Customer Reviews:
 Dawn of a new system March 7, 2000
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
What makes these Armenian band from LA different is the abundance of different styles and directions in their music. Definitely coming with their roots from a powerful bone-crushing hardcore metal aggression, "System of a Down" works their way into a separate music category with elements of "Deep Purple"-type hard rock of 70's, with a sarcastic voice of Serj Tankian, soaring at times into monstrous roar, or plummeting back into a husky whisper. They combine lots of different styles from aggresive rap to Armenian folk notes. They sing powerful ballads ("Spiders"), they sing cacophonic mockery tunes ("Pluck", "Peephole", "Sugar") and culminate everything with "PLUCK" - probably the most aggressive song. Their lyrics are well-formed and contain quite powerful images. This band definitely has got a lot of potential, which I believe puts them on a higher level than other similar groups like "Static X" or "Korn". Expect this band to rise to the very high grounds in the near future.
System Of A Review July 26, 2000
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Here we go. Another great Cd put out by someone in what MTV has started refering to as "the L.A. Metal Brotherhood". First off, when you buy the CD (and i know you will), read the little speach on the back. second, listen to the Cd. I'm willing to bet that a lot of you peeple are peeple who are checking out this CD 'cause you remember Sugar from Ozzfest (yes you do). Sugar is a good song and all, but by far not the best on the album. Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty of the review, the song by song analysis... 1. SUITE-PEE: Here's a strange song. starting out with that ever so strange guitar work in the beginning (the fast, high-pitched plinking) and the strange first phrase (i had an out of body experience the other day, her name was jesus). good, bordering on great, song, but i could have done with the part about "let the messiah running all through our soul". 2. KNOW: i like this song. i like everything from the begining to the end, from Serj's sarcastic regular singing, to his mostly roaring chorus singing. That's one thing i forgot to mention about SOAD; Serj has three voices: His sarcastic voice (which, as you may have guess, makes it sound like he's singing sarcastically), his roaring voice (which sounds like a lion that's pissed about everything),his melodic voice (which consumes all of SPIDERS, and at least a little from most of the other songs), and his helium voice (which you'll know when you hear it). Anyway, back to the song. Great song, excellent view of how all the gibbering sheep that make up most of society go about solving the world's problems ("let's all say different things, while people flap their yellow wings", "You never think you know, why"). 3. SUGAR: Peculiar song. Barely any of it rhymes, but the wide rang of vocal styles that Serj uses make it fun to sing along to (just listen to it, i can't even begin to explain them). Fairly good song. 4. SUGGESTIONS: good song. this is one of those songs that i can't quite figure out how to explain, but it's just... well... good. It starts out with a mellow guitar sequence, and goes into a bouncy regular singing sequence, where Surj demonstrates his melodic and sarcastic voices, and at the beginging of the "chorus" (there aren't any words, it's just guitar, bass, and drums) he reveals his screech. this pattern is followed until the slow, heavy riffage which stops abruptly before another bouncy part where surj must have sucked massive amounts of helium to have been able to pull that singing off. Good song, bordering on great. 5. SPIDERS: this song is the reason i bought the album, so this review may be a little biased. Well, first off, this is a fairly mellow song (just fairly mellow, not actually mellow) and has only Surj's melodic singing. There isn't much more i can say about this song without ending up repeating myself. Great song. 6. DDEVIL: no i did not make a typo, there really are two D's at the begining of DDEVIL's name. this is one of those songs that can be described as "get up and go". starting off with the bouncy drum rollish drumming in the begining, with the sarcastic singing punctuated by roaring, and pelted with outbursts of the helium voice. this song is actually quite funny, and you'll probably burst out laughing, whether trying to sing along to the helium voice, or reading the lyrics ("strong refridgerators, gaining independence). Fairly great song. 7. SOIL: here's a song about the hardships of dealing with life after a friend has commited suicide. what with sarcastic voiced normal lyrics (my memories are of fun, and friendship, and of victories won in the strength of youth) to the roaring chorus ("Friends for years images in red, blew off his own mother-f**king head) to the screeching battle-cry of the song ("why the f**k did you take him away from us, mother-f**ker! ). Good song, but it just isn't great. 8. WAR?: a song showing us what christianity's (and all organizations who have gone and killed people in god's name) famous battles versus so called "evil" are like from the other point of view. the song is hard and heavy in the begining, and towards the middle slows down to an almost complete stop, where "of war, we don't speak anymore" is chanted over and over, and goes directly into "we will fight the heathens, we will fight the heathens". great song. 9. MIND: to tell you the truth, i haven't really listened to this song and payed enough attention to review it. i can explain why though. the begining isn't nearly heavy enough to keep me going into the heavy part, because the only way i would stick through it is if i know there's something i want to hear on the other side. so, i wouldn't call it a good song, but there are some people who like it. 10. PEEPHOLE: this is a very, VERY strange song. i guess it's a song about drugs ("don't ever get stuck in the sky, when you're high"). the song starts out with a kind of humming sound, and has little VERY low volume clips of vocals from later in the song. then it goes into this circus music (that thing where the music goes brrrump bum bum bum brrrump bum bum bum) and goes hard for the chorus, then back into the circus music. all and all this is a very,VERY strange song, but a great one. 11. CUBErt: yet again, the name isn't a typo on my part, that's just the way it's written on the back of the case. this has got to be one of my favorite songs on the album (up there with SPIDERS, DDEVIL, and PEEPHOLE). it has this strange little fast high pitched plinking at the begining and goes into a heavy, chugging sequence. the normal singing is the sarcastic voice, and the chorus is a hybrid voice of the sarcastic voice and the melodic. the chorus is one that most outcasts can relate to (humans everywhere, canned, cliche people organs: rare). Great song. 12. DARTS: this is an ok song, but i don't like it much. the begining vocals put me off, and i can't stand sitting through the rest of the song. fair song. 13. P.L.U.C.K. (Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowardly Killers): this is the last, and one of the best songs on the album. wow. such a deverse song. starting out mellow, goes into a fast, heavy sequence, an almost alt rock normal singing, a superfast and heavy chorus, back to the alt rock, then superfast and heavy, then mellow. strange but great song. This is definetely an album for the revolutionary at heart. or the plain revolutionary. from the little "dedications" in the booklet before each song, to the songs themselves. but i have to say, i don't like how American Recordings makes all the album released under their label have the same CD sticker design. oh well. at least it's a great CD. so stop reading the reviews, and help out Serj, Daron, Shavo, and John, along with the revolution. DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM!
