. If this is your jam I can see the appeal, I on the other hand need a lie down and an ear rinse after that. "Why do birds suddenly appear..."
This isn’t for me. Whoever compared this to QotSA or Rage needs to listen to those bands a little more.
whatever
Armenian-American Metal music. My children were big fans of this band, but while I like Metal and generally liked the music on this album, I found the vocals grated on my nerves too much, especially on "Suggestions", and they put me off. My favourite track on the album is "Soil".
Not my type
Överskattat, de blev bättre senare. Detta var väldigt enformigt
Listened to the original version instead of the clean version cause I'm not a pearl-clutching grandma. But that doesn't mean I like metal
Not for me
Best Track - "Spiders"
Not my genre of choice, but I did like “Spiders”and “Peephole”
1. pee - 1.5 2. knouu - 1.5 3. zugar - 1.5 4. Suggestions - 1 5. Spiders -2 6. Devil - 1 7. Soil - 1.5 8. War - 1.5 9. Mind - 1.5 10. Peephole - 1 11. Cube - 0 12. Darts - 1 13. Pluck - 1.5
*1998. *This was pre-Toxicity. *Almost every song is under 3 minutes. *Fine in small doses, but a whole album is a lot... RATING - 6/10
Oof. Don’t care for this type of music. Not the right age I suppose.
• 2/5 • Skillfully done, and Sugar is a good listen under the right conditions. I don’t need to hear the rest ever again.
Not bad.
I appreciate the effort to get a variety of musical styles and eras on this list, and I suppose this is fine as hardcore heavy metal music goes. But when I get this, a couple of Megadeath albums, Rage Against the Machine, and others (even less skilled), but NO Warren Zevon albums, I have to start questioning this whole enterprise.
i’m sorry but this type of music is just NOT my thing. please stop screaming at me
I tried to listen to this in good faith because I know their political messaging has resonated with a lot of people but I still really just don’t like metal. It is ugly. They make some good points in their songs but it just sounds ugly to me. But for this one more than some other metal albums, I can kind of understand the appeal. Some of the songs had a catchy element (that for me was undermined by the rest of the composition) that enabled me to at least see the potential for this kind of music to be cathartic or thrilling to listen to.
I was never s fan of SOAD, i just dont like Serj Takian’s vocals which range from poor to damn right annoying. There are elements of songs i do like, such ss when soil and war? are at their heaviest but these are quickly undermined by the vocals of the lighter slower parts.
I can feel that it's good. I just don't like it
Marmite band. For me however I find it a difficult listen.
When falling under my radar, System of A Down and Serj Tankian, had a few songs that made you stop, and say, well that's kind of interesting. But really just a passing interest, and basically forgotten after a few years. So this would be the first complete album I have listened to from the band. After all, this list is Albums we should listen to before we die, not just slightly catchy songs you should hear before you die. Pretty much after hearing the song Sugar, and thinking, oh yeah I remember that song but man it sounds dated. I was then counting down the tracks waiting for this album to be over. Please move this album to the list of slightly catchy songs to hear before you die and remove it from the "album" list.
p821. 1998. 2 stars. Schizophrenic 90s US metal rock that veers between irritating and unpleasant shouty heavy metal and quite good songs ("Spiders").
With the exception of Spiders which I liked, this wasn't really for me. Think I prefer my metal sludgy and stonery, rather than thrashy. I do respect what it's going for though. 2 Stars.
Sugar!
meh
Did not really enjoy this. The metal aspects and some of the production are fine, but the vocals leave something to be desired. I actually don’t even mind the screaming, and I can see the parallels to other metal bands in their delivery and intonation and anger, but this delivery was just a little grating and corny to me. I wanted to like it more.
Just not my thing. It feels like I was just the recipient of a screaming fit.
I think this is the wrong album for drinking coffee and watching the sunrise on a beautiful Saturday morning.
perhaps the all time GOAT of incredibly talented vocalists who use all their talent to piss me tf off
Okay. I actually like this band and you can hear where they’re starting to put it all together on some songs but it’s a bit raw.
The band name is the best part.
Somebody give this man a hug. It’s weird that this album is on the list but Toxicity isn’t.
Some of the guitar work is very good and the music is nice and heavy. However, almost all of this good work is undone and buried by the comedy vocals. It sounds like a cartoon character having a meltdown. This would be good as an instrumental album, but in this form, the album is difficult to listen to, let alone take seriously. Their desperation for attention deems this a wasted opportunity.
