TOXICITY is the second album by System of a Down. Produced by Rick Rubin, TOXICITY was released on September 4, 2001 by American Recordings, debuting at #1 on both the United States and Canadian charts. TOXICITY has sold over 12 million copies worldwide and is multi-platinum in the United States.
TOXICITY received mass critical acclaim, making many end-of-year "best of" lists (such as being named SPIN Magazine's #1 record of the year), and earning a Grammy Award nomination for lead single "Chop Suey!". It is the only System of a Down album not to feature the Parental Advisory label, with only minor profanities. Several songs have been featured in various video game soundtracks. In 2002, "Science" and "Shimmy" were featured in the games ATV Offroad Fury 2 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 respectively. The song "Chop Suey!" is featured in Rock Band 2 in 2008, and "Toxicity" is featured in Guitar Hero: Metallica and as downloadable content for the Rock Band series. The song "X" was originally recorded for the bands' 1998 self-titled debut but it was re-worked for Toxicity.
The album is listed in Blender's 500 CDs You Must Own. MusicRadar held a public poll and TOXICITY was ranked as 26th greatest heavy metal album in the list of The 50 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time. Ranked as number 44 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the Decade for 2000's.
"Chop Suey!" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. "Aerials" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Often casted with the nu-metal crowd, System Of A Down sound is closer to 80's thrash (and even hardcore punk) than to any of the rap-metal hordes. Grinding guitars and death-knell drums may be the order of the day, but they work in service of a highly developed socio-political consciousness. In fact, when he's not lacerating his vocal cords, singer Tankian delivers his rebellious lyrics in a tone reminiscent of infamous Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. Make no mistake, the thrash quotient on TOXICITY is high enough to satiate even the hungriest headbanger, but System of a Down understands the power of dynamics, often moving from a whisper to a scream over the course of the album (though they obviously spend far more time on the scream end of the spectrum). Additionally, they deliver their eye-gouging riffs with an unerring precision that never devolves into an indistinct blur. This hard-hitting quartet knows how to deliver the hard-rock goods with grace.
Recorded At:
Cello Studios, Hollywood, California.
Producers: David Schiffman, Greg Collins, Darren Morr. Engineers: Rick Rubin, Daron Malakian, Serj Tankian.
Toxicity (2001)
ReplyDeleteSystem Of A Down
Album Description:
TOXICITY is the second album by System of a Down. Produced by Rick Rubin, TOXICITY was released on September 4, 2001 by American Recordings, debuting at #1 on both the United States and Canadian charts. TOXICITY has sold over 12 million copies worldwide and is multi-platinum in the United States.
TOXICITY received mass critical acclaim, making many end-of-year "best of" lists (such as being named SPIN Magazine's #1 record of the year), and earning a Grammy Award nomination for lead single "Chop Suey!". It is the only System of a Down album not to feature the Parental Advisory label, with only minor profanities. Several songs have been featured in various video game soundtracks. In 2002, "Science" and "Shimmy" were featured in the games ATV Offroad Fury 2 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 respectively. The song "Chop Suey!" is featured in Rock Band 2 in 2008, and "Toxicity" is featured in Guitar Hero: Metallica and as downloadable content for the Rock Band series. The song "X" was originally recorded for the bands' 1998 self-titled debut but it was re-worked for Toxicity.
The album is listed in Blender's 500 CDs You Must Own. MusicRadar held a public poll and TOXICITY was ranked as 26th greatest heavy metal album in the list of The 50 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time. Ranked as number 44 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the Decade for 2000's.
"Chop Suey!" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
"Aerials" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Often casted with the nu-metal crowd, System Of A Down sound is closer to 80's thrash (and even hardcore punk) than to any of the rap-metal hordes. Grinding guitars and death-knell drums may be the order of the day, but they work in service of a highly developed socio-political consciousness. In fact, when he's not lacerating his vocal cords, singer Tankian delivers his rebellious lyrics in a tone reminiscent of infamous Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. Make no mistake, the thrash quotient on TOXICITY is high enough to satiate even the hungriest headbanger, but System of a Down understands the power of dynamics, often moving from a whisper to a scream over the course of the album (though they obviously spend far more time on the scream end of the spectrum). Additionally, they deliver their eye-gouging riffs with an unerring precision that never devolves into an indistinct blur.
This hard-hitting quartet knows how to deliver the hard-rock goods with grace.
Recorded At:
Cello Studios, Hollywood, California.
Producers: David Schiffman, Greg Collins, Darren Morr.
Engineers: Rick Rubin, Daron Malakian, Serj Tankian.
System Of A Down:
Serj Tankian (vocals, keyboards)
Daron Malakian (guitar, background vocals)
Shavo Odadjian (bass)
John Dolmayan (drums).
Additional personnel:
Rick Rubin (piano)
Arto Tuncboyaciyan (background vocals).
Track Listing:
1. Prison Song - 3:21
2. Needles - 3:13
3. Deer Dance - 2:55
4. Jet Pilot - 2:06
5. X - 1:58
6. Chop Suey! - 3:30
7. Bounce - 1:54
8. Forest - 4:00
9. Atwa - 2:56
10. Science - 2:43
11. Shimmy - 1:51
12. Toxicity - 3:38
13. Psycho - 3:45
14. Aerials - 6:11