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Toxicity

System of a Down - Toxicity Audio CD

A fair review of the System of a Down "Toxicity" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all System of a Down reviews here, or go back to the System of a Down tabs.

Band: System of a Down
Title: Toxicity
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-09-04
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Prison Song 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

Slightly under SOAD's first album
I mean, the lyrics are still significant, and the music still heavy and enlightening, but there does seem to be a bit repetition that goes on in some of these songs. This is a great sophomore album, but it's not really as spectacular as the self-titled first album. And unlike the first album, the second half of the songs do seem to get tiring afterwards. But still, I admire SOAD and I admire this album. The best songs have to be "Aerials," "Bounce," "Psycho," "Prison," and "Chop Suey. " Still, not their greatest album, but it still a likable effort.

Visionary battling ordinary
. Far from, though sometimes so close to what meaningless hardcore antics stand for, this assured sophomore brought enough cultural and melodic elements into potent but one dimensional aggression to warrant standout success, but in between noteworthy tracks put together in admirable ways lies repetitious brutality mixed with theatrical world influence.

shockingly decent
With THAT in mind, for some unexplainable reason, I believe Toxicity is a somewhat decent attempt at *trying* to make all those things come together to produce something interesting. First of all, I'm by no means a fan of teenage angst, generic guitar riffs, lead singers who scream more than they sing, and average musical skills. Not terribly interesting mind you, just decent enough. Maybe it's because the band isn't concerned so much on focusing on noise and instead went the extra mile to try to make something out of their songwriting skills.

Yup, I'm totally shocked Toxicity actually has some fairly melodic ideas thrown around occasionally. It's still a rather inconsistent album overall, but the band DOES feel like they're at least trying to lay something tolerable down on tape without making all the annoying noise as the main focus like so many other bands, something I wish most bands would STOP doing completely. There's more than enough noisy music out there and we don't need anymore.

Still, Toxicity is an album I think is pretty alright in my book. .

Spastic thrashy angst, some decent bits.
I am definitely not the target audience for this album. Look, I'll be honest: nu-metal ain't my thing. I didn't expect to like it; the reason why I'm reviewing it is that it's better than I expected, thus worth some discussion. Fans of the band should probably not read this, but if you're someone like me who looked up Toxicity basically out of idle curiosity, maybe you'll get something out of my opinion.

Firstly, this doesn't really sound like a metal album. There's a lot of shouting, but the music is not really heavy. The sound has more in common with hardcore punk -- lots of primitive, fast guitar rhythms (I wouldn't call them "riffs," they don't have a lot of individual character) with frenzied vocals, plus flashy rebellious politics. "Prison Song" could go on a Dead Kennedys album. Musically, that song isn't what I'd call "good," but the presentation is so hilariously over-the-top that it becomes a lot of fun. They cram it as full as possible -- not only with political slogans, but also with helpful facts for their listeners, delivered in a breathless, breakneck screech, spitting out the words in a hurry to get to the next slogan/fact. There's also a gratuitous, funny diss of Hollywood.

So that's one track that I enjoyed, for reasons having nothing to do with its musical content. But there are a couple of songs that are actually well-written musically. The best, in my opinion, is the title track, which has a neat guitar line, less aggressive than most of the album, but with some disquieting suggestion in the tone. Also good is the last track, "Aerials," which has the album's best heavy riff, pretty much the only one that stands out. Both songs rely less on yelling, and feature a more interesting, theatrical delivery from frontman Serj Tankian. I also quite like the instrumental hidden track, the most melodic piece of music on the album.

Elsewhere on the album, it's possible to find the occasional decent punk thrash. "Bounce" is probably the best, accompanied by a humorously nonsensical lyric, delivered with the usual frenetic energy. There are also a few catchy vocal bits, like the "you can see America" bridge in "Deer Dance. "

The rest, though. . . oh, man. Teenage angst has been a marketable commodity for many years. But in the 90s, such angst kings as Nine Inch Nails or Smashing Pumpkins at least tried to put a poetic veneer on their adolescent rage, to make their complaining sound more noble by expressing it with metaphors and allegories. It wasn't that subtle, but at least they tried. Toxicity, however, has a song that calls some nameless figure of authority a "parasite," wallows in self-deprecation with the line, "my tapeworm tells me what to do," and finally paints a portrait of alienation with the line, "sitting in my room. " It's such a blatant fit for the angsty youth of the turn of the millennium -- the perfect song to play during that brief sulk between dinner and TV.

Further on, "Deer Dance" states that "they like to push the weak around," where "they" is again nameless authority. Then "X" adds some anti-humanity rage with the line, "we don't need to multiply" (this demonstratively misanthropic sentiment was in fashion among the angsty youth of 2001), "Chop Suey" preens about "my self-righteous suicide," and "Atwa" proclaims, "all the world I've seen before me, passing by," just before erupting into the tantrum, "You don't care about how I feel! I don't feel it anymore!"

"Science" condemns science for having "failed our Mother Earth. " Okay, so faith is good, fine, but the spirituality that the song offers instead is the safe, vague, pandering kind, where "spirit moves through all things" and that's it. And, finally, "Psycho" is the moving story of a drug-addicted groupie, who gets patronized with the very sensible advice: "So you want to see the show, but you really don't have to be a ho. " The funniest part is that he puts so much pathos into that goofy line. It's probably meant to be ironic (I hope), but that doesn't make it good.

So, dear hypothetical casual listener who is wracked with indecision about whether to spend money on Toxicity: I would have to advise you against it. It does contain a couple of good songs, which you might consider buying on MP3 if you're into the whole angry guitar punk thing. However, the good parts are nowhere near enough to justify buying the CD.

GREAT CD!
If you are a SOAD fan this cd is the first one you should buy. I bought this album not knowing what to expect and I've got to say its FANTASTIC.
Some of my favorites are Chop Suey, Toxicity, and Aerials.

1. Prison Song-A really good song. A great way to start the album. 9/10

2. Needles-One of my favorites, really good. 9/10

3. Deer Dance-One of the best. 10/10

4. Jet Pilot-OK song. Gets a little repetative. 7/10

5. X-Another OK song. 7/10

6. Chop Suey-My second favorite song on the album. a really brilliant song. 10/10

7. Bounce-Hillarious yet awesome. 10/10

8. Forest-I love this song. Every time I listen to it, it makes me smile. 10/10

9. ATWA-Really good song, I love Daron's voice on this one. 9/10

10. Science-Pretty good and its got a catchy bridge. Spirit moves through all things. 8/10

11. Shimmy-Probably my least favorite on the album. 7/10

12. Toxicity-My favorite song on the album, hands down. 10/10

13. Psycho-Another really good song, and I love the guitar solo at the end. 10/10

14. Aerials-Different from all the other songs but in a good way. A great way to end a great album. 10/10.

You can see a complete list of all System of a Down discography, or go back to the System of a Down tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.