Misplaced Pages

System of a Down

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 66.240.57.87 (talk) at 13:05, 11 July 2007 (→History). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 13:05, 11 July 2007 by 66.240.57.87 (talk) (→History)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For the band's self-titled album, see System of a Down (album).
System of a Down
Musical artist

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.


Music style and influences

System of a Down’s main influence is mostly from early alternative rock bands, as well as from heavy metal, punk rock, jazz fusion, Armenian folk music (Harout, Paul, Armik), classic rock, blues, industrial genres, and Middle Eastern music. The band has used a wide range of instruments, including electric mandolins, sitars, 12-string guitars 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).

Daron has stated on several accounts that his songwriting is inspired heavily by The Beatles. Shavo's and Daron's first influences were Kiss. 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.

Genre dispute

There is some contention over the band's genre. They have been labeled as nu metal, which may be attributed to their first album being released during the nu metal boom of the mid-to-late 90s, though they had been making music and touring before most nu metal. Columbia Records, which distributes producer Rick Rubin's American Recordings, had a part in casting the band as nu metal. Brad Tolinski of Guitar World said, "These guys were grouped in with bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, and they were able to sneak in under the wire because of those affiliations, even though they didn't sound like them... And when nu-metal got cleared away, System of a Down was still standing... They were clearly able to create their own identity and unique sound."

Guitarist Daron Malakian has said in a Guitar World interview that he is glad System of a Down has not slipped into the nu metal genre. During a 2005 concert, he announced, "They used to call us nü-metal, now they call us prog rock. Whatever's popular at the moment, I think that's what they'll call us."

In a 2005 interview with the Houston Press, Malakian said, “Lately, we've been doing interviews, and people have been like, 'You guys are really leading the way for the new prog movement,' and I'm like, 'What?' ...It's just kind of aggravating that people always have to have something to compare us to, or bunch us up with. I'm not saying we're the most original band in the world, but I don't really feel that we fall into a heavy-metal category or a pure rock category. There's a lot of stuff mixed up into one.”

Against comparisons to Rage Against the Machine, Tankian said, "Yeah, we have some political songs, but we have more that are about love and life and sex and pogo-stick orgies and all that."

Malakian said, "We don't belong to any one scene." System has also been described as a mixture of aggro punk, classic metal, Frank Zappa, goth, and Armenian music.

Band members

Current members

Former members

Studio, guest, and extra members

Discography

Main article: System of a Down discography

Audio samples

References

  1. ^ http://music.aol.com/artist/system-of-a-down/302874/main
  2. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifuxqqjldfe
  3. ^ http://www.purevolume.com/systemofadown
  4. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/8957307/system_of_a_down
  5. "System of a Down Biography". Rockdetector. 2007-02-15. Retrieved 2007-04-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. 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)
  7. 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)
  8. "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)
  9. ^ 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)
  10. ^ J. Freedom du Lac (2005-11-20). "System of a Down, Getting All Worked Up". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-05-06. The operators of the industry propaganda machine at Columbia... cast the band as a nu-metal outfit. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. Daron Malakian at the Ogden Theatre in Denver, Colorado on 2005-04-27, after the song "Deer Dance".
  12. Steve Morse of The Boston Globe (2005-08-31). "System of a Down lashes out at Hollywood, war, and hypocrisy". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2007-05-06. The group was once labeled "nu metal" and lumped in with such acts as Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Rage Against the Machine. But Rage is gone, Korn and Bizkit have faded, and that leaves System, which has never felt comfortable with glib stereotypes. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. George Varga (2005-08-04). "'We speak of real life'". Sign On San Diego. Retrieved 2007-05-06. ...combine nu-metal ferocity and prog-rock complexity with elements of punk, goth, Armenian music and more... {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

System of a Down
Studio albums
Singles
Tours
Related

Template:Link GA

Template:Link FA

Categories: