System of a Down (album)

System of a Down
Studio album by System of a Down
Released	June 30, 1998
Recorded	November 1997–March 1998 Sound City Van Nuys, CA Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research Hollywood, CA
Genre	Alternative metal, heavy metal, experimental rock
Length	40:41
Label	American
Producer	Rick Rubin, System of a Down
System of a Down chronology
System of a Down (1998) Toxicity (2001)
Singles from System of a Down
"Sugar" Released: September 27, 1998 "Spiders" Released: February 1999

System of a Down is the debut album by American heavy metal band System of a Down, first released in 1998. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on February 2, 2000. Two years later, after the success of Toxicity, it was certified platinum.

Overview

The cover artwork is from an anti-fascist, World War II-era poster designed by the artist John Heartfield for the Communist Party of Germany, which was contemporary with and directly against the Third Reich. The text on the original poster is: "5 fingers has a hand! With these 5 grab the enemy!" This slogan inspired part of the text contained on the back of the System of a Down album: "The hand has five fingers, capable and powerful, with the ability to destroy as well as create". Later, it is written in bold letters: "Open your eyes, open your mouths, close your hands and make a fist".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Sputnikmusic

Q magazine (10/01, p. 152) - 4 stars out of 5 - "This remains an excellent starting point for this most curious bands".

The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Music critic Piero Scaruffi includes System of a Down at number 43, just after Iron Maiden's self-titled album and before Satyricon's Dark Medieval Times, in his classification of the best metal albums of all time.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Suite-Pee"	Serj Tankian	Daron Malakian	2:32
2.	"Know"	Tankian	Shavo Odadjian, Malakian, Tankian	2:56
3.	"Sugar"	Tankian	Odadjian, Malakian	2:33
4.	"Suggestions"	Tankian	Malakian	2:44
5.	"Spiders"	Tankian	Malakian	3:35
6.	"DDevil"	Tankian	Odadjian, Malakian	1:43
7.	"Soil"	Tankian	Malakian	3:25
8.	"War?"	Tankian	Malakian	2:40
9.	"Mind"	Tankian	Odadjian, Malakian, Tankian	6:16
10.	"Peephole"	Tankian	Malakian	4:04
11.	"CUBErt"	Tankian, Malakian	Malakian	1:49
12.	"Darts"	Tankian	Malakian	2:42
13.	"P.L.U.C.K."	Tankian	Malakian	3:37
Total length:				40:41

Japanese Edition
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
14.	"Marmalade"	Tankian	Malakian	3:02
15.	"Störagéd"	Tankian	Malakian	1:19

Limited Edition bonus CD
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Sugar" (Live)	Tankian	Odadjian, Malakian	2:27
2.	"War?" (Live)	Tankian	Malakian	2:48
3.	"Suite-Pee" (Live)	Tankian	Malakian	2:58
4.	"Know" (Live)	Tankian	Odadjian, Malakian, Tankian	3:04

Personnel

System of a Down

• Serj Tankian – lead vocals, keyboards, samples
• Daron Malakian – guitars, background vocals
• Shavo Odadjian – bass
• John Dolmayan – drums

Production

• Produced by Rick Rubin with System of a Down
• Mixed by D. Sardy
• Engineered by Sylvia Massy
• Engineer/Assistant Engineer: Greg Fidelman
• Additional Recording/Finishing Touches: D. Sardy
• Assistant Engineers: Sam Storey, Nick Raskulinecz
• Assistant Mixdown Engineers: James Saez, Greg Gordon, Andy Haller
• Second Assistant Mixdown Engineer: Bryan Davis
• Extra Piano by Rick Rubin
• Photography: Anthony Artiaga
• Cover Art: John Heartfield
• Art Direction: Frank Harkins & System of a Down
• A&R Direction: Dino Paredes, Sam Wick
• Management: Velvet Hammer Management, David Benveniste
• Recorded at Sound City, Van Nuys, CA
• Vocals and Additional Recordings at Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research, Hollywood, CA
• Mixed at Record Plant Studios, Hollywood, CA & Hollywood Sound, CA
• Mastered by Vlado Meller at Sony Studios, New York, NY

Footnotes

Before some of the lyrics in the booklet for the album, footnotes appear.

• "Spiders" :

"Your thoughts, and dreams are no longer sacred, as they are exposed to a
weapon known as remote viewing and monitoring."

• "DDevil" :

"For those that control the central nervous system,
control society, and the world."

• "War?" :

"We first fought the heathens in the name of religion, then Communism, and now in
the name of drugs and terrorism. Our excuses for global domination always change."

• "Mind" :

"Mind control technology has been used by the CIA since the 1950s as part of
their non-lethal, covert weapons program."

• "Peephole" :

"The February 18 edition of Britain's NEW SCIENTIST Magazine reports that the
Geneva-based World Health Organization suppressed, under political pressure,
a report which confirmed that marijuana is safer than either alcohol or tobacco."

• "Darts" :

"Why do old societies hold the pantheon of 12 gods to be true,
while modern societies generally have one God?"

• "P.L.U.C.K." :

"System of a Down would like to dedicate this song to the memory of the 1.5
million victims of the Armenian Genocide, perpetrated by the Turkish
Government in 1915."

Booklet message

In the booklet, underneath the band member's photos, the text reads in all capitals: "Announce your anthems on the ceiling. We dance, annexed by power. Casual neckties embrace, the hungry hunger further, images rule through the media, commercial Orwellianism, producing unveiled icebergs, running transparent electrical cables, curving string ensembles, witnessed by hangings from flagpoles of souls avenged by Dr. Clock. Fresh paint, naked melting figures mixing the revolution against T.V. sentencing, at the hands of brutal men and their military business world. Let us instigate the revolt, down with the system!" This message was also found in some of the Toxicity booklets.

Chart performance

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1999	Billboard 200	124
	Top Heatseekers	1

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1999	"Sugar"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	28
		Modern Rock Tracks	31
2000	"Spiders"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	25
		Modern Rock Tracks	38

External links

• "Sugar" Live Performance Video on YouTube
• "War?" Live Performance Video on YouTube
• "Spiders" Live Performance Video on YouTube

References

• DeRogatis, Jim (September 14, 2001). "They're an Armenian band". The Chicago Tribune. http://www.jimdero.com/News2001/Sept14SOAD.htm. Retrieved April 4, 2009.