They got passion. They ain’t got me.
this music made me feel frustrated and annoyed. I'm a fan of a lot of other songs from the band usually
when they aren't being silly they're pretty decent. when they are being silly i can think of dozens of silly bands I'd rather listen to in that moment
Punk, but irritating.
Never understood their popularity. The nasal high pitched talk singing is annoying. Metal has such thin margins of what’s great and not so great. This is fine. Top 1001? No
This is the group that led me to download an Armenian Folk playlist and that led me down the rabbit hole of world music. This is a beast of its own! It’s raw, chaotic, and political, but also weirdly playful in spots. That mix of thrash, Armenian folk flourishes, and manic vocal shifts makes it one of those records you either bounce off… or find yourself obsessively playing over and over again. It’s less polished politically than Toxicity, but more unhinged, surreal, and abstract, which gives it a very different personality. The anti-authoritarian streak is present throughout, but usually buried in strange metaphor. You’ll either love it or hate it but you won’t forget it.
Not a bad album but not a fan of this genre.
Well, I listened to it, so there’s that.
I respect the work here, but can’t say I really enjoyed it. I get the appeal, it’s just not for me.
I dont totally hate it But nothing new
The music is definitely interesting, but I'm not particularly a big fan of it.
Lite för tungt. 2
Not my fav
Most nu-metal is very unappealing to me and this isn't really an exception. Some of the songs are tolerable
Lots of energy and the music was tightly produced but not my cup of tea on the whole. Lead singer is impressive with the range.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR0gOEyK6Tg
Very noise, not super impressed.
Personally not for me, but I’m sure this was an iconic album for the metal genre!
1º album um rockão totalmente fora do que eu escuo normalemnte, porém de forma supreendente, gostei. Não vou ouvir diariamente mas agora já sei que em um dia de raiva ou em algum treino (em breve) dá para ouvir esse batidão que vai deixar no pique. 2,7/5
DNF. Jesus based cock rock.
Yes, I get it. This was huge when it came out, and System of a Down were right there, riding the alt-/progressive-/nu-metal wave that Korn had initiated five years prior, at its apex. Thanks to the interplay between Daron Malakian’s guitar playing and Serj Tankian’s idiosyncratic vocal style (his staccato delivery with occasional growling outbursts), System of a Down created a unique sound, unmistakably their own. The thrash-metal-influenced riffing is mostly unforgiving and brutal; the lyrics, while often dadaistic or opaque, contain strong political statements — in short: the basics are killer. At its most weird, the record sounds like Frank Zappa fronting a hardcore band (Sugar). However, even considering the relatively short run time (40-something minutes) for a late-1990s major-label release, one gets the feeling that they pull their signature feat just a little too often. Take Mezmerize, where System of a Down managed to fully diversify their songwriting palette - and were all the better for it. A solid debut (with a quality many bands would kill for), but still lacking that little something that makes a record truly special from front to back.
Meh. Loud.
I started off thinking I might like this, but it got more annoying as it went on.
Liked it more than I thought I would. Wouldn’t listen again in a hurry, not the biggest metal fan
I’m not down with this one. I do like some of their other stuff.
I don’t know, as far as “these” bands go I guess I’d choose these guys over most others. But not my thing, this wore me down.
It's metal. It's not unique or memorable in any way for a debut album. Maybe their second one is better? I may never know.
Admission: I might be one of the few metalheads who never particularly cared for SOAD. I always found their musical assault too consistently in-your-face, with the vocal variations ranging from Serj Tankian’s faux-operatic alto to squealing (“vocal whistle”), which is somewhat grating on the ears. It annoys me when Arianna and Mariah do it too, but at least SOAD has a metal backing. Their musicality and use of polyrhythms was impressive but wasn’t abnormal for the time when placed against mathematically meticulous bands like Meshuggah or Tool, or cross genre artists like Mudvayne (NuMetal, Groove metal & Jazz). My favorite song on this album was the downtempo Spiders as it shows the most musical temperance. It’s easy to crank to “11” and go full on. It’s harder to self edit. I understand why people love them, with their progy-post-punk-metal-up-your-ass aesthetic. It’s just not my cauldron of metal….
