System of a Down (album) 171764 225667029 2008-07-14T20:28:52Z FallenWings47 4737290 {{Infobox Album <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums --> | Name = System of a Down | Type = studio | Artist = [[System of a Down]] | Cover = system_of_a_down.jpg | Released = [[June 30]], [[1998]] | Recorded = [[November 1997]]–[[March 1998]]<br />Sound City<br /><small>Van Nuys, CA</small><br />Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research<br><small>Hollywood, CA</small> | Genre = [[Alternative metal]] | Length = 40:41 | Label = [[American Recordings|American]] | Producer = [[Rick Rubin]]<br />[[System of a Down]] | Reviews = * [[Allmusic]] {{rating-5|4}} [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=A6j77gjlr16ia link] * ''[[Kerrang!]]'' {{rating-5|5}} * [[Pitchfork Media]] {{rating-10|7.5}} [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/22228-system-of-a-down link] | Last album = ''[[Sugar E.P.]]''<br />(1998) | This album = '''''System of a Down'''''<br />(1998) | Next album = ''[[Limited Edition Tour CD]]''<br />(2000) | Misc = {{Singles | Name = System of a Down | Type = studio | single 1 = [[Sugar (System of a Down song)|Sugar]] | single 1 date = [[1998]] | single 2 = [[Spiders (System of a Down song)|Spiders]] | single 2 date = [[1999]] }} {{Extra album cover 2 | Upper caption = Alternative covers | Type = studio | Cover = System Of A Down Limited Edition.jpg | Lower caption = ''Limited Edition'' }} {{Extra album cover 2 | Type = studio | Cover = Soadjapanese.jpg | Lower caption = [[Japan]]ese edition }} }} '''''System of a Down''''' is the [[eponymous]] [[debut album]] by [[System of a Down]], first released in [[1998]]. The album was certified [[gold certification|gold]] by the [[RIAA]] on [[February 2]], [[2000]]. Two years later, after the success of ''[[Toxicity (album)|Toxicity]]'', it was certified platinum. Unlike their later and current material, it is [[heavy metal music|Heavy Metal]] influenced. ==Album information== The hand on the front belongs to the artwork of a poster designed by the artist [[John Heartfield]] for the [[Communist Party of Germany]] during the [[Third Reich]]. The text in the original poster is: "5 fingers has a hand! With these 5 grab the enemy!". This slogan inspired part of the text contained in the back of the System of a Down album: "The hand has five fingers, capable and powerful, with the ability to destroy as well as create". Later, it is written in bold letters: "Open your eyes, open your mouths, close your hands and make a fist". ==Reception== The album differs greatly from [[System of a Down]]'s next 4 albums, the music being most influenced by heavy metal. [[Q magazine|''Q'' magazine]] (10/01, p.152) - 4 stars out of 5 - "This remains an excellent starting point for this most curious and underrated of bands." ==Track listing== {{tracklist | lyrics_credits = yes | music_credits = yes | title1 = Suite-Pee | lyrics1 = Tankian | music1 = Malakian | length1 = 2:32 | title2 = Know | lyrics2 = Tankian | music2 = Odadjian, Malakian, Tankian | length2 = 2:56 | title3 = [[Sugar (System of a Down song)|Sugar]] | lyrics3 = Tankian | music3 = Odadjian, Malakian | length3 = 2:33 | title4 = Suggestions | lyrics4 = Tankian | music4 = Malakian | length4 = 2:44 | title5 = [[Spiders (System of a Down song)|Spiders]] | lyrics5 = Tankian | music5 = Malakian | length5 = 3:35 | title6 = DDevil | lyrics6 = Tankian | music6 = Odadjian, Malakian | length6 = 1:43 | title7 = Soil | lyrics7 = Tankian | music7 = Malakian | length7 = 3:25 | title8 = War? | lyrics8 = Tankian | music8 = Malakian | length8 = 2:40 | title9 = Mind | lyrics9 = Tankian | music9 = Odadjian, Malakian, Tankian | length9 = 6:16 | title10 = Peephole | lyrics10 = Tankian | music10 = Malakian | length10 = 4:04 | title11 = CUBErt | lyrics11 = Tankian, Malakian | music11 = Malakian | length11 = 1:49 | title12 = Darts | lyrics12 = Tankian | music12 = Malakian | length12 = 2:42 | title13 = P.L.U.C.K. | lyrics13 = Tankian | music13 = Malakian | length13 = 3:37 }} {{tracklist | headline = ''Limited Edition'' bonus CD | title1 = Sugar | note1 = live | length1 = 2:27 | title2 = War? | note2 = live | length2 = 2:48 | title3 = Suite-Pee | note3 = live | length3 = 2:58 | title4 = Know | note4 = live | length4 = 3:03 }} ==Personnel== * System of a Down: ** [[Daron Malakian]] – [[guitar]], [[Backing vocalist|background vocals]] ** [[Serj Tankian]] – [[Singer|vocals]], [[Musical keyboard|keyboard]]/[[Sampling (music)|samples]] ** [[Shavo Odadjian]] – [[bass guitar|bass]] ** [[John Dolmayan]] – [[Drum kit|drums]] * Additional Musicians: ** Extra piano by [[Rick Rubin]] ** Extra noise by Eric "Statik" Anest * Produced by [[Rick Rubin]] with [[System of a