Released June 30, 1998 Label American
Columbia | Length 40:36 | |
Recorded November 1997 - February 1998 Studio Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, California
Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research Studios, Hollywood, California Genre Alternative metal
nu metal
speed metal | ||
System of a Down is the eponymous debut studio album by Armenian-American metal band System of a Down, released on June 30, 1998 by American Recordings and Columbia Records. The album was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on February 2, 2000. Two years later, after the success of System of a Down's next album, Toxicity, the album was certified platinum.
Contents
Artwork
The cover artwork is from an anti-fascist, World War II-era poster designed by the artist John Heartfield for the Communist Party of Germany, which was contemporary with and directly against the Third Reich. The text on the original poster is: "A hand has 5 fingers! With these 5 grab the enemy!" This slogan inspired part of the text contained on 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" (used later by Serj Tankian in the song "Uneducated Democracy").
Reception
System of a Down received acclaim from music critics.
Q magazine (10/01, p. 152) - 4 stars out of 5 - "This remains an excellent starting point for this most curious band".
The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Loudwire included the album in its list of The Best Metal Debut Albums, at number 22.
Personnel
Booklet message
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!" This message was also found in some of the Toxicity booklets.