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Posted: Sep 29, 2005 - 08:41 PM
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Cigaro
Joined: May 10, 2005
Posts: 2531
Location: Buffalo, NY Where SOAD never comes for a show!
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Released in 2001, Toxicity had been highly regarded among most System of a Down Fans as the best album they have ever released (This depends wether or not they liked Mezmerize or will like Hypnotize). Some of the best songs they have ever made have come off this very albums and made it as wide known singles. Songs such as "Chop Suey" and "Toxicity" have made radio and television play worldwide. Blending metal, rock and blues with political lyrics System of a Down has spread a wave of political awareness more successfully than most other bands.
System of a Down is:
Serj Tankian - Vocals and Keyboards
Daron Malakian - Guitar and Backing Vocals
Shavo Odadjian - Bass and Backing Vocals
John Dolmayan - Drums
Album Cover and Name: 10/10
The cover is extremely orgininal borrowing the Hollywood logo and replacing "Hollywood" with "System of a Down". Instead of the lucious greens hills of Hollywood the letters are placed near a nuclear power plant. The name is also very original and named after the song with the same name on the album.
The Prison Song: 9/10
Basically a song about the American prison system and drug use. Great use of pausing for effect in the intro. Serj manages to fit some interesting facts about the prison system in the song. Shavo does an excellent job on bass.
Needles: 10/10
Another song about Drug use using a tapeworm as a metaphor. Very catchy chorus even though it took me a while to figure out that Serj was saying "Pull the tapeworm out of your ass". Great heavy riff by Daron. Daron's vocals actually suit this song very well due the creepy nature of his voice. Impressive drumming by John.
Deer Dance: 9/10
A very political song about violence and crime in America. In System of a Down style this has a lighter verse and a heavy chorus with a arabic-rock bridge. Not much to say about this song. Daron does another great job with the riff and the arabic solo. John shines once again in this song.
Jet Pilot: 8/10
This song starts off really heavy with no intro. Great brigde on Daron's part. Serj talks about a pilot flying over a bay smiling which is a metphor for something. I'm not quite sure what he meant to say with this song. Again John shines and Shavo shows us some of his bass chops.
X: 8/10
Yes the title is just "X". But the x is actually a multiplication symbol. The song depicts overpopulation on the earth. Serj doesn't slow down or quiet down in this song. A very angry songs.
Chop Suey:10/10
If you haven't heard at least part of this song you should really get out more. By far System of A Down's biggest hit even though a lot of people can't decipher the verse. Great acoustic intro and Shavo does an excellent job with the bass line. John's drumming in the intro is also very impressive. The closing half of this song is very well done and poetic. Daron's backing vocals fit nicely here.
Bounce: 7/10
With only a minute and 44 seconds this is the shortest song on the album and possilbly the weirdest. This may be about group sex or just about a pogo stick. The song remains very heavy until the end. The short verses have an excellent bass line by Shavo.
Forest: 8/10
Very odd intro with even odd drumming that breaking into a very heavy guitar riff. The lyrics are very poetic about a talk from father to son. The chorus really depicts Daron's inspiration from Black Sabbath. Great vocals from Serj who add some flavor to this song. John has yet another impressive drumline in this song.
ATWA: 10/10
This is a great song that starts out with a wonderful slow intro. Very poetic lyrics but also very sad. Daron's vocals fit in nicely. This soon breaks into a very heavy chorus. This is on-and-off through out the song. Shavo has a great sounding bass line in this song.
Science: 8/10
This song is about how science has killed the most important part of humans, Hope. Another Sabbath inspired chorus from Daron which works great with the song. The arabic bridge is also well played by Shavo and Daron.
Shimmy: 8/10
Very heavy guitar intro with some lovely drumming. This song is basically about school and sex. Very heavy song with a lot of lude lyrics. John gives us a great drumline in the closing segment of this song. Overall a pretty good song.
Toxicity: 10/10
The song that gave the album its name. This song is basically about how we are slowly killing ourselves and our souls. Starts off with a great slow intro which is also used for the verses. The chorus isn't too heavy and Serj's message gets across. Shavo's bassline sounds awesome. Overall an awesome song.
Psycho: 10/10
A song basically about drugs and life as a rock star. Daron starts off with a rather creepy intro and Serj does a mucky effect with the keyboard. The main line is "Psycho, Groupie, Cocaine, Crazy" which is a accurate depiction of life in the music buisness. This another awesome song that really never got enough air time.