Down]] * Mixed by D. Sardy * Engineered by [[Sylvia Massy]] * Engineer/assistant engineer: Greg Fidelman * Additional recording/finishing touches: D.Sardy * Assistant engineers: [[Sam Story]], Nick Raskulinecz * Assistant mixdown engineers: James Saez, Greg Gordon, Andy Haller * Second assistant mixdown engineer: [[Bryan Davis]] * Photography: Anthony Artiaga * Cover art: [[John Heartfield]] * Art direction: Frank Harkins & [[System of a Down]] * A&R direction: Dino Paredes, Sam Wick * Management: Velvet Hammer Management, David "Beno" Benveniste * Recorded at Sound City, Van Nuys, CA * Vocals and additional recordings at Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research, Hollywood, CA * Mixed at [[Record Plant Studios]], Hollywood, CA & Hollywood Sound, CA * Mastered by Vlado Meller at [[Sony]] Studios, New York, NY * Music written by System of a Down ==Footnotes== Before some of the lyrics in the booklet for this album, footnotes appear. <!--Quotation marks, italics and line breaks as in the original--> * Before "[[Spiders (System of a Down song)|Spiders]]" is: <blockquote>''"Your thoughts, and dreams are no longer sacred, as they are exposed to a<br/>weapon known as [[remote viewing]] and monitoring."''</blockquote> * Before "DDevil" is: <blockquote>''"For those that control the [[central nervous system]],<br/>control society, and the world.''"</blockquote> * Before "[[War? (System of a Down song)|War?]]" is: <blockquote>''"We first fought the heathens in the name of religion, then [[Communism]], and now in<br/>the name of drugs and terrorism. Our excuses for global domination always change."''</blockquote> * Before "Mind" is: <blockquote>''"[[Mind control]] technology has been used by the [[CIA]] since the 1950s as part of<br/>their non-lethal, covert weapons program."''</blockquote> * Before "Peephole" is: <blockquote>''"The [[February 18]] edition of Britain's [[New Scientist|NEW SCIENTIST]] Magazine reports that the<br/>Geneva-based [[World Health Organization]] suppressed, under political pressure,<br/>a report which confirmed that marijuana is safer than either alcohol or tobacco."''</blockquote> * Before "Darts" is: <blockquote>''"Why do old societies hold the pantheon of 12 gods to be true,<br/>while modern societies generally have one God?"''</blockquote> * Before "[[P.L.U.C.K.]]" is: <blockquote>''"System of a Down would like to dedicate this song to the memory of the 1.5<br/>million victims of the [[Armenian Genocide]], perpetrated by the Turkish<br/>Government in 1915."''</blockquote> ==Booklet message== <!-- Bold like in the booklet --> In the booklet, underneath the band member's photos, the text reads in all capitals: "''Announce your anthems on the ceiling. We dance, annexed by power. Casual neckties embrace, the hungry hunger further, images rule through the media, commercial Orwellianism, producing unveiled icebergs, running transparent electrical cables, curving string ensembles, witnessed by hangings from flagpoles of souls avenged by Dr. Clock. Fresh paint, naked melting figures mixing the revolution against T.V. sentencing, at the hands of brutal men and their military business world. '''Let us instigate the revolt, down with the system!'''''" ==Chart performance== ===Album=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year !! Chart !! Position |- |rowspan="2"| 1999 |[[The Billboard 200]] |align="center"| 124 |- |[[Top Heatseekers]] |align="center"| 1 |} ===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year !! Single !! Chart !! Position |- |rowspan="2"| 1999 |rowspan="2"| "Sugar" |[[Mainstream Rock Tracks]] |align="center"| 28 |- |[[Modern Rock Tracks]] |align="center"| 31 |- |rowspan="2"| 2000 |rowspan="2"| "Spiders" |Mainstream Rock Tracks |align="center"| 25 |- |Modern Rock Tracks |align="center"| 38 |} ==References== {{reflist}} {{System of a Down}} [[Category:Albums produced by Rick Rubin]] [[Category:System of a Down albums]] [[Category:1998 albums]] [[Category:Debut albums]] [[Category:American Recordings albums]] [[Category:Columbia Records albums]] [[bg:System of a Down (албум)]] [[cs:System of a Down (album)]] [[da:System of a Down (album)]] [[de:System of a Down (Album)]] [[et:System of a Down (album)]] [[es:System of a Down (álbum)]] [[eu:System of a Down (diskoa)]] [[fr:System of a Down (album)]] [[gl:System of a Down (disco)]] [[ko:System of a Down]] [[hr:System Of A Down (album)]] [[it:System of a Down (album)]] [[hu:System of a Down (album)]] [[nl:System of a down (album)]] [[no:System of a Down (album)]] [[pl:System of a Down (album)]] [[pt:System of a Down (álbum)]] [[ru:System of a Down (альбом)]] [[fi:System of a Down (albumi)]] [[sv:System of a Down (musikalbum)]] [[tr:System of a Down (albüm)]]