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System Of A Down - System Of A Down



8.1 | 765 votes |
Release date: 30 June 1998
Style: Alternative metal

Owners:

829 have it
22 want it
2 trade it


01. Suite-Pee
02. Know
03. Sugar
04. Suggestions
05. Spiders
06. DDevil
07. Soil
08. War?
09. Mind
10. Peephole
11. Cubert
12. Darts
13. P.L.U.C.K.

Japanese Bonus Tracks:

14. Marmalade
15. Storaged

Guest review by
Paradox0
Rating:
8.6
System Of A Down are probably best known for their 2001 smash hit album Toxicity, which was just strange yet accessible enough to garner a massive following. However, before they got their major label backing, System of a Down released their self-produced, self-titled debut.

Unlike Toxicity which seemed to have a certain polish due to major label supervision, this album could be best described as genuinely unapologetic madness. No, no, I assure you it's not that fake self-poser crap Hypnotize or Mesmerize, this sirs and madams is a flash of brilliance which afterwards makes you feel like you just finished riding Bizarro (the roller coaster, but the supervillian may suffice here to), rather than fighting through the hordes of conformity for the glory of metal. Unlike a lot of bands (or their later albums) which seem to go out of their way to seem like they were out of their minds, System Of A Down (and by that I mean vocalist Serj Tankian) just seems to be able to nonchalantly make the lyrics seem like the rants of a madman more than any kind of message throughout the song, yet oddly enough, end up being unusually catchy. The best example of this would be the song "Sugar" (although any song could showcase the tendency of the lyrics to not make any sense due to their rant-like nature), which for all I can figure out, might be about some kind of drug induced act of murder against someone of the female sex (but I'm probably far off the mark there). The only real theme throughout the whole album just seems to be opposition to any and all institution out there, just for the sake of doing so. Message? Who needs a message when you have the masses deeply and profoundly confused?

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published 11.04.2012 | Comments (9)

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Comments

Comments: 14   Visited by: 804 users
30.07.2011 - 21:27
Rating: 10
king_matt
I've always seen this album as their best, even better than Toxicity.
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http://www.last.fm/user/King_Matt
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06.04.2012 - 07:49
Rating: 9
Paradox0
Unasuming Madnes
Written by king_matt on 30.07.2011 at 21:27

I've always seen this album as their best, even better than Toxicity.

Agreed. I love how insane yet organic it feels, unlike Hypnotize or Mesmerize which felt like attempts to forcefully out do themselves by trying to be catchy like Toxicity and insane like their self titled.
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26.04.2012 - 16:56
Rating: 10
Vonpire
Written by king_matt on 30.07.2011 at 21:27

I've always seen this album as their best, even better than Toxicity.

True, me too.
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Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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24.06.2012 - 09:22
GrayWiZZarD
Account deleted
I think this album is better than Toxicity
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17.01.2013 - 01:38
Rating: 10
king_matt
Written by Vonpire on 26.04.2012 at 16:56

Written by king_matt on 30.07.2011 at 21:27

I've always seen this album as their best, even better than Toxicity.

True, me too.

Definitely. Perfect.
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http://www.last.fm/user/King_Matt
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09.04.2015 - 16:10
Rating: 10
Remo2012
Best album of System of down. Best SOD song too - peephole.
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03.03.2020 - 23:09
Rating: 6
JOPE OF STEELE
Steelemeister
Pretty average beginning. Writing as many of these super short songs is obviously saying that "we couldn't write good songs so we keep them short so they won't suck as much (as long)." I can still find a couple good of tracks on this album and "Spiders" is the sole standout song.
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My vision is augmented
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04.07.2022 - 22:57
Rating: 6
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
This is probably my favourite SOAD album overall, even though I still don't think that highly of it. There's a few tracks I thought were ok like "Spiders" and "Sugar", but the rest doesn't really do much for me tbh
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04.07.2022 - 23:12
Rating: 6
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
Written by JOPE OF STEELE on 04.07.2022 at 23:04


I'm curious on your comment how Toxicity isn't better than this

Other than maybe the title track I've never got into Toxicity, I've tried many times but it's just never happened for me
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04.07.2022 - 23:54
Rating: 6
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
Written by JOPE OF STEELE on 04.07.2022 at 23:35


C'mon, man. Even your grandmother would like Chop Suey! I think that album saved the early 2000s -- in terms of metal at least.

"Chop Suey!", "Toxicity" and "Aerials" weren't that bad I guess, at least they were listenable for me anyway but unfortunately I didn't like the rest.
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10.11.2022 - 17:05
Rating: 10
Gag reflex
All of their albums are genius but this one is my favorite.
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'The thoughts of dead babies
Wiped away with my semen'
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12.09.2024 - 14:38
Rating: 8
Metal Diogenes
A great, striking, eccentric metal album. Pretty bare bones compared to Toxicity and Mesmerize. The production is, in my opinion, particularly good. I wasn't that big of a fan back in the day, so this stuff is mostly new to me.
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You've got a lot of guts. Let's see what they look like!
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12.09.2024 - 14:44
Rating: 7
Cynic Metalhead
Ambrish Saxena
Written by Metal Diogenes on 12.09.2024 at 14:38

Pretty bare bones compared to Toxicity and Mesmerize.

Well said.

Toxicity was in her own league, and nothing ever came close to, but with Mesmerize I felt this album was sailing on the same boat. For me, Steal This Album! is the most underrated SoAD release ever.
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12.09.2024 - 16:55
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
Yeah some good tracks here, but Toxicity is a massive improvement on this sound and song writing.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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