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Underground > Radio & Music >

System of a Down: are they good or are they shit?

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Prisoner no. 1300

18:48 / 13.12.01

You see, I'm in the middle stage of being a teenager, and us teens need some kind of destructive vibration music. And System Of a Down are one of the few bands that appear to be any good at this who aren't so underground that your peers will relentlessly take this piss out of you for listnening to them (e.g. Pigface).

I was so lean when I first heard them, that I could actually make out the lyrics to Prison Song the first time I heard it, me time/space perception had slowed down so much, and it seemed to make sense at the time.
So when I heard they was heading to the Brixton Academy, those tickets had to be bought.
Then the great and terrible tragedy of September the 19th - no, hold on a second, 11th - happened, and fuck me if it wasn't postponed until March 2002.

Can anyone advise me who to listen to in the meantime? I need directions, man, and in the main I can't stand nu-metal, as it's so corporate, or old metal as the bands smell so much.
Gives your opinion.

PS I prefer Lee Scratch Perry, actually.

Matthew Fluxington

18:49 / 13.12.01

My vote: shit.

Prisoner no. 1300

19:11 / 13.12.01

Well, as long as that wasn't an aggressive response, I won't be aggressively replying by saying not as shit as Wu-Tang, pal.

19:38 / 13.12.01

You're, what, fourteen?
Yeah, you'll like 'em.

Seriously, though--your friends rank you out for listening to anything too "underground"?

My advice: Fuck 'em. These people are not your friends. Find somebody else.

[ 13-12-2001: Message edited by: Jack Fear ]

Matthew Fluxington

19:47 / 13.12.01

I agree with Jack...those who would mock a group based on their unpopularity are seldom worth hanging around...

I think that you may find the band Fugazi to be of interest to you, Mr. Prisoner. Seriously.

00:48 / 14.12.01

Fugazi is great. And Faith No More too; nu metal bands should pay them royalties for their sales. Anything by Faith No More would be fine, but you should pay especial attention to their records with Mike Patton as a vocalist; "The Real Thing", "Angel Dust", "Live at the Brixton Academy", "King For a day...Fool for a lifetime" and "Album of the Year"; the best of them are the first two I mentioned. And then you can jump to Patton's projects like Mr Bungle and Phantomas...all of them are great
Oh, about System of a Down...They are not as horrible as Limp Bizkit, but I guess that's not too difficult. My veredict: shit

[ 14-12-2001: Message edited by: [N.O.B.O.D.Y.] -Thank You C.A.B.J.- ]

02:27 / 14.12.01

Mr. Bungle was incredible. Circus music on acid with a twist of John Zorn. Lyrics like "my hand gets tired and my dick gets sore, but still the girls of porn want more."

And 'Travolta' the classic opening track of their first album.

As for system of a down, I don't really think they're good or bad. They're pretty nondescript other than that whole 'oooh waa ahh ahh ahh' thing.

What's more important though is listen to what you like. If you like System of a Down then don't listen to what a bunch of Barbelithers have to say and 'oooh waa ahh ahh ahh' your heart out.

But do pick up anything that Mike Patton has had a hand in. At best all your friends will dig the new music, at worst they'll be a little afraid of what you're playing them.

Bungle has that effect on some people.

02:55 / 14.12.01

quote:Originally posted by Lothar Tuppan:
[QB]
What's more important though is listen to what you like. If you like System of a Down then don't listen to what a bunch of Barbelithers have to say and 'oooh waa ahh ahh ahh' your heart out.

Even though I gave my opinion, I completely agree with that.

03:06 / 14.12.01

Mr Bungle is goooood. Swinging wildly through different genres in the SAME SONG is something only a select group of artists gets away with. Mike Patton is definitely one of these artists. (Plus I'm seeing his new band at the BDO next year

)

but I prefer tool. Any band that uses enochian to come up with song titles has my vote. And sober is the most exquisite, staggering "metal" track ever .
I dunno if they count as metal any more though, what with no whiny rapping over the top, and no whinging about how fucked everything is.