Argh. Too shouty for me! As per my other opinions on heavy metal, some absolutely shredded guitar but I can't stand listening to this vocal style,really spoils it for me.
Not totally awful, but really far outside of my wheelhouse musically. 2 stars
not for me
shouty & growly 90s metal - very tiring
There were parts of songs I liked and I enjoy Tankian’s singing voice, but overall I’m not fan of metal.
Dang. I want to like SOAD so badly, but I just cannot. Everything is there. Power. Intensity. Energy. But the theatrical vocals just negate most of it. :(
Headbanging, interesting lyrics
downloaded 2,5,7&10. not crazy about it, it’s okay
The Good: self-titled album! The Bad: Is it a play on words? The Ugly: If it is a play on words, what is the point? So yeah, SOAD… not my thing. I hear screaming, I hear syncopated time-signatures, I hear avantgarde, I hear old school… I hear, but I can’t listen… Don’t know if I should give it a 2 or a 3 just to be kind, what I do know is that this album will not be on my repeat list… 2* I guess
I can’t say I was a fan of System of a Down before this, and after listening, I’m still not. There’s more musicality to this than I expected, and the cultural history of the band certainly shines through in the song. But the angst and the weird pitchy singing just did nothing for me. One or two songs were okay, but overall I mostly just wanted the album to be over. I can see why it is on the list, but it won’t ever be for me.
Snap best dat het allemaal goed en lijp is, maar dat geschreeuw maakt het in vlagen gewoon echt herrie imo. Zieke drums, gitaar en teksten.
Hard Metal aus Armenien/ Kalifornien
ik wou dat je halve sterren kon geven. Ik zou deze 1,5 ster geven dan.
At least there was some variety in the garbage
i don't hate it
A bit more palatable than most metal but still not for me
Ok 2/5
Not really my thing.
really not my vibe at all
Hård musik som jag haft oturen att se live. Det är inte hårt så bra.
This was better than I had remembered it but still not my kinda thing.
This didn’t do a lot for me
Sorry to my neighbors
I disliked more then I liked. It seemed cheap when he dropped into generic metal voice.
Hmm, I’m ok with some of Toxicity out of familiarity, but there’s not enough on their self-titled to keep me happily entertained. It’s a bit too harsh for my taste.
Heavy, seems angry, music for mass shooters. Not my jam.
This was too many System Of A Down songs for me. Maybe one in isolation would work
Too noisy. I love their acoustic or piano covers of their best of songs. Not this...
2.5
Not for me really, it all just blended into one.
One recognizable song
I really wanted to like this album more, because I love the general sound and Eastern musical influences that make “System” unique, but I found a large portion of this album to perhaps be a little too noise-rocky, a little too repetitive, and dare I say, a little too boring because of it. Favorite tracks: Spiders, Mind
caca de vaca
Buoyant, sure, but oh so boring. The fake and giggling voices take away from the total heavyosity.
Eh? Like rock elements but wtf is that’s screaming
Not my bag
For me and my generation, this is the worst band hands down. It’s not even close.
Not a fan
Why?
Probably would be a 5 if I were 14 and mad at my paarents
Two disks and in all that work these guys manage to show a little bit of range, but mostly it's just burp and growl, roar and scream. Stop. Just no.
It's amazing how something so full of energy and musical talent turns into something repetitive and dull so quickly
Hatte ich schon
Too noisy.
Typical heavy metal riffs but some interesting interludes that hint to a more interesting sound. Unfortunately we always come back to the relatively uninteresting metal guitar chords that do nothing for me.
“Punk”-type of metal. Started out good but got old fast. I like the instrumentation but hate the vocals.
heavylongo, siniestro, voces de loco.
Fan of the band but not their finest work.
A bit too hardcore for me didn’t really enjoy that.
i could see how someone could enjoy this but that someone is unfortunately not me
Varied between “this is almost unlistenable” to “hmmm this does sound like music, but it’s not really my thing.” Didn’t hate it as much as I expected I would from the first song, but it’s sure not my thing.
