wandering_mage's Full Review: Toxicity by System of a Down
Following the underground mole-people insanity emanated from the brilliance that was System of a Down, the likewise-named band follows up their self-titled debut with a metallic masterpiece that will forever place them on the metal map, known by all as Toxicity. But, is it overrated? Is this truly the band's greatest masterpiece? No, it is not. In fact, this is, by far, SOAD's worst album, by all accounts. With that said, Toxicity is, indeed, a second masterpiece. Or, disasterpiece? Same thing.
You best know SOAD. If you are currently unaware of who SOAD is, you need be caned in the most relentless fashion available, your lifeless corpse dismembered into 4 units, and mailed to each band member. Ahem. Yeah, SOAD is really popular now. But, boy, were they popular in 2001! Songs like Chop Suey!, Toxicity, and Deer Dance really made the band a name, even though none of these particular singles reflect the band's best work. Take in mind, as I write these words, SOAD is, by far, my favorite band, and all of the band's currently released material lays proudly in both my CD case and iPod.
Serj matures in Toxicity. He reveals his eastern ethnic style, and it dominates the record, wherelse a fast, insane, and utterly hilarious Serj dots brilliant parts of the album. His lyrical style changes dramatically, as the album is dominantly meaningful, whereas the lyrics in the debut were dominantly meaningless. The prime example that SOAD is a "stickin it to the man" band emanates from the opening track, Prison Song.
Daron Malakian matures in Toxicity. His dominantly discordant harmonies from the debut are mostly done away with, and he dances with his guitar under fast, colorful, tribal, ethnic, and sublime melodies throughout the album. He tries many new things, such as a Spanish-acoustic intro in Chop Suey!, a Greek-dance bridge in Science, not to mention a viciously odd guitar tone which dominates a large portion of his brilliant performance on Toxicity.
Shavo Odadjian is indeed an awesome bass player. Though virtually all the music in Toxicity is written by Daron Malakian, Shavo has his feel to it, and works well with Dolmayan's drums.
One complaint. Dolmayan. Possibly the best drummer. Gone. Sure, he adds groove with Odadjian. But, that's it! He was the dominant sound in SOAD's self-titled debut, and he takes a knee, gallantly though it may be, to the newfound melodies of Tankian and Malakian.
Altogether, Toxicity is, essentially, a redefinition of SOAD as a metal entity. Each song is its own epic. The album does not work like a film, if you will. Rather, it works as a collection of small, perfectly captured scenes with something completely different to say. While Toxicity contains many of the band's best songs (all are 5-star in my book), the songs work individually, rather than flow into each other, (making, therefore, one large epic) like they did in the previous album, and like they continued to do afterward. Because of that, Toxicity, masterpiece though it may be, remains System of a Down's weakest album.
Prison Song, one of SOAD's greatest songs, even though it is highly unmusical. The intro is a cacophonous guitar chug line accompanied by Dolmayan's snare slam. But then...SOAD recovers that garage sound with a chugging harmony from Malakian's days of old. I do like the garage SOAD, found rarely outside the band's debut. Tankian dominates the song, however, with his highly political lyricism. The percentage of the Americans in the prison system has doubled since 1985-THEY'RE TRYING TO BUILD A PRISON! is said notelessly by Tankian's, which reflects his blend of music and activism. While Tankian is a lyrical genius, it is undeniable that I despise overly-political bands. However, SOAD is just such a stick-it-to-the-man band, that they not only get away with it, but their realism is not only believable, but fulfilled, given that pretty much every SOAD concert is a benefit for numerous charities the band supports.
Needles is just a weird song. Pull the tapeworm out of your ass-HEY! (Repeat multiple times)-so goes the song's chorus. Pointless? Sure. This is another one of SOAD's songs that everyone holds to have a certain meaning, when the song really has no meaning. They sometimes hide their meanings, such as in Deer Dance, but trust me. Needles means nothing. But, is it a brilliant, and flawless song with headbanging galore? God, yes.
