Product Description

'Toxicity' is System of A Down's follow up to their self titled debut album which was released in 1998. Produced by Rick Rubin, 'Toxicity' is more melodic yet heavier than their previous work. An eclectic mix of metal with Middle Eastern and Armenian influences.

Track Listing

1. Prison
2. Needles
3. Deer Dance
4. Jet Pilot
5. X
6. Chop Suey!
7. Bounce
8. Forest
9. ATWA
10. Science
11. Shimmy
12. Toxicity
13. Psycho
14. Aerials

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #764 in Music
• Released on: 2001-08-28
• Number of discs: 1

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

Customer Reviews

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.

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

S.O.A.D
the best system of a down album (not as heavy as the first one but still the best)