Yeah This was a bit too much
The last couple of weeks I’ve had quite a few entries that just aren’t my thing. I’m glad other people like this. I sure don’t. 2/5
I was entranced with Stijn's review. I was excited to listen to the album. But then I listened to it. Guess I had to be in that tent as a young impressionable kid... The tents in my area were listening to Green Day and RHCP.
no se on musiikkia... kait... kai tämä huutaminen on musiikkia... kai sekamelska lasketaan nykyään kait musiikiksi... kait ihmeellinen Just Nu Crunchy Nacho-.. På vattenfall böio en vditt fossltila elevtal!!!! till fast roligt!! en timpris!!!! uppttig månade till tusen läppar nuuja kjusta kommpisser... jaa ja mainokset loppu heh katokku ei hirveen pitkään jaksetakkaan sitä myllytystä pittää yllä kun niin lyhyitä biisejä ettei ehtinyt vaihtaa heh ei osata myllyttää kun 2011 suomi-ruotsi konsanaan myllytystä kolmas erä.... yliarvostettu kakkapökälehän tämä koko bändi on mutta parempi sentään kun kornit ja sun muut niin annetaan ruusuja hohhoijjaa... sugar
Witty, gothic rambling, followed by shouted repetition, followed by short guitar stabs, followed by noisy guitar wall of noise and shouting. Repeat.
Not for me.
Good God. This is dire. Hate it. The audio version of The Emperor's New Clothes
Relativt fort glømt
Just not my thing.
volte urlare è utile per superare un brutto momento, e in effetti superate le prime canzoni urlanti l'album migliora
3/10 - Peephole has some clown music playing. The whole album can be surmised by "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Metal bad. At least this was a little different
Tiresome.
4 songs angehört, mag metal noch immer nicht aber das bissl mehr
Their later stuff is better, 2.5
Reminds me of my friend Tony. I like Tony more than I like SOAD.
I knew as soon as I saw this I wasn't going to be super into it, and I was right. It's a bit screamy for my liking. There's clearly an audience though, this thing sold a lot of albums. I will say that, while I don't particularly like it, I think it's a little bit better than some of the other heavy metal I've gotten on here. The singer has a pretty impressive range and the lyrics have some reasonably ok moments (though the topics are pretty heavy). I also legitimately liked the song "Spiders", it's a bit toned down and I thought it was solid, I'm giving this a 2 for that alone. Favorite song: Spiders Other: Sugar, War? 6/20/24
first listen. I liked a couple of SOAD songs when I was in primary/middle school but this album is so boring
Good album but I didn't enjoy listening to it. High 2.
My coworker Doug would be SO pleased I listened to all of it
I respect this. But I have to be honest with myself that I didn't like listening to it.
Nope, not for me.
Not for me. Don’t really see how it would be for anyone
I find this one of weakest albums in Systems discography. Its not bad, but i like their more melodic but crazy side. Not bad but i would out any of their other albums on the list.
Not a fan.
I was worried when I saw this pop up. I always put these guys in the Slipknot/Korn category. So I was a tiny bit surprised to find more emotional depth and subtlety to their songs than I expected. Still, not my kind of music at all.
This is kind of fun, but this harsh screamy type of metal is not something I would choose to listen to again.
I was really willing to give this album a chance, and I did. On the bright side, it's anything but boring; SOAD makes an effort to stand out with interesting aural, lyrical, and vocal decisions, keeping them from fading into the dense abyss of unoriginal loud music. That said, the yelling/screaming/roaring quickly becomes obnoxious -- and almost irredeemably so.
A volte urlare è utile per superare un brutto momento, e in effetti superate le prime canzoni urlanti l’album migliora
OMG, can you please stop yelling?
Recognizing the band name, I couldn't say if I'd ever actually listened to their music. The name brought either Grunge or Metal to my mind. The first song's first verse had my thinking, "punk" and the quickly caught its metal edge. With lyrics like, GRWOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR, GWROOOOOOAAAAR" how can one argue? Man, I want to appreciate Metal, but...
If I liked nu metal, I guess I could give props to this band. At times the nose included hints of Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Kennedys & even Focus, a vintage I can savor, but there are other notes of utter bullshit. Bitter finish.
Just comes down to personal preference, but I have a hard time getting into heavy metal. This didn't exactly win me over.
They're good musicians. Such a shame they choose to make such irritating music.
Not my thing, but Serj Tankian has a one of a kind rock voice.
Pros: the songs are short. Most are based around some semblence of a tune. Cons: They all sound the same. Generic late 90s thrash I am afraid.
Bit screamy for me
I feel like Serj Tankian was a theater kid. Some of this (like CUBErt) reminded me of Dead Kennedys. Anyway, overall not my thing, though I see the general quality of it.
