System of a Down (album)
System of a Down is the eponymous debut
album by
System of a Down, first released in 1998. The hand on the front belongs to the artwork of a poster designed by the artist
John Heartfield for the
German Communist Party during
Third Reich. The text in the original poster is: "5 fingers has a hand! With these 5 grab the enemy!". This slogan inspired part of the text contained in 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". All the text in the album back is in capital letters, except the last two letters of the title "CUBErt" and the text of the "COLUMBIA american" logo.
# "Suite-Pee" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 2:32# "Know" (Malakian, Odadjian, Tankian) â€" 2:56# "
Sugar" (Malakian, Odadjian, Tankian) â€" 2:35# "Suggestions" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 2:45# "
Spiders" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 3:36# "DDevil" (Malakian, Odadjian, Tankian) â€" 1:43# "Soil" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 3:25# "
War?" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 2:40# "Mind" (Malakian, Odadjian, Tankian) â€" 6:16# "Peephole" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 4:04# "Cubert" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 1:49# "Darts" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 2:41# "
P.L.U.C.K. (Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowardly Killers.)" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 3:38# "Marmalade" (Malkian, Tankian) â€" 3:00# "Storaged" (Malakian, Tankian) â€" 1:19
"Marmalade" and "Storaged" are bonus tracks which can be found on some editions of this album.
*
Serj Tankian - vocals, keyboards/samples
*
Daron Malakian - guitars, vocals
*
Shavo Odadjian - bass
*
John Dolmayan - drums
*Recorded at Sound City, Van Nuys, CA
*Mixed at Record Plant,
Hollywood, CA by D. Sardy
*Mastered at
Sony Studios, New York, NY by Vlado Meller
*Produced by
Rick Rubin with
System of a Down*Engineered by Sylvia Massy
*Assistant engineer: Greg Fidelman
*Additional recording/Finishing touches by D.Sardy
*Extra piano by
Rick Rubin*Photography by Anthony Artiaga
*Cover art by John Heartfield
*Art Direction by Frank Harkins and System of a Down
*A&R Direction by Dino Paredes and Sam Wick
*Management by Velvet Hammer Management, David Benveniste
Before some of the lyrics in the booklet for this album, quotes appear. (The quotation marks and italics are as in the booklet.)
*Before "Spiders" is:
"Your thoughts, and dreams are no longer sacred, as they are exposed to a weapon known as remote viewing and monitoring."*Before "Ddevil" is:
"For those that control the central nervous system, control society, and the world."*Before "War?" is:
"We first fought the heathens in the name of religion, then Communism, and now in the name of drugs and terrorism. Our excuses for global domination always change."*Before "Mind" is:
"Mind control technology has been used by the CIA since the 1950's as part of their non-lethal, covert weapons program."*Before "Peephole" is:
"The February 18 edition of Britain's NEW SCIENTIST Magazine reports that the Geneva-based World Health Organization suppressed, under political pressure, a report which confirmed that marijuana is safer than either alcohol or tobacco."*Before "Darts" is:
"Why do old societies hold the pantheon of 12 gods to be true, while modern societies generally have one God?"*Before "P.L.U.C.K." is:
"System Of A Down would like to dedicate this song to the memory of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide, perpetrated by the Turkish Government in 1915."
