Toxicity

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Those frustrated by metal's alleged role in the dumbing-down of popular music should be forced to listen to Toxicity, the superb second album by System of a Down. Raising the bar for an entire generation of metalheads, Toxicity is an album as clever as it is loud. Weaving together influences as diverse as the dark thrash of Slayer, the ranting political frustration of the Dead Kennedys, the melodic alternative metal of Faith No More and the Eastern European music of their heritage (the four band members all have Armenian roots), this is an album unlike any other--with the possible exception of their own debut. Erratic time changes and staccato riffs are complemented by vocalist Serj Tankian's outstanding voice, which can switch from a high-pitched nasal warble to the darkest of metal growls instantly. Even the songs themselves set System of a Down apart from their nu-metal peers, running the gamut from socio-political themes ("Prison", "Deer Dance") to social observations ("Needles") to cocaine-addled groupies ("Psycho"). And, lest all this seriousness get a bit much, SOAD demonstrate their wittier side on "Bounce", while the three-and-a-half-minute epic "Chop Suey!" is the cleverest metal single heard since Faith No More decided to call it quits. Infact, like FNM's rightly regarded classic Angel Dust, Toxicity marks a major step forward not just for a band, but for the entire genre of heavy-metal music. --Robert Burrow

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Customer reviews

review by: MrMellow date: 2008-06-27 rating:
System rule supreme
Their debut was stunning - there's no denying it. Mixing power, fury and at times comic instrumentation and vocals, it was always going to be a hard album to beat. But System have done it. Toxicity is an amazing album.

For those that dismiss Toxicity as 'too commercial' or 'too mainstream'. To make accessible music that still has the power and strength that nearly all of the tracks on this CD have takes a great deal of skill. How to make music sound not only familiar but also brand apsnking new and still like it has something incredibly important to say is the sign of master songwriters. And Toxicity has all of that in bucketloads.

The melodic pain of singles Chop Suey, Toxicity and Aerials counter the deliciously dark and oddly furious anger of Prison Song, Jet Pilot and Bounce. I can't even begin to describe how an album so angry sounds so melodious. Buy it now.

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review by: Critic Extraordinaire date: 2008-06-16 rating:
Greatest Album Ever Made
Seriously, this is an incredible album and System of a Down are a truly unique band that have become the success that they are through creating music like nothing heard before. "Nu-Metal" is simply a genre label that was created in order to allow other bands with a "unique" sound to belong to. This is something that System of a Down created, they were a band that stripped away that label of being a rock band and essentially created a genre of their own. Serj Tankian the lead vocalist of the band is an incredible talent of massive proportion, he's not only a songwriter but he's a poet, a visionary and a political critic. He picks out parts of the System that are corrupt and downright criminal and gives us his no holds barred approach to the system. Along with being an utter genius at what he does, I think we can all agree that listening to how some of SOAD's songs are constructed Serj Tankian is possibly a little bit insane (The good kind, not the OJ Simpson kind.)

This album is considered by many to be the Systems best album to date and from turning on track 1. Prison Song you come to realise how inventive, talented and intelligent this band really is. This first song simply points out the hypocrisy of the legal system when it comes to drugs, it points out the convenience of drugs being on our streets and less money being spent on treatment and more on prisons when research does show that treatment should receive the most money from the government. It's a brilliant song that shows quite clearly the intelligence and political mind of the band. This is something that should be brought to the mainstream more often and it's a shame that even now bands like this are looked down upon simply because of their sound.

Honestly this is an amazing album and for those fans of music in general, who keep an open mind and are quite experimental in their tastes, then I promise you will be pleasantly surprised.

My Top 5 Are

Prison Song
Chop Suey
X
Deer Dance
Needles

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review by: for people who dont have mutch time date: 2007-09-04 rating:
S.O.A.D
the best system of a down album (not as heavy as the first one but still the best)

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review by: the date: 2007-09-02 rating:
Melodic, heavy and never boring
This is the first SOAD ablum I ever heard and the intensity of it can blow you away. It has political rantings all over it but can also make you laugh with tracks like bounce.

1. Prison song 9/10. A great opener which explains how bad the prison system is and has the guitarist saying 'I grab my, smack my b**** right here in hollywood'.

2. Needles 10/10. Very heavy and they appear to be singing about a tapeworm to begin with. Then it goes calm and they sing about some tomb of some old man and then go heavy again. Powerful.

3. Deer Dance 9/10. The verses are very melodic political rantings, which is odd because the choruses are thrash metal heavy. The contrast will work for some and not for others it all depends on what you're into.

4. Jet 10/10. I like this song. The topic is stupid but is so full of energy that I'm not bothered about the horse or the shackled old man mentioned in the lyrics.

5. XY 8/10. Okay but a bit samey to the other tracks above. And we do need to multiply.

6. Chop Suey 9/10. The most well known song off the album. About suicide it starts off heavy and then goes into an emotional outbreak in the chorus.

7. Bounce 9/10. Makes me laugh. Whoever thought there would be a song about pogo sticks? Serj also makes random croaking sounds near the end.

8. Forest 10/10. Sounds powerful and intense the entire time and the chorus is pretty good too.

9. ATWA 8/10. Starts off calm and gets loud in the chorus. Okay I guess.

10. Science 7/10. This song does feel a bit samey to the other tracks. Fast and constant.

11. Shimmy 9/10. The guitars are heavy and Serj talks very fast. Nothing new BUT the chorus works very well with the song.

12. Toxicity 9/10. The first SOAD song I ever heard and this will always sound great. Serj sings/screams his heart out.

13. Psycho 8/10. Sounds drug influenced, and I swear I can hear children singing in the background...

14. Aerials 9/10. A nice melodic end and is one of the best songs. Perfect ending.

If you like metal you won't be disapointed. If you like music you should still buy this for the melodic parts and if you don't like music why do you read reviews?


review by: date: 2006-07-23 rating:
Simply Brilliant
It's hard to decide whether Toxicity or Steal This album are the better of SOAD albums, but I have to ere on the side of Toxicity. It is short and punchy, has some great riffs and some very intelligent lyrics. It is safe to say that every song kicks ass, and I'm always feeling left slightly disappointed when the album finishes! A great album and should be part of any metal/rock collection.

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