Aerials: 11/10
This is my favourite song off of the album. Serj gets a chance to show off his softer vocals which he should really do more. A great soft sting intro followed by a guitar with the chorus effect. Though the guitars may be heavy in parts of the song Serj maintains the tone of his voice. Darons back-up vocals are there but it really sounds like he doubled his voice using recording equipment. Daron plays an excellent of contrast of heavy and light and Shavo's bass line backs it up all the way. John has more impressive drumming. Overall a great close.
Overall: 9.5/10
A great album. My second favourite album next to Mezmerize. |
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Posted: Oct 02, 2005 - 04:13 AM
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Joined: May 08, 2005
Posts: 2922
Location: Florida
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| i have made a review like that before, but nice interpretation, i thought it was extremly neato |
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Posted: Oct 02, 2005 - 06:22 PM
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Member
Joined: Jan 22, 2005
Posts: 242
Location: Scotland
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FGWB wrote:
Album Cover and Name: 10/10
The cover is extremely orgininal borrowing the Hollywood logo and replacing "Hollywood" with "System of a Down". Instead of the lucious greens hills of Hollywood the letters are placed near a nuclear power plant.
Looks like some sort of transmitter to me!
Good review tho. A thoroughably enjoyable read! |
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"Fellatio"
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Posted: Jun 11, 2006 - 02:31 PM
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Cigaro
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 2865
Location: Samurai Dojo
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| Good review. Although, Shimmy is a 10. (Well, I like Shimmy) |
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"I saw Darth Vader rent a room in a random hotel. I'm going insane, help me."
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Posted: Jun 11, 2006 - 09:29 PM
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Member
Joined: Oct 06, 2005
Posts: 245
Location: Varberg, Sweden
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Review 10/10  Great! enjoyable reading!
And I agree.. Shimmy is a 10.. (first song I ever heard with soad) |
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"Pretending That We Live Doesn't Make Us Alive"
- Serj Tankian
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Posted: Jun 11, 2006 - 09:32 PM
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Cigaro
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 2865
Location: Samurai Dojo
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Attack wrote:
Review 10/10 :P Great! enjoyable reading!
And I agree.. Shimmy is a 10.. (first song I ever heard with soad)
I heard Shimmy first, too. You heard it from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 video game, right? |
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"I saw Darth Vader rent a room in a random hotel. I'm going insane, help me."
Last edited by kombucha_guy on Jun 13, 2006 - 11:14 AM; edited 1 time in total
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Posted: Jun 13, 2006 - 01:28 AM
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Cigaro
Joined: Feb 24, 2006
Posts: 2666
Location: Missing you...
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FGWB wrote:
System of a Down is:
Serj Tankian - Vocals and Keyboards
Daron Malakian - Guitar and Backing Vocals
Shavo Odadjian - Bass and Backing Vocals
John Dolmayan - Drums
You dont say  ..lol
Nice review |
_________________
"I hear, a voice say "Don't be so blind"
It's telling me all of these things
That you would probably hide!
Am I your one and only desire?
Am I the reason you breathe,
Or am I the reason you cry?"
HA! Shes Baaaack!!!
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Posted: Jun 13, 2006 - 01:36 AM
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Peephole
Joined: Mar 30, 2006
Posts: 1762
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Nice review, it's a little too positive though, but I agree that Aerials is the best song on the album |
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Posted: Jun 13, 2006 - 11:11 AM
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Peephole
Joined: Jun 13, 2005
Posts: 1509
Location: The World Inside
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Good review
Is grunting occasionally really 'backing vocals' (for Shavo)?  |
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Here we are facing mortal danger, and you're worrying that the Chinese delegates have brought two cars?
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Posted: Jun 13, 2006 - 12:14 PM
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Almost Member
Joined: Mar 17, 2006
Posts: 62
Location: Sweden... hehe... FUCK OFF!!
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Great review!
I agree with you in most things |
_________________
I buy my crack, my smack, my bitch
right here in Hollywood.
(\_ /)
(O.o) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into
(> <) your signature to help him gain world domination.
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Posted: Jun 13, 2006 - 12:17 PM
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Almost Member
Joined: Mar 17, 2006
Posts: 62
Location: Sweden... hehe... FUCK OFF!!
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kombucha_guy wrote:
Attack wrote:
Review 10/10 Great! enjoyable reading!
And I agree.. Shimmy is a 10.. (first song I ever heard with soad)
I heard Shimmy first, too. You heard it from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 video game, right?
Isn´t Shimmy from Tony Hawk´s Pro Skater 4? I´m pretty sure... |
_________________
I buy my crack, my smack, my bitch
right here in Hollywood.
(\_ /)
(O.o) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into
(> <) your signature to help him gain world domination.
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