Ya know, I didn’t hate it as much as I expected to but this is not my fave type of music. There were definitely some musical elements that I liked but then the screamo bits came in and I hit skip … so I listened to about 30 seconds of each song lol
Better than slipknot
hmmmmmm, chloe used to listen to System of a down and i heard some songs that she would play and i didn’t mind them, idk if that changes with age, but some of it was just so jarring. i wanted to like it but simply couldn’t enjoy the majority of it, however i didn’t hate it…
No songs added 6.6
Its not bad in the way being kicked in the balls isn't bad compared to being stabbed in the throat.
Yoicks, a barrage of shouty metal. Quite exhilarating but it doesn't make for a high quality album. 2/2
Didn't age well
I thought I was going to like this based on the SoaD songs I’ve heard, but I found it mostly dull and, at times, annoying.
I am very sorry their parents got divorced, but I'm not sure why it has to be taken out on me. There are some interesting songs here and I guess if you want to know who is to blame for Limp Bizkit this is a crucial album.
Ich mag die Band, aber das fand ich doch eher langweilig.
- 2.5 ..... doesn't hold up -
Spiders, that is it.
For people that like this sort of thing this is probably a very good example. For people that are browsing the genre, it's not exactly going to spark a lifetime's fanship. Probably better full of beer in a field and yelling along.
This shit is stupid! Also, I was thinking that this album sounded poorly mixed, then I checked and got confirmation that it was produced by Rick Rubin. Loudness War criminal he is! I don’t particularly dislike this album, there are better songs like “War?” and “P.L.U.C.K.”, but I gotta draw the line somewhere. Too many things to let it slide
Vill inte hata alltså bandet är jättetight o de verkar som att de e kul att spela med i musiken om man kan. Musiken är bara motsatsen till min grej. Han går från att göra Ct. Dracula till att låta som en sextonåring som gör zombie voice till att låta som evanescence! Inte för mig
Heavy metal Some emo shit right here 2.8/5
I imagine that if I ever find myself as a fan of metal, then this would be an album that I dig. Because I am not such a fan, I did not really dig it at all…although, it certainly could have been worse.
No, thanks.
Not really my type of music. Extreme heavy metal alt sound done very well I'm sure.
Not really my type of music.
There's a couple cool moments in this album, with Spiders and Sugar being the standouts. However, the speed and energy that is the clear upside of this album doesn't feel very cohesive. Little too screamo for me.
Nope
This album is ok. I'm not the biggest SOAD fan, but I enjoy some of their songs, and this album is no exception. There's only a couple of songs that I enjoy, and all the other songs are either too screamy or just have some weird noises going on that I don't like. But when SOAD hits, it really hits. I'll keep listening to the couple songs I like, and won't touch the rest of the album. 2/5 Favorite song: Soil Worst song: Darts
Alright - I guess my time has come. Time to listen to a System of a Down album. 'Suite-pee' - oh no. But after listening, I'll give this some begrudging respect. This could've been a lot worse. It at least has its own identifiable sound and explores it with a little more humor than most of the bands like this coming out at the turn of the century. I don't know that I'll listen to this again, but I get it.
Fans will think it tough and tenacious, others tedious and turgid.
Pretty boring and lacked dynamic for me. It was the same thing the whole time, noisy, yelly, annoying
It did make me chuckle listening to this kind of music while in the office. But yeah, not my thing.
Nope. too crunchy.
Gee, I was excited by the instrumental intro to the opening track, but then the vocals kicked in. I find it funny that this is lumped under Heavy Metal. The vocal style reminds me more of The Dead Kennedys than heavy metal. Anyway, I gave it a listen. I can see the point. But it’s just not my bag, as they used to say. Very clean Rick Rubin production does it all the favours.
I do not like the singing, it is bad.
gritos encima de riffs. hubiera sido escuchable si el tipo se callaba.
Not my cup of tea.
Sure
Couldn’t do it. I like Chop Suey but their stuff is just too aggro
SoaD gives me bad memories
Album 27 of 1001 System of a Down - System of a Down Favorite Track : Soil Rating : 2 / 5 Why so angry? Not really my thing but I see who those who like it would like it. Had flashbacks of Sam Kinison. Lots of yelling. Just never got off on this stuff.
