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System of a Down

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For the band's self-titled album, see System of a Down (album).
System of a Down

System of a Down (also referred to as System or abbreviated as SOAD) is a four-piece, Grammy-award winning band, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles, California. All four members are of Armenian descent, grandsons of Armenian Genocide survivors, and are widely known for their outspoken views found in many of their songs. System of a Down has achieved commercial success over five albums, with singles such as "Chop Suey!" and "B.Y.O.B.". System of a Down is a part of the Axis of Justice, a non-profit organization formed by band member Serj Tankian (along with Tom Morello) that is dedicated to bringing together musicians, music fans, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.

History

Soil (1993-1995)

The roots of System of a Down lie in the band Soil (not to be confused with the current band SOiL), a group from Los Angeles that included Serj Tankian on vocals and Daron Malakian on guitar, as well as Dave Hakopyan (Bassist for Apex Theory) on bass and Domingo Laranio (Local Hawaii Drummer) on drums. Shavo Odadjian joined Soil near their end as a guitarist. After three years, only one live show, and one jam session recording, the band split up.

In the beginning (1995 - 1997)

After Soil split up, Tankian and Malakian then formed a new band, System of a Down, based on a poem that Daron wrote. The poem's title was "Victims of a Down", but Serj Tankian thought that Victim would only appeal to a narrow audience and the word System would appeal to a larger, more general audience. They called on Shavo Odadjian, with whom they knew from when Soil shared a recording studio his previous band as well as when he was briefly their guitar player. Odadjian was originally the band's manager and promoter, though he quickly accepted the offer to permanently join the band as bassist. Since then, managerial duties have been undertaken by the highly successful Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group and streetwise founder David "Beno" Benveniste. One of SOAD's first releases was "Sugar", which was recorded on their first demo tape, and they have played the song at nearly every live performance since then. The band then found a drummer, Ontronik Khachaturian. SOAD quickly made an early Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which had very early recordings of "Mr. Jack" (called "PIG"), along with songs called "Flake," "Toast" and an early recording of "The Metro," a cover of the Berlin song of the same name. There were also other tapes made, which contained early recordings of "36" (called ".36"), "Roulette" and "X" (called "Multiply")[9]. After this, the band recorded Demo Tape 1, which had early versions of "Sugar," "Suite-Pee," and "P.L.U.C.K.," as well as the rare track "Dam." Demo Tape 2 was released in 1996 and had a rough demo of the song "Soil" as well as the most known unreleased tracks such as "Honey" and "Temper." At the beginning of 1997, SOAD recorded their final publically-released demo tape, Demo Tape 3, which had rough versions of "Peephole," "War?," and "Know." Prior to 1998, SOAD's live shows were called "The Dark Red Experience." [10] In mid 1997, Ontronik Khachaturian left the band due to a hand injury. Soon after playing at the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room with new drummer John Dolmayan, producer Rick Rubin caught the band's attention and told them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, they recorded Demo Tape 4 near the end of that year. This demo, however, was made only to be sent to record companies. The tape was not released to the public until several years later when it was leaked onto the Internet. After Rick helped them get signed onto American/Columbia Records, SOAD began to record in his studio. In 1997 SOAD won the Best Signed Band award from the Rock City Awards. [11]

Debut album (1998 - 2000)

In the summer of 1998, System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down. They enjoyed moderate success with their first single "Sugar" becoming a radio favorite, followed by the singles "Spiders" and "War?". After the release of the album, System of a Down toured extensively, opening for Slayer before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest. Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory and Incubus before headlining the Sno-Core tour with Puya, Mr. Bungle, The Cat and Incubus providing support. System was scheduled to play the 1999 Family Values Tour, but were kicked off by Fred Durst over his inability to sign the band Taproot. Fred Durst has since admitted that he was a "complete wanker" in relation to this "oversight"[citation needed]. The band have yet to comment on Durst's involvement or commentary. In 2000, the group contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song "Snowblind" to the Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.

Mainstream success: Toxicity/Steal This Album! (2001 - 2003)

The group's big break arrived when their second album Toxicity debuted at #1 on the American and Canadian charts, eventually achieving multi-platinum certification. The album has since sold 6 million copies worldwide. It was still on top in America on the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding their hit single "Chop Suey!" causing it to be taken off the radio as it contained politically sensitive lyrics at the time such as "(I don't think you) trust in my self-righteous suicide." Regardless, the video gained constant play on MTV as did the second single, "Toxicity". Even with the controversy surrounding "Chop Suey!" which earned a Grammy nomination, System of a Down still received constant airplay in the United States throughout late 2001 and 2002 with "Toxicity " and "Aerials". In May of 2006, VH1 listed Toxicity in the #14 slot in the 40 Greatest Metal Songs.