Deer Dance, as most discern, is simply about foreign country occupation, much like our own in Iraq. Pushing little children-with their fully automatics / They like to push the weak around! It's really just about past genocides. We can't afford to neutral on a moving train goes one of the most exciting lines. Malakian dominates the song later on, with his Greek-mandolin-like hybrid playing that cannot be described due to language barriers. Brilliant song.
Jet Pilot. WTF, you know? How is it that a band can write such meaningless lyrics into a song that lay within a highly political album? More confusing, however, is the fact, that the lyrics remain highly artistic to the particular taste, which many systemites share. Wired were the eyes of the horse on the jet pilot / One that smiled when he flew over the bay!
X, read "multiply," is one of the album's best. It can be best understood as a song about over-population of the human race. Tankian dominates this one with his repetitive, catchy, discordant melodies that only his voice can execute properly.
The following song, Toxicity's biggest single, is indeed cool. It begins with a Mexican-style harmony from an acoustic Malakian, then is intersperesed with his guitar licks, then finally punctuated with his "chug." Wake up (wake up) - Grab a brush and put a little makeup / Hide the scars to hide away the shakeup / Why'd you leave the keys up on the table? / Here you go, create another fable goes Tankian's verses followed by the softer, slower chorus I don't think you trust...in...my...self-righteous suicide / I...cry...when angels deserve to die. There are three guitars, multiple tempos, and senseless messages all in one song, and somehow, it works. But then, pretty much every SOAD song does the same thing, in a completely different way, and therein lies the band's strength. Chop Suey! was randomly chosen to be the breakout testament to that, and therein lies this particular song's strength. Because, really, this song doesn't stand above some of the album's better, lesser-known songs.
Bounce, in a highly comical way, relays an erotic story. Jump, bounce, up down, POGO! / I went out on a date with a girl a bit late - she had so many friends! / I brought my pogo stick just to show her a trick - she had so many friends! / Jump, bounce, up down, POGO! / Unannounced twister games - all players with no names / They lined up double-quick, but just one pogo stick! / Everyone gets to play, run away, expose - it was so exotic! This is some of Tankian's best lyricism in my book.
Forest is a dominantly instrumental song, helped along with Tankian's brilliant harmonies/melodies, and some rather odd percussion work from Dolmayan, especially in the intro.
ATWA I don't get, though I probably should. Toxicity's weakest, it plays slowly and melodically. However, it remains an excellent song.
Science is my pick as Toxicity's strongest song, as it reflects everything the band does best. Tankian remains political, Dolmayan is fast, Odadjian dots the licks, and Malakian conjurs his insanity. His chug-then-lick transitions are merciless, yet docile. Twisted, yet clean. Thereafter follows his best-ever solo. There's no sense describing the song. Just listen.
Shimmy? What the devil does that mean? I don't know. He says he wants to Shimmy, shimmy, shimmy to the break of dawn, then later tells me Don't be late for school again, boy! The album says that Tankian wrote both the music and the lyrics to this one, so I must worship his utter brilliance.
In Toxicity, bass, drums, lyrics, and even Malakian's melodies bow down to Tankian's vocals. Almost the album's second-best song.
Psycho, groupie, cocaine-crazy And, there you have it. Along with a brilliant Malakian finale.
Aerials almost takes the cake as the album's best. Almost. This is the song where Tankian shatters every vocal and lyrical rule. Singing indescribably about nothing, he harmonizes throughout the song's latter half in so sublime a way that one must must bow to worship.
All in all, Toxicity is SOAD's best album, in that every song is some of the band's best. On the other hand, it is SOAD's weakest in the sense that it doesn't work well as a whole album. I'm into albums more than I'm into individual songs, and because every song on Toxicity is its own individual epic, it works poorly as an album. Hard to describe, but I'm sure you'll make sense out of it. In any event, Toxicity is more like a collection of masterful metal songs, rather than a masterful metal album, which causes it to bow down to the stronger debut and the following Steal This Album! Less of a band, and more of a gathering of utter musical/political genius with everything and nothing to say about what you do and don't understand with music of stainless serenity, yet unrelenting dirtiness; thy name is System.
The highly anticipated sophomore album for System Of A Down truly captures what hard rock is all about. The first single, Chop Suey!, is rapidly climb...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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