Niestety nie dla mnie, ale rozumiem wpływ
nah again does this not give you a headache. it gives me a headache.
It’s more enjoyable to listen to than most metal, for whatever that’s worth. But that’s like saying this spoiled chicken is well seasoned. Just not my taste at all.
Not really my style of music.
Ik vond Toxicity toch een stuk interessanter en catchier. Dit voelt voor mij toch meer als een wedstrijdje 'hoe prop ik zoveel mogelijk woorden in een nummer'
Ik vind het ergens wel fascinerend, en ook knap dat ze het zo lomp en strak kunnen spelen. Maar er is behalve toen ik 18 was op de dansvloer van de Boulevard, geen enkel moment te bedenken waarop ik dit kan en wil luisteren.
The production is superb - every instrument has its place in the soundstage and Serj Tankian's vocals are as all over the place as they could be. Unfortunately, I'm not an angsty teenager, and I was a long way past teenage angst when this even first came out, so it is actually pretty much lost on me. I love the drumming. I even quite enjoy the bass. But the overall picture is one that doesn't appeal a jot, which is a shame, because the people who profess love for NuMetal seem to care very deeply indeed for it. I find that with my middle-aged ears, the most striking thing about this album is how fucking fatiguing it is. The odd thing about it is that despite clear care and attention that's gone into the production - it is compressed like nobody's business. Thanks, the loudness wars. I guess, in a historical context, the vast majority of people listening to this would have been either American teenagers in shitbox American starter cars, those with a Discman or a minidisc player or - and I somehow think this is the most likely - hearing it played off downloaded or ripped MP3s through beige plastic Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 computer speakers. Everybody seemed to have those, back in the day, but they simply couldn't cope with anything that wasn't a very narrow band of bass or midrange. Anyway. This isn't for me. If it is got you - great.
iiwii
I tried to listen to this, but it's just not my thing. I listened to the first song and was like, "Oh, okay, here we go! =)" And then I got less and less enthused. In small doses, I like System of a Down okay. A whole album is a lot for me. It probably has merit, but I am not the right person.
Best: Sugar Worst: CUBErt I would have enjoyed it more in the gym
I didn't really get into this album. There is a lot of screaming. I am familiar with some System of ta Down but I don't think I knew any of the songs. I don't think i will revisit.
Never wanna hear this shit again. Just not for me.
From what I read I would be on the same page as the lyrics but I just can't listen to them.
Most songs not for me.
Sorry if this makes me basic but I prefer their fun stuff
A OK metal album. Bit mad in places! I always quite liked the singer's Armenian accent mixed with the metal music.
Tis not for me
I can respect it but really not my sound at all
Heavy indeed. Effective if you feel frustrated and in need of help for steam exhaust. Otherwise annoying
Never going to like this. I like old school heavy metal but not this, is it thrash metal? To be fair there is a bit of variation in one or two tracks, but otherwise this is wasted on me
ja dit is niet mijn ding
Right off the bat, there are a lot of lyrics that are pretty gross and hateful toward my personal religious beliefs, so I feel like I'm starting off on the wrong foot with this album. That being said, the instrumentation on this is great. Guitar, drums, and bass are all top-tier and really enjoyable to listen to. Serj's voice on the other hand... I think he has a great screaming voice, and even his singing voice is unique and I could get into. But all of the theatrics are cringy and feel very forced. Favorite track - Spiders Least favorite tracks - Suite-Pee, Sugar
I feel like I would need an 8ball and a felony conviction to fully enjoy this album. I love SOAD’s later albums like Mesmerize and Toxicity (classic), but this album was a bit much. I also listened to it while I was super tired and driving home at night. I’ll listen again soon and I might be a bit more into it. I’ve been a SOAD fan for years though.
not my typa music but is alreet
Nope
This isn't great - I've listened to their slightly later stuff and it's a fair bit more tuneful than this. Full of energy, which is a positive, and you can actually hear the lyrics, which is unusual for this type of music and another positive, but ultimately it's just not a pleasant or particularly interesting listen. 2/5.
