Review of the Debut Album of the Band System of a Down Called "System of a Down"

1. Suite Pee
2. Know
3. Sugar
4. Suggestions
5. Spiders
6. DDevil
7. Soil
8. War
9. Mind
10. Peephole
11. CUBErt
12. Darts
13. P.L.U.C.K.

Since its very start, US based nu-metal band System of a Down has been playing music not only to entertain audiences around the world but they have also had a profound effect on American popular culture. Their self-titled album called "System of a Down" is a solid start to their career and was released in 1998. This group of guys is from Southern California and for a US based band after the heyday and popularity of other bands died down a bit, are pretty darn good! System of a Down came along at a time when heavy metal had already lost much of its popularity in the US. System of a Down isn’t just a band that plays heavy guitars. They add noises and other effects to their music and this might be interesting for some of you. The vocals range from silly noises to guttural grunts and Serj’s standard voice. Serj refers to vocalist Serj Tankian. The United States should be grateful for having a group such as System of a Down because they bring attention to the most important issues facing this USA and the world as a whole. So you can think of this article as not only an album review but as a way that this self-titled album “System of a Down" has been an influence on American popular culture.

System of a Down the album is an album that is of nu-metal in nature that also brings awareness to the important social issues of our time such as war and the unjust nature of it. The first song I ever heard from these guys is the energetic rocking heavy song called Sugar with the bass lines clearly audible here. Vocalist and main lyricist Serj Tankian says “who can believe you, who can believe you let your mother pray.” That’s my favorite part of the lyrics. The song is really about rebelling against an unjust society that treats others unfairly. And some people resort to violence in order to let their feelings be known.

The very fast song “DDevil” is a humorous attempt to describe the difference between what stupid people do and what the smart people do. It also raises awareness about writers that are plagiarized. Unfortunately, this sort of action occurs quite a bit among college students. There’s a reason why there are style manuals that show students how to properly cite their research papers. Soil is about someone that used a gun to blow off his head. Suicide is a major problem in the United States and the band brings up the subject for thought. If you ever needed motivation, just know that even when everything seems so bleak, there are people out there who really do love you. “War” is about fighting against unjust forces to bring peace to the land. The song is also addresses that the motivations for conflict always change as different reasons are given for these policies. "Mind" starts with bass guitar. The song expresses that we must have loving feelings towards one another in a world that is full of sin. The song also brings awareness to the problem of child abuse which is a global problem. We would like this problem to go away but given what human nature is like, child abuse will always be in the world to some degree.

To end the album is the song called "Politically Lying Unholy Cowardly Killers." This is a song dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians that were killed by the Turkish Government during the 1915 Armenian Genocide. The song is trying to send a clear and powerful message that acts such as genocide will not be tolerated by the international community. Sometimes revolution is the only solution that can address the nation that has been so wronged. The Armenian nation is tired of being oppressed and ignored by many countries. Why should the world take notice of this song and of System of a Down? It is because this band is addressing a problem that has happened so often throughout history, yet it has not always been properly acknowledged. In the case of Turkey, Turkey still denies that the Armenians that perished during World War 1 died as a result of genocide. Turkey claims that these Armenians that were killed were killed as a result of war at that time which is false. I congratulate System of a Down for bringing awareness to this very important issue.

As an album, the band’s self-titled one is pretty good overall and entertaining at times. One aspect that may be overlooked and should be discussed is the impressive bass guitar work in the song “Sugar” which gives it an awesome feel.