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 | System of a Down No Description Available. Rating |
 | Steal This Album With Rage Against the Machine disbanded, System of a Down ascend to the political aggro-rock throne, and with Steal This Album, the Los Angeles-based quartet prove themselves worthy to wear the crown. A play on the late activist Abbie Hoffman’s Steal This Book, the album consists of 16 System songs from the mid-1990s through 2001. The band stresses the songs are not "B-sides or outtakes"; in fact, they clearly show System at their apex. These smart, varied songs feature Serj's frenetic, staccato, Jello Biafra-like phrasing atop the band's edgy, commanding, metal-meets-punk base. From the funny, frantic "Chic 'N' Stu," to "F**k the System," "A.D.D. (American Dream Disorder)," and "Boom!" System keep listeners guessing with discomfiting time changes that match up with Serj's incendiary lyrics. In keeping with their creative, fan-oriented approach, System are releasing four limited runs of the CD, each version featuring artwork from a different band member. This is not escapist rock. It's an intense and eye-opening aural history lesson you can mosh to. --Katherine Turman Rating |
 | Hypnotize Closing out the second half of 2005 just as its predecessor Mesmerize closed out the first, Hypnotize completes System of a Down's finest hour to date. The two albums form a lean and nearly perfect whole that places this Los Angeles collective in league with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and Pink Floyd. System has created an enduring body of work that challenges conventional notions about the nature of the contemporary rock album. More practically, they have given listeners a fine second act that attacks and attacks hard, inspiring as much headbanging as vintage Metallica and as thought-provoking as the Minutemen and the Dead Kennedys. (Vocalist Serj Tankian's barbaric yawp sometimes calls to mind head Kennedy Jello Biafra.) The album's first half features the most brutal, perfect and direct rock ‘n' roll that's come down the old mainstream this year: "Attack," "Kill Rock ‘n' Roll," "Tentative" and "U-Fig" lead the charge while "Holy Mountains" gracefully moves us toward this epic's final challenging moments. Latter tracks such as "She's Like Heroin" (Frank Zappa's idea of The Three Penny Opera) and "Lonely Day" fail to maintain the intensity heard early on but not don't prevent Mesmerize and Hypnotize from coming together as one of the most definitive heavy rock albums of the decade. --Jedd Beaudoin Rating |
 | Mezmerize Four CD's and nearly ten years into their career, System of a Down continue to be the Gilbert and Sullivan of this generation, delivering razor-sharp political commentary via beautiful, quirky melodies and discordant harmonies. The group has mastered the ability to be both successful and subversive--with 2001's Toxicity selling over six million copies and debuting at number one on the Billboard charts, their success in indisputable. As far are their subversive-ness, the lyrical content on Mezmerize is a solid stream of anti-war, anti-corporate and anti-celebrity sentiment. The disc's first single proves as beautifully schizophrenic as anything the band has released. "B.Y.O.B." opens with guitarist Daron Malakian's rapid-fire riff, then frontman Serj Tankian's anti-war screams of "Why do they always send the poor?"; less than a minute later, a nearly-surreal jump to a facetiously perky, beach party chorus that could easily be found on a Britney or Justin record: "Everybody's going to the party/have a real good time." Guitarist/co-songwriter Malakian takes increased vocal time on the disc, including the hilarious, size-obsessed "Cigaro" and celeb-slapping "Radio/Video". Witticism aside, musical and lyrical intensity peaks with the operatic "Question!" and the emotional piledriver that is "Sad Statue", the group¹s unflinching statement on war and Lady Liberty. The only shortcoming of Mezmerize is, quite simply, that it is short. Clocking in at a mere 38 minutes, the reason given is that this release is one-half of a two CD set--with part 2, Hypnotize, expected in late fall 2005. --Denise Sheppard Rating |
 | Toxicity No Description Available. Rating |