System of a Down

[JNightshade]

I'm sure there've been threads about them before, but a quick search didn't turn any results, and I need to talk about them. So here goes:

These guys are F*CKING INCREDIBLE.

I just re-discovered them, and I'm in shock. They're miles ahead of every other band on the radio. They defy explanation. You could call it metal, but it's beyond metal. They take absolute insanity, combine it with some really hard metallic riffs, mix in a lot of Armenian/middle-eastern music, add really incredible harmonies, throw in really good/cool (and really weird) voices, and put it in a blender.

I've been listening to "Hypnotize" for like an hour straight now- it's astonishingly good. It's both beautiful and a complete headbanger. I'm getting pumped as all hell just thinking about it. The way the chord changes mesh with the melodies is unparalleled- I've never seen that done that way before. And the end, when that excellent bass line comes in, and the whole thing shifts- wow. I'm stunned.

So, what do you guys think of 'em?

[eraser]

Loved system of a down since the beginning days :). Favorite CD would be the self titled. It's just so, insane.

[sea]

http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=3202

[Bad^Hat]

Yeah, SoaD are awesome. They're totally the band that encouraged me to get into more alternative stuff and look outside of popular music... literally about the moment I heard Toxicity (the song). Doesn't seem so mind-blowing to listen to it now, but back then it was like whoa. It just... had this quality about it that I'd never really experienced with other music. It was just the right amounts of heavy, melodic, catchy, and plenty original enough compared to what I was used to listening to. I went out and bought the album first thing, actually the first album I ever bought with my own money :D

But yeah, great band, still remain one of my favs.

[Space Farm]

Horrible, Horrible band - words cannot express how bad this band is. I used to love them but I realised how bad they actually are, hopefully you guys will see this too one day. I can only hope.

[Bull Goose Loony]

Yeah, SoaD are awesome. They're totally the band that encouraged me to get into more alternative stuff and look outside of popular music.

ahaha, lol at reading that straight after reading the SA link :D I do have to admit i like the old albums though...

[_Z_Ryuken]

They make some nice noises.

[Geogaddi]

I had a quote from the song P.L.U.C.K. in my sig for a while. Excellent band, I own all of their albums.

[mirage4]

I just listent to some of there numbers

http://www.radioblogclub.com/search/0/system_of_a_down

Those guy's kick ass

[Space Farm]

I just re-discovered them, and I'm in shock. They're miles ahead of every other band on the radio. They defy explanation. You could call it metal, but it's beyond metal. They take absolute insanity, combine it with some really hard metallic riffs, mix in a lot of Armenian/middle-eastern music, add really incredible harmonies, throw in really good/cool (and really weird) voices, and put it in a blender.

Okay so I just read your post and I couldn't help but notice the part in bold text - I mean...it isn't that hard really.

How old are you JNightshade?

[resiurC]

I like their first two albums. The rest of their stuff is okay.

[eraser]

suggestions wins

[KagePrototype]

Okay so I just read your post and I couldn't help but notice the part in bold text - I mean...it isn't that hard really.

How old are you JNightshade?

Considering what populates the radio nowadays, it's hard to disagree. :P

I'm really digging some of the Hynotize / Mezmerize stuff. She's Like Heroin is a favourite, though they really need to tone down some of their zany headbangage. "Look how fast we can play our instruments! Are you paying attention to us yet?! YOU'RE NOT WATCHING!!"

[Lucid]

Rofl to think I was the one who got him back into SoaD x.x...
Not by suggestion or anything, but from a Keyra Agustina(NSFW tbh) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyra_Agustina) video.

I never really liked them that much... they're alittle too insane for my taste, but I do like a few of their songs.

[Ennui]

Don't care too much about them these days, but Toxicity was a good album that I was quite into for a while, and Steal This Album wasn't too bad.

[AçкяØñ]

They make some nice noises..

[theotherguy]

they're okay. Their stuff is just weird. I definatley don't think they have more talent than other bands, but I think they're better than say Korn or Disturbed. Still, they always alternate ultrafast cheezy slamfests with okayish melodic lines..but the guy has a very very weird voice.

To me they're like the frankensteinian fusing of hard metal, punk, and modern alternative.

[AçкяØñ]

affirmative

Your Welcome,
Ackron

[Qonfused]

I personally cannot stand SOAD. (Wow, a thing we don't agree on...)

The actual sound is okay, but the main singer is a total douche. He sounds constipated more than half the time and the lyrics are complete shit. I don't care if they're metaphors -- they're so off the wall, I feel stupid listening to it. Lines like "lies from the table cloth" and "gonna go to a party and have a good time" make me laugh in pure embarrassment for them. Again, the actual music part is okay but the main "singer's" (note quotations) voice is so ****ing annoying.

[_Z_Ryuken]

I love his voice. It makes nice sounds. The other whiny guy is pretty annoying though with his heavy accent.

[xombine]

TONY DANZA CUTS IN LINE.
That is serisouly one of my favorite songs by them even though it's so old. BYOB, Cigaro, Needles, and Chop Suey are other greats. They really are a great band that has a good beat to them. Try listening to Old School Hollywood as many times as you can in a row, it gets to you. In a good way, that is. :P

Qon: You make a good point but I don't see how you can say Serge's voice is any more annoying than Trent Reznor's.

[Qonfused]

Qon: You make a good point but I don't see how you can say Serge's voice is any more annoying than Trent Reznor's.

It's all personal taste.

[xombine]

Agreed. Even though I don't think Trent's voice is really that annoying. Mainly when I first heard NIN I thought he was, then appreciated it more.

[MultiVaC]

I can't listen to them because I really hate the guy's voice. Like some people have said, it's really annoying. A band can do everything right but if the vocals are annoying it ruins them completely. It's even okay to me if the singer isn't very talented, as long as they're not irritating.

[StardogChampion]

Horrible, Horrible band - words cannot express how bad this band is. I used to love them but I realised how bad they actually are, hopefully you guys will see this too one day. I can only hope.
Agreed.

But without the "I used to love them" part.

[sea]

I liked them at one point, and I admit that their first album and a few songs off the second are slightly above the nu metal standard, but I have no idea why I ever devoted listening time to them when there's so much better stuff out there. They're awful.

The only thing I enjoy about them is how they get exponentially worse with each release.

[Bad^Hat]

I like Serj (spelling). But he needs to *sing* more... and let up on the whiny, nasal tones he's been adopting more and more recently.

Edit - Oh, and Daron's vocals work on some songs, but only really as backup. With the exception of Lost In Hollywood :)

[sabre0001]

I like them...Daron should be kept as backup singer - i always thought they had a good mix of the two voices...

Pity they have taken a LONG hiatus though...which is apparently for creativity. Daron has formed a new band in the absence of S.O.A.D.

[JNightshade]

Originally Posted by Crisis King
How old are you JNightshade?
16. And if you're going to chalk my opinion up to youth, then you're a douchebag :|

I wasn't kidding. Listen to Hypnotize all the way through. Listen to the way the chords shift, and how the voices harmonize and meld with the chord changes. Listen to the way they combine metal and middle-eastern influences. I can understand if you hate them for the singers' voices (personally, I love the lead's voice- but that's just me), or for the lyrics (which, admittedly, are horrendous :P) but you HAVE to acknowledge that they sound... different. And THAT'S why they're miles ahead of everyone else on the radio- 99% of the crap out there is homogenized trash.

[Space Farm]

16. And if you're going to chalk my opinion up to youth, then you're a douchebag :|

I wasn't kidding. Listen to Hypnotize all the way through. Listen to the way the chords shift, and how the voices harmonize and meld with the chord changes. Listen to the way they combine metal and middle-eastern influences. I can understand if you hate them for the singers' voices (personally, I love the lead's voice- but that's just me), or for the lyrics (which, admittedly, are horrendous :P) but you HAVE to acknowledge that they sound... different. And THAT'S why they're miles ahead of everyone else on the radio- 99% of the crap out there is homogenized trash.

Thank you for your honest reply of your age. I don't want to sound like a prick so no offense, but I actually thought you were around 16-18.

One of the best things in music is finding new bands and listening to the radio for new music isn't a very good place to start.

I don't own Hypnotize, but I've got a copy of Toxicity and Steal This Album somewhere. While I thought Toxicity was great and a very fresh approach on Metal it got tied pretty quick.

Steal This Album is a very shoddy and weak release - I think at the time when I liked the band there was only two tracks I liked. Waste of money.

