When you listen to Death metal most of the time like me, the guitar riffs in albums such as this lose their impact and the songs can get very repetitive. However you have to realise that there a lot of saving graces on this album. Some songs definitely do get tiresome, such as 'Bounce', 'X', 'Forest', 'Atwa', however others are ingenious. The reason why they are ingenious is that the lyrical content is unparalleled, the first time I listened to Chop Suey I honestly had no idea it was about suicide. When you listen to the songs you at first think they are simple, but then you realise there is a much deeper meaning to some of them as the layers fall away. The same cannot be said for many bands unfortunately. Oh and btw this is not nu metal...

Written by [user id=130590] on 25.05.2012 at 19:44

they are simple, but then you realise there is a much deeper meaning to some of them as the layers fall away. The same cannot be said for many bands unfortunately. Oh and btw this is not nu metal...

They are insane band.

Lyrically, they attack politicians, corrupt bureaucrats, crash down the whole corrupted political system, drugs and more importantly sexual intercourse( Violent Pornography!).
"Fuck the System" was their first track that i started listening to and honestly in 2003 it sounds great. I thought they will have a great career and gonna outstrip "LP" "Korn" "P.O.D." and many other Nu-Metal acts which the then ruling the charts.

This band has always favored for their controversial lyrical themes rather than music. You know...." Armenian Genocide of 1915 " and then "War" "Terrorism" and I was reading somewhere that now they will cover some "Afghan war" "Nato shit" and whatever. If i getta time I still give a couple of spins to their back catalog and enjoy the most.

Good review for a painfully mediocre album. No amount of time will disguise the fact that the songwriting is weak. I don't hear much effort or inspiration on this album. A classic to some perhaps, but a waste of time for me.

I personally don't agree that this album is their "classic" album, but I also don't agree with the review. Sure, you have a sort-of polarized album between good songs, and bad songs, but to be fair, the good outweighs the bad with this release. IMO, I see it like this:

Good:

Prison Song
Needles
Deer Dance
Chop Suey!
Atwa
Science
Tocivity
Aerials

Bad:

Jet Pilot
X
Bounce
Forest
Shimmy
Psycho

Overall, I guess it's just personal preference. I've been jamming to SoaD my entire life, so maybe they've just stuck on me more than others.

Lol that review aged poorly.

Viva Toxicity
This album is pure genius.

@Jericho: How are Forest, X and Psycho bad songs lol w/e preferences like you said

Obviously Herzebeth, you are not a SOAD fan.
Maybe Toxicity is not awesome, but it's a good album. I've been listening to their music since then; yes, it's different and weird at times, but still a fun listen; I guess it was not meant to be taken seriously, it's just for fun. Although it has its fare share of heavy riffs and catchy melodies.

Written by ADIresiduos on 07.07.2015 at 21:00

Obviously Herzebeth, you are not a SOAD fan.
Maybe Toxicity is not awesome, but it's a good album. I've been listening to their music since then; yes, it's different and weird at times, but still a fun listen; I guess it was not meant to be taken seriously, it's just for fun. Although it has its fare share of heavy riffs and catchy melodies.

Should albums only be reviewed by fans of the band? The website would just be full of 8-10 ratings for every album in that case.

Written by Belegûr on 08.07.2015 at 16:58

Written by ADIresiduos on 07.07.2015 at 21:00

Obviously Herzebeth, you are not a SOAD fan.
Maybe Toxicity is not awesome, but it's a good album. I've been listening to their music since then; yes, it's different and weird at times, but still a fun listen; I guess it was not meant to be taken seriously, it's just for fun. Although it has its fare share of heavy riffs and catchy melodies.

Should albums only be reviewed by fans of the band? The website would just be full of 8-10 ratings for every album in that case.

Gotta admit that you have a point there; but even so, I guess reviews are just a hint of what to expect from an album; I myself have learned that many times the reviews are misleading, because at times I end up liking an album which had a bad review or the the other way around.

Written by ADIresiduos on 15.07.2015 at 23:40

Written by Belegûr on 08.07.2015 at 16:58

Written by ADIresiduos on 07.07.2015 at 21:00

Obviously Herzebeth, you are not a SOAD fan.
Maybe Toxicity is not awesome, but it's a good album. I've been listening to their music since then; yes, it's different and weird at times, but still a fun listen; I guess it was not meant to be taken seriously, it's just for fun. Although it has its fare share of heavy riffs and catchy melodies.

Should albums only be reviewed by fans of the band? The website would just be full of 8-10 ratings for every album in that case.

Gotta admit that you have a point there; but even so, I guess reviews are just a hint of what to expect from an album; I myself have learned that many times the reviews are misleading, because at times I end up liking an album which had a bad review or the the other way around.

Many albums I like have bad reviews and many I loathe have good reviews. It's just like any form of media. I wouldn't really let a review put me off if I really wanted to check something out. I do like reviews and reading others opinions, but I would always want to judge for myself

I always felt that this was a party album that wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

This album do have some bad moments, but besides that, i can't disagree more with the review.
I think the "Nu Metal" movement put SOAD in a place where they don't belong. They are a good band and that is much more than any of the other ones in this movement.
And yes the album has some bad moments, but how can you say lyrics are idiotic, lyrics are fantastic and it has moments worth repeating not 50 but 100 times.

The reviewer is being subjective here, letting short sighted emotions take over. This album is rated highly across various international platforms including metal storm, yet the reviewer gives such a low score.

Never been a fan of Alternative/Nu Metal, but this record is surely one of the few exceptions. It left a good mark, no doubt.

"Chop Suey!", "ATWA", "Toxicity" and "Aerials" are amazing tracks.

So this is an average nu-metal release? NO
Is it really that good? YES