Awful
Jeez. 40 minutes of nu-metal prog rock. I guess if you think Tool and Limp Biscuit would be a great combination, enjoy this one. I only sat through the whole thing is so that I could actually said I listened to it. Are these guys talented? Sure. Is it well produced? Sure. Could I stand it? No.
i’m sorry man, i just can never get there. i respect serj as a frontman and songwriter but, eh
Not my cup of tea, sorry
Catchy, and some good songs but just too heavy for me
I wouldn't say this is for me but it was less worse than I thought. In the end I was able to make it through the whole album, but barely.
Not for me
Didn't really do it for me.
Not my type
Some nice vocal trickery by Serj Tankian. I like Rage Against the Machine, but this band just doesn't have the same groove as Rage does. If I was young and angsty, maybe this would do it for me, but I'm not.
Absolutely not for me, but I understand the value
1/13, 8%
Well I will say I enjoyed it more then I thought I would, but I'm just not a metal person. I think whether or not you will enjoy this album comes down to the simple question of "Are you a metal fan?". If the answer is yes, then I would think you would really enjoy this album. If not, I wouldn't bother. One can surely appreciate the musicianship from the musicians on display in this band. As well as this, I appreciate the way they weave alternate genres into the songs along with the metal. I probably sound like a 60 year old man with this review, but its just overall not for me. 2/5
I dug soil. The rest was shite.
Poor album
30th September 2022 Listened in the day while picking Gareth up from Cheltenham and getting things ready for people coming this weekend. Not really my thing, too metal.
Hmm It's pretty full on. I didn't hate it, but I don't think I'd listen again
So not my lane
Not for me
Not my thing
Bleah alt metal
I can see people liking this. Good debut album for the band, but I hated it through and through.
A front cover that always reminds me of the introduction to 'The Tomorrow People', a 1970s sci-fi for children, that tried to be ITV's equivalent to Doctor Who but with even less budget and even worse special effects. I can't get this band. It's the weird mix of being angry men but also possibly trying to add in some humour but just ending up sounding manic and a bit deranged 2.5 stars if I could give it.
Very sorry to system of a down but i just couldn’t have had something further from my vibe monday morning
I can understand why or how some people like this but I just don't get it. 4/10.
Tää on vähän tällästä numetal-haparointia. Mun mielestä tätä Seuraava levy Toxicity ansaitsee paikan tällä listalla, tämä taas ei. 2/5
Not my favorite SOAD album, but very unique sound when you want to get some anger out
Down, down, deeper and down.
nu nu nu shazbot
Extremely raw. The double album is still king.
Doesn't do it for me at all. I even like hard rock but this is awful.
Hér eru flott og hress lög, sérstaklega þegar Tankian syngur, en inn á milli eru þetta bara læti. Skil að fólk fíli heildarpakkann, en þetta er ekki fyrir mig nema stöku sinnum.
Hm. Not my music, but I know this is musically not awful. A couple of punk-like moments on Soil (yay), and the opera-like moments are interesting (but a lot of the vocal theatrics—like in Mind—are not). I will never choose to listen to this, but two stars feels harsh. 2.5 stars but rounding down—a tolerable two?
4/10. What's with that song where he yells about the Kombucha? This was like bland metal meets the Talking Heads, and that wasn't a combo I enjoyed, certainly not for an hour.
Dunno what he has against kombucha. 3/10
In DDevil, the lyrics say "loud and noisy". Yep, loud and noisy. Listening to SOAD gives me an anxious feeling in the upper right quadrant of my torso and I feel quite relieved when it is over. I get that people love them. The energy is real and raw. I just can't be one of those people I'm afraid.
That's a System Of A Down I don't know. I love them more complicated and diversed. 2 for this one
Turkey is a lovely place to go on holiday. System of a Down do not support this view
Probably a 2.5. Influential, but not a style of metal I tend to love
I know a lot of people who were into this band. I wasn't, but at the time this record came out, I don't think I even knew about System of a Down. It wasn't until Toxicity that I heard their music. 1998 was a year when I took a different "fork" in the musical road than the SoaD path. I liked some heavy bands, and my favorite band at the time (Smashing Pumpkins) were getting heavier (with the exception of the Adore record), so my mind was open. But also, Radiohead's "OK Computer" made me realize this tough guy bullshit was unsustainable. If you don't believe me, watch the documentary on Woodstock '99. I want to give this a 1/5 because I'm feeling saucy, but then I have to remind myself how much better this record was than what, say, Cold, or Staind, or Korn, or Limp Bizkit, or Creed was doing at the same time. So, it's punching above its weight at 2/5.