I completely lost interest after that and after seeing how they act in interviews it totally put me off System Of A Down because they think pretty high of themselves and they have a very "oh we are rockstars why are we wasting our time with this interview?" kind of attitude. Especially Malakian, that guy is a complete toss. I think the only guy with credible musical talent in that band is Dolmayan, I'd love to see him start up a side project - that'd be grand.

[sabre0001]

Didn't like 'Steal This Album'...

[JNightshade]

Originally Posted by Crisis King
I completely lost interest after that and after seeing how they act in interviews it totally put me off System Of A Down because they think pretty high of themselves and they have a very "oh we are rockstars why are we wasting our time with this interview?" kind of attitude. Especially Malakian, that guy is a complete toss. I think the only guy with credible musical talent in that band is Dolmayan, I'd love to see him start up a side project - that'd be grand.

That's well and good, but that has nothing to do with the music. I've never seen them in an interview, never seen how they act, never heard what they have to say. All I know is that I enjoy their music.

[Geogaddi]

I saw an interview in which they were messing with the host and answering "fellatio" to every question she asked. It was great.

[mortiz]

I saw an interview in which they were messing with the host and answering "fellatio" to every question she asked. It was great.

DUHHH! SAYIN' RUDE FINGS IN INTERVEWS MAKES ME LAUGH HURHUR :bonce:

Yeah, about time we had some 'musicians' with honest to god wit like SOAD :rolleyes: :dozey:

[D€vIL²]

I've grown to love the band, theres really not one song I don't like.

[sea]

I wasn't kidding. Listen to Hypnotize all the way through. Listen to the way the chords shift, and how the voices harmonize and meld with the chord changes. Listen to the way they combine metal and middle-eastern influences. I can understand if you hate them for the singers' voices (personally, I love the lead's voice- but that's just me), or for the lyrics (which, admittedly, are horrendous :P) but you HAVE to acknowledge that they sound... different. And THAT'S why they're miles ahead of everyone else on the radio- 99% of the crap out there is homogenized trash.I don't understand why you equate "different" with "better." You can also find tons of metal bands that contain Middle-Eastern musical influences, like Nile, Behemoth, Amorphis, Arsis, Blind Guardian, Opeth, and Dream Theater. Being "different" doesn't make them any different.

I will admit I'd rather listen to System of a Down then a lot of things, but that's no excuse for being genuinely good.

[Bad^Hat]

I don't own Hypnotize, but I've got a copy of Toxicity and Steal This Album somewhere. While I thought Toxicity was great and a very fresh approach on Metal it got tied pretty quick.

Steal This Album is a very shoddy and weak release - I think at the time when I liked the band there was only two tracks I liked. Waste of money.

Toxicity was like their "break-through" album, it's alot more clean-cut than their other stuff, but I think the stuff they've got on there is still strong, and it retains the same feel they have with their other albums.

Steal This Album is nothing but songs they cut from Toxicity and a couple others from movie soundtracks and stuff, most of them were already floating around net long before it came out. It's definitely their weakest release as an album, but as a compilation of (once) obscure content it has great value for fans.

Also, sorry, just had to point this out...

Steal This Album ... Waste of money.

:P


Found this too. Uhh... yeah, make up your own minds :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfsmbf33h0s&search=system%20of%20a%20down%20interview

[Anthraxxx]

Hahaha, she was a bitch.

[Korgoth]

Wow that uranium interview was great, first of all, they were both obviously stoned out of their minds. Second, that juliya girl is so "cliche' goth chick", if you ask me, they could see through her, thats why daron called her fake, called her a cartoon. Pretty interesting.

Want to know why i'm such a big fan of soad? Not because of their message, not because of how weird they are, not because of their videos, or their semi pop following now. But because they sound good, period. I can comprehend the music, the words mean nothing to me, the melody, the hooks, they attract me to them. And if I knew why that was, I could potentially harness that and be the best musician ever. But in reality, no one knows why you like something. They are like apple jacks, you just do. And here is a little counter balance for ya'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JAHdI2e6uY&search=daron%20malakian%20guitar
(pretty down to earth here, and yet still stoned it would seem haha)

and some of the shit they say during concerts, the prelude to songs, and the little jams they do are great, they are good show men. And a decent live act actually. (youtube has plenty of live performances, look for big day out, and lowlands, good stuff)

[mastag]

i love soad. i can listen to spiders 6 consecutive times and not get tired of it. my favorite song tho is soldier side.

[Russian Mafia]

What a coincidence, I'm listening to them right now.