I agree with Jack, fuck your "friends". In fact, get em a rusty steel pole, and tell them to fuck themselves. Anyone that tries to take the piss out of you for listening to something they've never heard, should be forced to listen to "A Mariah Carey Christmas" until they urinate clotted blood.

ok... I'm calm. Now.

06:14 / 14.12.01

Are SoaD the band that did "Chop Suey?"

If so, they're insultingly simplistic and cliched in lyric and horribly dated and clumsy in sound.

If I were you I'd keep my eyes open for a new band called Skindred. They're made up of a reformed Dub War, they're in LA recording right now, and they'll kick most other bands ass hands down. Possibilities of a track on the Blade 2 soundtrack, if that appeals to your underground battering buddies.

06:16 / 14.12.01

confession time: system of a down's 'chop suey' makes me cry every time i hear it. and i'm 34.

i really like the 'toxicity' album. don't know much about the band.

Pin

06:30 / 14.12.01

I like 'em. That said, I'm barely 17, so I think I'm allowed. Right?

06:50 / 14.12.01

Well I'm 22 and I like em a bit their real good when your drunk and raging with your flatmates , and yeah I do like Chop Suey their live shows are meant to be quite good to in a over the top rock opera kind of way....

so I think I'll go to the show at Brixton, its been moved to March I believe?

Listen to Limp Bizkit though, they're the best new band out there, I even have a red cap that I wear backwards...

Wake up
Grab a brush and put a little (makeup)
Grab a brush and put a little
Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)
Hide the scars to fade away the
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?

Jump jump

06:59 / 14.12.01

did you know you can get a system of a down teasmade? apparently.

kaosbear, you coming to the meet tomorrow?

07:04 / 14.12.01

Sure am dykester, but I'm a bit worried because I'm starting to think that me and you are actually the same person and if we meet we'll rip a hole in the space time or something

The Natural Way

08:23 / 14.12.01

I 3rd (4th, 5th?) the fucking yr friends option.

You're a fucking teenager, for God's sake, yr supposed to listen to music that other people hate/don't understand/whatever. Jesus, the youth of today.....

[ 14-12-2001: Message edited by: Gun Runce ]

10:49 / 14.12.01

I urge people not to be put off System of a Down because of their 'nu-metal band' status.

Seriously guys, they rule.

Imagine what yer standard nu-metal crap would sound like if it was played faster, with loads more energy and invention and very little whining - thats SoaD.

I don't actually own anything by them, so I could be wrong, but 'Chop Suey' has to be the coolest, edgiest rock record to crack the top 20 in years..

10:59 / 14.12.01

I have to agree with Rizla and SFD that "Chop Suey" is a a great, emotional song. System of a Down's style is not one I normally listen to, and I haven't heard any of their other songs, but I like that one in spite of myself. Far, far superior to the endless nu-metal crap I see on M2 at the gym. If you're in your teens and want something "aggro' I can't think of anything that is popular that's more "correct".

But then again,they can't be cool since their album was number 1 in Spin's top 20 for 2001.

12:34 / 14.12.01

Throw my vote in that I found myself enjoying Chop Suey and that I think your friends are weird.

When I was in highschool it was the other way around. You got points for pulling out bands that no one had heard of.

On that note, if you want fun aggressive stuff. Do your self a HUGE favor and familiarize yourself with Minor Threat and the Dead Kennedys. Both bands broke up a long time ago. But music wouldn't look the same with out them. Two of the most innovative of the early hardcore punk bands. Agressive, intelligent, sure to piss SOMEONE off, and truckloads of credability. Their both bands that if you friends don't know them, you can laugh at them for being clueless.

12:38 / 14.12.01

Oh, and if you're into reggae, do yourself a favor and look into Bad Brains. Anything they recorded for SST records should be cool, but if you can find I Against I, I think you'll approve.

They combined some of the hardest, fastest hardcore of the day, with reggea. They're now playing under the name (with the original line-up) as Soul Brains.

They're another group that helped change the face of music.

09:36 / 15.12.01

Of course, in proof of the 'nondescript' comment, I had completely confused SoD with Disturbed.

