Dear System of a Down,

Your first self-titled album, I must admit, kicked a lot of @$$. It had powerful, emotional riffs, very little mixing (we all know how much I like that), and an unproduced, heartfelt, we-love-our-music sound. Then, people heard you. Lots of people heard you. Some said they'd like it a little more if it was a bit more people-friendly. Popularity and dreams of money went to your heads, and of course, corrupted your mind. What happens? You sell out. You give us this white-trash, teeny-bopping, Linkin Park metal SH*T, and it makes me f*ckin' sick to see a good band like you guys go to hell here. While this isn't necessarily bad for a teeny-bopping album, it sucks as a follow-up to one of the best records ever published. Your self-titled album was in the ranks of Weezer's "Pinkerton," or the Hives' "Veni Vidi Vicious." Toxicity is in the ranks of Nickelback's "Silver Side Up" or Alien Ant Farm's "ANThology."

Okay, I'll admit that its quality owns both of these albums, but that doesn't make it recommendable- its still a sell-out. Thank God that "Steal This Album!" kicks some major @$$, if it didn't, you guys would be totally screwed in terms of any longer being a good band. I mean, yeah, Serj, even in this piece of sh*t, can still scream like crazy and evoke emotion, and Daron can play his guitar even faster, and Shavo can provide a better bass line (being one of today's best bass guitarists around), and John- well, that guy is just blameless. While I can't enjoy some of the songs on this album too much, I can always enjoy Johnny's drums. But even with how well your personal skills work on this album, they just don't end up as orchestrated as the stuff I saw on your first album.

I won't deny that I was absolutely CAPTIVATED by "Toxicity" when it first came out. But we can't forget that was I was captivated by Adema and Linkin Park back then too- those were the angry teenager days. Then I bought your self-titled album, right when my more righteous musical tastes were starting to awaken, and realized that "Toxicity" wasn't that great. I almost forgot about it as I was enveloped by the brilliant hard rock presented on your first release. But then, I forgot about your first album, and until the release of "Steal this Album!" was announced, I had almost forgotten about you guys. So I started focusing in on you kids a little more, and then after hearing a few opinions, I went out and bought "Steal this Album!"

Not only did "Steal this Album!" get me back into SOAD, it also made me realize that "Toxicity" SUCKS. Okay, it's not terrible, but compared to what I've seen SOAD really do, it's a load of sh*t. In fact, I don't really want to pop in your CD to listen to it again, but I guess since I'm writing this letter to you, I'm going to have to.

I can't deny that the album first track, "Prison Song," is a successful teeny-bopper, sounding cool, heavy, and still likable to this day, even though its a change of style. Starting out heavy and building up into a poor representation of statistics, the song has a nice, evil sound, while somehow getting its point across, if you can understand the words. You're completely right about every thing in this song- the U.S. drug policy SUCKS. But then again, we all know that.

I used to really love "Needles," but that song gets REALLY F*CKING ANNOYING, in its talk about hate for the people that control us. It's amazing that with a song as lyrically vulgar as this that the album didn't merit a parental advisory. I mean, c'mon, "pull the tapeworm out of your @$$"? How the hell did you get with that? Not only is it incredibly annoying, its useless, and stupid. F*CK NEEDLES. F*CK IT UP ITS STUPID @$$. Thank you, Jay.

"Deer Dance" was written for all of those lost punk-rock revolutionists who says "f*ck the police" because they get caught doing drugs. And since they don't like the police, they get into all of this bullsh*t about how every cop sucks and is evil and violent, which is a load of crap- yes, police violence is a problem, but you guys make it sound like every single policeman, along with our wonderful government, is out to control and get us, when you're forgetting that they are the ones who have protected your @$$ for years and years to come. Oh yeah, you must've forgotten that part.

"Jet Pilot"- everyone, even SOAD's most hard-core fans, know that this song absolutely SUCKS. Every f*cking review I read I always read "Jet Pilot is terrible" or "Jet Pilot is the album's weak point" or some sh*t like that. I never liked this song, and when I listened to Toxicity, it was always the one I skipped. I've taken notice that this was the song that Shavo took the most participation in writng- since the guy is so f*cking stupid (trust me, I've SEEN the interviews, it figures that the song is as well.

I used to be in love with "X" too- but you guys get way too repetitive on this one, like in many of your other songs, to the point of f*cking insanity. The beat is cool, yes, that's undeniable, but the song is senseless, denying the multiplication of the human race. Doing that isn't going to solve sh*t. There are other ways to solve it- such as, MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF CHINA. I think that would help a bit.

I don't think any of us could deny the beauty of the SOUND of "Chop Suey!"- but does a single f*cking person consider the f*cking meaning of this song? It is merely another senseless "I Hate Jesus" song from SOAD. Though the beginning words, which repeat uselessly, make no sense at all, and would make you think child abuse, the chorus and finish go to prove that this song is about Christ, and it says that Christ (atheists will love this) was a selfish, crazy @$$hole who chose to die because he was sick of his life, and that he abandoned his people. While this is an opinion, I have to say that it makes no sense at all, even into all of the debate. First of all, even if his "suicide" was self-righteous, I'd like to see any of you SOAD band members go through the sh*t that he put up with, and see if you last a f*cking day- and let's also not forget that even if he could stop the events of his death, it was bound to happen anyway- do you know how many plots there were to kill this guy? So, SOAD, why don't you just shut the hell up about your anti-Christ campaign, because it is useless and senseless.

Some think "Bounce" is a just-for-fun song, but its not just-for-fun, its a song that I like for its hilarious sound, and message- it denounces premiscuity (we all know how much I love that), talking about the stupidity of orgies, and is just plain f*cking funny. I applaud you for this one, SOAD.

But what the hell were you thinking with "Forest"? Sure, the beginning, and the guitar interruptions are great, but the vocal interruptions SUCK @$$, in ways that I cannot even describe. I'm unsure what this song is really about, but I have a feeling this one might have something to do this God and Christ, and if it does, it's just another Christ-denouncer- a bad one, at that.

"Atwa" is a song of sheer SOAD brilliance, taking in a bit of good sell-out sound, and some classic SOAD "Spiders" sound- I love this song, in its Charles Manson-philosophy about apathy in society, life flying by quickly (Manson was crazy, but he does make a little sense, if you read some of his stuff). Atwa is everyone's personal favorite from the album, once more being repetitious, but great nonetheless- I applaud you guys for this one, too.

But then, more uneven sh*t- "Science", absolutely terrible in every section of the song. The weird beginning sucks. The heavy guitar sucks. Serj's vocals suck. The drums- they're not even that good. But wait! There is one good thing I seem to have forgotten! While Serj dislikes Christianity, he is a very spiritual guy, believes in a Creator (and yes, a CAPITALIZED CREATOR), and I actually think that since he also believes in a HOLY SPIRIT, that his beliefs are just like Christianity, without the Christ- get it? In Science, Serj correctly rants about how society puts too much trust in science and not enough trust in spiritual faith- spirit moves through all things, and if you have 'faith,' you know that.

"Shimmy" is the oddball of the album- somehow, and I don't know why, I manage to like this song, being about parental carelessness, waste of life, and a whole sh*tload of things, attacking practically every friggin' issue in the album- its weird, fast, and odd, but you kids did a good job on it.

Your second single, "Toxicity," is also pretty damn good- even though, of course, it is a sell-out song. Every band member puts in a good part, Shavo doing well on the bass, Serj singing beautifully with his voice, John doing his best with the drums, and Daron at his best on the guitar. You guys do awesome with this one, getting back to being the unified band you were in your self-titled, with a little teeny-bopping sound added in- but it's ignorable, don't worry. "Toxicity" does a great job lyrically and musically, and its one of the album's best tracks.

But "Psycho," kids... what the hell were you thinking? It was my favorite back in my angry teenager days, but this song makes very little sense, and for that, and its not-so-cool sound, I HATE it now. It's way too mixed at the beginning, and it repeats OVER and OVER again- an absolutely TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE song.

But "Aerials"- guys, that's just beautiful, despite the oddball bonus track you added in at the end. Its more Charles Manson, with its life bing a waterfall talk and all, its still great, and though I don't LOVE it like everyone else does, it has an indescribable beauty that I just have to respect.

But even with some of its greatness, this album is a huge disappointment. You guys seriously let the popularity get to your heads, and the way that the public flocked to this album goes to prove that you sold out. And it's way too uneven- lots of good songs, lots of f*cking horrible songs, and because of the f*cking horrible ones, and some of the absolutely horrible points included on this record, this is not a recommendable album. I apologize. Thank God you guys fixed it all up on Steal this Album! Actually, maybe I shouldn't be thanking God for that one, maybe I should be thanking SOAD... yeah.

Sincerely, Tom

Rating: C-

Recommended: No