Highly frenetic album on a day when my soul cried for soothing. Yea I get it. The guy can tweak the strings impressively fast. Oy!
I appreciate the musicianship and the unique sounds presented by SoaD. But metal/nu-metal isn't really my jam. I owned their follow up album (Toxicity) but never was able to listen to that one completely. 1.5/5
I kind of get it. At times I like their style, it's very iconic and individual unlike some of the other heavy metal albums we've had, I just don't particularly like it in my ears.
Not really my cup of tea. Not bad as such but it didn't really engage me.
Can definitely do worse than System of a Down in terms of nu metal but it still isn’t the greatest. Not horrible by any means
2 stars for the passion and dexterity, but otherwise it sounds horrible
Most definitely not my thing. Might be more tolerable if the vocals were a little less....aggressive? I think there were 2 songs that I could possibly enjoy in another context, but in this context 2.5 🌟
some bangers but mostly not to my taste
le mec est vénère
Not for me, but I can see the appeal
O was there when this was trending, I remember and like many of these songs but 24 years later I just don’t get any joy from this… I heard once that metal (in its many forms) is a teenage phase, and that men who don’t grow out of it don’t grow out of teenage either, maybe it’s true
I am so. Tired. Of this long stretch of man-rock. I can't even care. This is right on the edge of my tolerance
Not my cup of tea yo
I'll give it 2 stars for the production. It's very slickly produced but not my thing at all.
Nothing against them, just not my style
Yeah what I imagined. Ok I guess
La verdad que cansa. O sea no me pareció una mierda pero me pareció un gran tema largo. Pasa mucho con el metal que suele ser bastante lineal. Le pongo 2 pero me gustaría ponerle 5/10.
System of a Down by System of a Down (1998) Four young American men of Armenian extraction have some serious beefs with religion, politics, social constructs, interpersonal relationships, and historical indignities. Some of these beefs are entirely justified (e.g., the Armenian Genocide in “P.L.U.C.K.”). They choose heavy metal, an appropriate métier, to express their ire, and on some levels, it works. While it cannot be denied that System of a Down takes metal to another level, their work is tainted by Serj Tankian’s limited (and elvish) vocal delivery, and an anti-melodic savagery that distracts from the art. Apart from that it’s pretty good, and it has its moving moments. But then they move on. A listener struggles to laugh and rage simultaneously. 2/5
I will give them credit for a unique sound. But though songs like spiders are dark and aggressive, too many songs are handicapped by a singing style i don't particularly like... a novelty crooning metal opera. It becomes tiring after a while. The music is better than the vocal delivery.
This album lacked all the Armenian/classical training vibes that, to me, are the strengths of System of a Down. Rarely, he lets his voice shine and you see glimpses of the songs they became famous for, harmonic, beautiful and melancholic. This album seems to fall into the many pitfalls of hard rock from the era, it feels immature, like music for teenage boys. I was expecting at least one of their classics to float this album up, but it never came. 2.
Va ser força reconegut quan va sortir, una mica d'aire fresc enmig de tot el gruix del nu metal que dominava l'època. Ara, però, es fa difícil d'escoltar. Molt del moment i tot i la seva originalitat els temes no destaquen i molts d'ells són directament mediocres. Una banda que va anar de menys a més, indiscutiblement
They yell a lot, it's a bit exhausting.
Erm, not really my thing. I'm sure it's a good album for those who enjoy System of a Down, but I didn't find it the most enjoyable.
I am angry, laakee music, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH, OOOOoooOOOOOooooOOOOO,
Vocalist has a cool voice, but otherwise not much here for me
Not my type of music, but it was pretty decent. I would give it 2.5 / 5 if possible.
Cool song transitions. So incredibly loud.... really heavy too heavy
Not even as good as toxicity
Fun guitar work. Otherwise, not really my thing
Yeah I'd have liked this 20 years ago. But now it's just edgy crap. Some weird portmanteau of punk, metal and alternative that really doesn't make the mark anymore.
Not my style
Wild & Crazy !!! Not a fan but makes for interesting listening.....Spiders was my favorite
Meh. Wea esquizofrenica si
It's Nu Metal. It didn't age well. There are much worse examples of it though.
Nah.
It’s not for me Clive
Really average listinening , some tunes pop up
heavylongo, siniestro, voces de loco.
not taken by this