In 2001, the band went on tour with Slipknot. In late 2001, a few unreleased tracks made their way onto the Internet. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material. Soon after, the band released the final versions of the songs, which were recorded at the same time, but hadn't been used for Toxicity. The result was Steal This Album!, released in November 2002. Steal This Album! resembled a burnable CD that was marked with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 special copies of the album with different CD designs were also released, each designed by a different member of the band. The name of the album is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's counter-culture book, Steal This Book and as a message to those who stole the songs and released them on the Internet. Dolmayan said in an interview "I don't care if fans download our songs from the internet but I don't like it when fans get our songs before the release date"[citation needed]. The singles "Innervision" and "I-E-A-I-A-I-O" were released as radio-only promos and received constant airplay on alternative radio. A video for "Boom!" was filmed with director Michael Moore as a protest against the War in Iraq. They joined the thousands of protesters who wanted peace instead of war.

Mezmerize/Hypnotize (2004 - 2005)

From 2004 to 2005, the group produced a double album, Mezmerize/Hypnotize with the two parts released six months apart. The first album, Mezmerize, was released on May 17 2005, to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at #1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of a Down's second #1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide[citation needed]. The Grammy Award-winning single "B.Y.O.B.", which questions the integrity of war, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The next single, "Question!" was released with Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip supporting.

The second part of the double album, Hypnotize, was released on November 22 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at #1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with the Beatles, and rappers 2Pac and DMX, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at #1 in the same year. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day" was released in March in the United States. System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll" as their third. airplay only, single.

In February of 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B.", beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Robert Plant. The band headlined Ozzfest 2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage.

Hiatus and the future of the band (2006-present)

File:Systemconert.JPG
System of a Down finishing off their final concert before the hiatus.
This file may be deleted after 2007-07-04.
This file may be deleted after Saturday, 21 July 2007.

In May of 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Daron Malakian has confirmed the break will probably last a few years, but insists that the band would not be splitting up. He told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take a rest."

On July 8 at the Ozzfest, Malakian improvised the lyrics to "Lonely Day", saying "Such a lonely day, with the band/these motherfuckers I can't stand!".[12] However, later in an interview with Kerrang!, Malakian stated that he said "this" (referring to the day) rather than "these" (referring to the band).

During their Ozzfest performance on July 29th in New York City, Serj altered some of the lines on "Toxicity" by singing "The Toxicity of our city, it's so shitty" (instead of "of our city" repeated) and "Disorder, disorder, we're all on a border" (instead of a third "disorder"). Also while performing in New York City Serj altered lines to Sugar saying, "I sit in my desolate room, no lights, no music, just ice cream" (instead of "just anger").

During their performance in Houston, Texas, Malakian also took a moment to say, "There's been a lot of rumors about us breaking up. Well don't fuckin' listen to them. Us four right here, we will always be System of a Down!"[citation needed]

Malakian announced he was forming a band called Scars on Broadway, which has since been joined by Dolmayan and Odadjian, and will work on its debut album during the fall. Odadjian will also be working on a project with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan. Tankian plans to keep recording as a solo artist/producer in "Serjical Strike", while Dolmayan, on top of Scars on Broadway, plans to open a comic book store online, which should be up online in November 2007.[13]

System of a Down's final performance before their hiatus took place on August 13, 2006 in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when."[14] It was stated by Sharon Osbourne that System of a Down were paid "about $325,000 a show."[15]

System of a Down's latest info is that their songs will be used in the new 2006 film "Screamers". They will also appear in the movie, in an interview talking about the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide. "Screamers" will be hitting theaters in large city markets such as New York City, Detroit, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Fresno, Providence, and Boston. An earlier engagement will start exclusively in Los Angeles on Friday, December 8, 2006."

System of a Down was honored at the USC v. Cal game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. The Spirit of Troy also known as the Trojan Marching Band performed three System of a Down songs. John Dolmayan and Shavo Odadjian were kind enough to play "Toxicity" along with the marching band.

Tankian recently said that he has wanted to work on his "solo record for years". As for the future of the band, he said that he does not know whether System of a Down is over or not. He also stated that "maybe in a few years" the band would "want to make another album. It's impossible to tell right now. It'll be later down the line; then we'll be able to tell what might happen."[16]

Bassist Shavo Odadjian was recently revealed to be directing the first video for the comeback of the hardcore punk band, Bad Brains. [17]

For the 2007 Grammys, System of a Down was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Lonely Day", but lost to Wolfmother and their song "Woman".