Great Metal April 28, 2001
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
System of a Down is one of the most influencial bands in today's metal scene. After the rap metal explosion, they were a major force in bringing metal back to its real form. Songs like Suite-Pee, Soil, and War? show the naturaly heavy side of System, while Suggestions, Peephole, and CUBErt show off their Eastern European flavor. Serj proves himself a great vocalist in Know, DDevil, and Darts, sounding like a cartoon character. The best songs are Spiders, Mind, and Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowadly Killers because they have the ability to take on their own life, and end up emotionally moving you. The only song on here that isn't above and beyond anything else in hardcore metal today is Sugar. Overall, this CD is excellent. If the thought ever crosses your mind to get a Korn CD, get this one instead. It's well worth it. If you liked this, I recommend Violence by Nothingface, Boy Hits Car's self titled, and the Dracula 2000 soundtrack, which has the rare cut "Metro" on it.
Great debut November 11, 2002
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
System Of A Down's major label debut consists of 13 heavy, bizarre, layered and aggressive songs for you to behold. They are very talented musician and people as well. Serj Tankian is a wild and crazy vocalist with disapproving views of society around him. He can has a melodic voice (See "Spiders"), a rather irritating high-pitched scream, and a few others. Sometimes you even forget that he is even on the vocals when you hear another voice. The vocals here are less emotional here than on "Toxcity" and decidedly not as good. Daron Malakian is an amazing guitarist. Although his guitar-work here is much more load and distorted, it's not quite as heavy as on "Toxcity". He goes slower here. Nonetheless, he does some damn amazing things with his guitar (check out that sound in the beginning of "Suite Pee" or the other one in the beginning of "War"). Very technical. Plus, he does some back-up vocals (though not nearly as many as on "Toxcity") that have a whiny tone. Shavo Odadjian is an average bassist. Not one of my favorites, however he is heard slightly better and more often than on "Toxcity". John Dolmayan is a great drummer but he doesn't standout all the time. He doesn't use double bass drums too much either (not that it's a bad thing). The album overall is great. It's heavy, complex, and at times thought provoking. "Mind" is great 6-minute-plus song beginning slow with sort of a jazzy-porno-movie-feel. Then it turns into a brainwashing assault of repetition and explosive riffs. There are many time-changes that jolt you back-and-forth. At one point, Daron's guitar gets up to Slayer-esque speed with would be superb for driving music. Then after the explosion is over, the noise dies down to a piece of music that sounds similar to that of the sound inside your head once you've survived a nuclear holocaust looking out at the rubble and orange clouds. It's quite a haunting song and a certain standout. It's their longest song to date. Another good one would have to be "Soil". A more serious track dealing with a forced suicide of a friend (I'm just guessing, but judging by the "Evil lives in the skin" part, I'd say it means that a voice inside the person's head told him to blow out his brains). The guitars (though heavy) are pretty melodic sounding. A solo wouldn't work to well in this case, yet Daron manages to pull one off. I know it's kinda obvious, but you don't hear that many guitar-solos these days. The song ends in a fashion where they knock you out. Listen to understand that power and intensity. "Sugar" is a knockout song if you haven't heard it so much on MTV. I didn't, so it's completely awesome. The lyrics don't seem to rhyme and they are pretty weird and kinda offensive. It's pretty much the reason why this album got noticed at all I guess. Songs like "Ddevil" "Darts" and "CUBErt" are short explosions of aggression and little gems. There are a few problems. The guitars are so loud and distorted that it can really pierce your ears at times. The production isn't top-notch; in fact it's a little sloppy. Finally, P.L.U.C.K. (Politically Lying Unholy Cowardly Killers) ends a little abruptly leaving you disappointed (at least that's what I think). Great album, not quite as good as "Toxcity", but somehow more ambitious. If you liker this, try Slipknot, Slayer, and Meshuggha (pretty much what this band is: CRAZY!). Standouts: "Know" "Sugar" "Suggestions" "Spiders" "Ddevil" "Soil""War" "Mind" "Peephole".
Its... well, um, very interesting... December 10, 1999
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
From the headline of my review you would think that my thoughts would be negative toward this cd. HA! That, my friends is FAR from the truth. Simply put, this cd kicks. Every thing from its politically orientated lyrics to its incredibly addicitive guitar sounds, this cd is just plain sweet. But not just any kind of sweetness, I mean "sugar" sweet(I am sorry but the joke had to be done)!I have had this cd for over three months and I still listen to it on a rotational basis(in between Tool, PowerMan, and Metallica). If you don't believe Serj's views, fine, but shrugg them off and say that he is some deranged pyscho! You can still enjoy this cd without having to aggree with the lyrics. While other people may not understand why you like this cd, just tell them that its their problem. This is a truely great band and I hope to see them suceed in the future. Keep up the good work! "Now let's see, when is the next time they are going to be in the chicago area. must have tickets(*drools like mindless zombie*)..."
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