I dislike Sod more than I thought when I thought they were Disturbed.

The moral of this story is that this old fart (33, I must be fucking ancient) can't keep the new one hit wonders apart from each other so listen to what you want.

I'm gonna go listen to some Tool and Mr. Bungle while I still can hear and walk without a cane.

09:36 / 15.12.01

Well I've only heard Chop-Suey..so I like that song...it aint rocket science...they have an album out before this one..anyone heard it?

As for FNM..I think their best album was We Care Alot..although The Real Thing was a staple of my teen years...and JAmes MArtin was in Bill and Ted's soo it get bonus cool points (spend them like money).

uncle retrospective

09:36 / 15.12.01

quote:Originally posted by kegboy:
Well I've only heard Chop-Suey..so I like that song...it aint rocket science...they have an album out before this one..anyone heard it?

Yea, I bought it ages ago. It's not that good. It has a few great songs on it (listen to sugar) but it's a little odd. They're the only band I've heard apart from Mr Bungle that put more that one music genere in one song.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

11:45 / 15.12.01

I found myself enjoying what I have heard of this band so far and I pretty much hate this sort of music. And the lead singer looks somewhat similar to an ex-boyfriend of mine in that weird vague but not really sort of way.

My verdict: Listen to whatever the hell you want. I listen to what's considered "alt-country" much to the chagrin of everyone I know.

19:44 / 15.12.01

I like Chop Suey.
I looove Mr. Bungle.
Did anyone else notice that the title of their first track on the first album was canged to "Quote Unquote". I thought I'd imagined that it was "Travolta" at first.

Zoom.

No star here laces

20:16 / 15.12.01

do any of you guys wanna go back and edit those posts to be a little more patronising? you sure?

FEH.

00:04 / 16.12.01

Nope, not me. Im fine with mine.

01

00:47 / 16.12.01

Ok. System flat out is one of the most interesting heavy bands out there right now. They rule. Anyone that thinks otherwise doesn't.
Some others definitely worth checking out are:
Shai Hulud
Neurosis
Deftones
Will Haven
Poison The Well
tool
snapcase
refused

all of these bands, along with system are doing things light years ahead of the current "woe is me, my parents fucked me up, so watch me as i'm about to explode" Mr. Furious nonsense that is currently plaguing our radio waves. They're all putting a new spin on what is heavy.

Also check out all of these other bands if you've heard of them or not for pure punk rock bliss.

Dead Kennedys
Bad Relgion
Fugazi
Face to Face
Seaweed
Strung Out
Ignite
Hot Water Music
Social Distortion
Alkaline Trio

01

00:48 / 16.12.01

oh yeah, Hatebreed and Bane are worth checking out as well.

01

00:50 / 16.12.01

and Grade !!!
ok I'm done.

01:25 / 16.12.01

quote:Originally posted by Lothar Tuppan:

But do pick up anything that Mike Patton has had a hand in.

<off-topic>Sooo, anybody got an opinion on the Lovage--Music To Make Love To your Old Lady By LP Mike Patton is on?</off-topic>

09:21 / 17.12.01

I read a review somewhere, I think Rolling Stone's web site. That said the SotD album had some good points to it, seperating itself from all the other nu-metal groups. But, that they did have a tendancy to fall back on old cliches now and then.

Course, outside of chop suey, I've never heard them. Just thought I'd try to throw something in there that tried to answer the question at hand.

Prisoner no. 1300

13:29 / 17.12.01

Zerone: I saw deftones, with Lostprophets, at the forum. Maybe it's a shit venue, but I just couldn't get into it, man. That guy chino is a proper wanker, most of the songs on White Pony are about suicide, which is something none of them has ever done, have they?

But at least they're not Korn

01:21 / 18.12.01

quote:Originally posted by Captain Zoom:

Did anyone else notice that the title of their first track on the first album was canged to "Quote Unquote". I thought I'd imagined that it was "Travolta" at first.

It was Travolta. I wonder if there is a Scientology lawsuit story behind that one.

The Natural Way

10:28 / 18.12.01

"Hatebreed"?

"Bane"?

This is all very excellent.

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