Shavo Odadjian recently told Launch Radio Networks that System of a Down is "alive and well". "We're just not working together right now. We kind of like split up at first, but you know, we're brothers, man, we'll take bullets for each other. So it's like, you kind of miss each other after a while and you, one guy makes the first move, then another starts making phone calls....this is a juggernaut, man. System of a Down is my lifeline. It'll never go away. We could not make a record for 10 years — that's not gonna happen, but I'm just saying we could — and we'll come back strong." [18]

Music style and influences

System of a Down has been labeled by the press as alternative rock,[3] progressive metal,[19] hard rock,[1][2] and many other genres.

System of a Down’s main influence is mostly from early alternative rock bands,[citation needed] as well as from heavy metal, punk rock,[citation needed] Armenian folk music (Harout, Paul, Armik), classic rock, blues,[citation needed] industrial genres,[citation needed] and Middle Eastern[20] music. The band has used a wide range of instruments, including electric mandolins, sitars, 12-string guitars (as heard in the song Ego Brain) and Middle Eastern ouds. They used drop C tuning exclusively in their first three albums. The latter two System albums used Drop Db tuning, except in the songs Question! and Dreaming in which they reverted to drop C tuning (With Question! having an acoustic guitar tuned in standard).

Band member such as Daron and John have stated on several accounts that they appreciate The Beatles[20][21]. Shavo's and Daron's first influences were Kiss[22]. Shavo has also stated in a video interview at Big Day Out that he would not like to do any collaborations, because they don't want to use other people to make themselves famous. Then he quickly changed his answer and said "Mike Patton" and that they would love to do anything with him.

Some opinions of members of System of a down:

I don't think we sound like anybody else. I consider us System of a Down.

— Shavo Odadjian[23]

You can compare us to whoever you want. I don't care. Comparisons and labels have no effect on this band. Fact is fact: We are who we are and they are who they are.

— John Dolmayan[23]

Band members

Current members

Former members

Studio, guest, and extra members

Discography

Main article: System of a Down discography

Audio samples

References

  1. ^ a b http://music.aol.com/artist/system-of-a-down/302874/main
  2. ^ a b http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifuxqqjldfe
  3. ^ a b http://www.purevolume.com/systemofadown
  4. ^ "System of a Down Biography". Rockdetector. 2007-02-15. Retrieved 2007-04-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Will Hodgkinson (2003-02-21). "Songs in the key of C". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-05-06. Chisholm moves on to some of the nu metal she listens to at the gym, including System of a Down and Linkin Park. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Maria Armoudian (2003-02-06). "Rock's axis of activism". Salon.com. Retrieved 2007-05-06. Serj Tankian, lead singer of the multiplatinum-selling nu metal band System of a Down... {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "American Recordings/Columbia Records Release Special Limited Edition of System of a Down's #1 Album 'Toxicity'". PR Newswire. 2002-04-23. Retrieved 2007-05-06. Toxicity... was named Album Of The Year 2001 by Spin magazine who raved Toxicity is the most ambitious record yet to emerge from the nu metal scene. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Adrien Begrand (2002-07-25). "Various Artists: The Pledge of Allegiance Tour". PopMatters. Retrieved 2007-05-06. ...combining aggro punk with old school metal and the off-kilter sounds of Frank Zappa... I'm not someone who's completely unfamiliar with nu-metal. When it's done well, it's extremely powerful, but few know how to pull it off properly... especially System of a Down's two albums. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ The History Of: System Of A Down
  10. ^ http://soadamizer.tripod.com/id10.html
  11. ^ http://www.rockcitynews.com/awards/ballot97.html
  12. ^ http://www.systemofadownonline.com/Article397.htm Comment about lyrics at Ozzfest
  13. ^ http://www.soadfans.com/Article400.htm Comic book store info
  14. ^ http://www.soadfans.com/Article427.htm Information on last performance
  15. ^ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=66664
  16. ^ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=64459 Future of the band
  17. ^ http://strangeglue.com/system-of-a-down-bassist-to-direct-bad-brains-video/810/
  18. ^ http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/system_of_a_down_is_alive_and_well.html
  19. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/8957307/system_of_a_down
  20. ^ a b Interview with System of a Down by Bob Nalbandian. Last accessed July 21 2007
  21. ^ Interview with System of a Down by Vox Online. Last accessed July 21 2007
  22. ^ Interview with System of a Down by Fish Griwkowsky. Last accessed July 21 2007
  23. ^ a b Official System of a Down MySpace. Last accessed July 21 2007
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