By nitrodude359
Wednesday 9/14/22
Number 10: Flake (Untitled 1995 Demo Tape)
Very heavy song (played in drop B)! Simple but great riffs. This song has commonly been confused for Toast, which is the outro to PIG (the predecessor to Mr. Jack, on the 1995 Demo), so it is known as both Toast or Flake on Youtube. You know you’re listening to Flake when the chorus is “You flake, you flake, you motherfucking flake!”
Number 9: Soil (Self Titled Album)
The main guitar riff is kinda rhythmically weird, but it works very well regardless. Then there is the part of the song, after “that evil! Lives in the skin…” that has the first guitar solo, and then after “Don’t you realize that evil lives in the motherfucking skin!” There’s the second guitar solo that has this Greek/Middle Eastern vibe to it. Older System songs were not always structured in a traditional way; one riff could end and just not be repeated for the rest of the song. Not that the later stuff isn’t good, as there are still songs on this list from the later albums.
Number 8: Suggestion (Self Titled Album)
Again, there is acoustic guitar in the intro and half way in the song. The acoustic guitar from there leads to a heavy metal breakdown. Heavy AF. I mean fuck, what can I tell you, just listen to all these songs then you’ll know what the heck I’m talking about.
Number 7: Holy Mountains (Hypnotize)
It seems that System went from using acoustic to using clean electric guitar for their more melodic or chill parts of their songs. The acoustic guitar doesn’t make that much of an appearance in Mezmerize and Hypnotize. In fact there are a lot of moments in both these albums where I feel like, had this song been released under Steal This Albums!, acoustic guitar would have been used. That’s not a bad thing, just interesting to note. Listen to Steal This Album!, then Mezmerize and Hypnotize, and you’ll see what I mean. Then you’ll be like “hmm Holy Mountains– number 4”.
Number 6: Cigaro (Mezmerize)
Heavy. Chaotic. Love it. “We’re the regulators and we regulate! We’re the animators and we animate! We’re the propagators of our genocide! Burning through the world’s resources then we run and hide!”.
Number 5: Ego Brain (Steal This Album!)
This song is interesting and complex because it blends together acoustic guitar and metal. It even has theremin (by Greg Collins) in it. However it is not as headbang inducing as the other songs on this list. Great song nonetheless.
Number 4: P.L.U.C.K. (1997 Demo Tape/ Hye Enk Version)
This song is on System’s Self Titled Album. However, this version is longer because of the outro, Guilty. Political Lying Unholy Cowardly Killers. The breakdown with the lyrics “The plan was mastered and called genocide…” is awesome. And then when it goes into the outro “All in a System of a! Down… (and the bass goes: dum dum dum dumdum dum dum dumdum)”
Number 3: Toxicity (Toxicity)
Classic SOAD song. More of a normie entry, but who cares. The main verse has some kind of drum-guitar call and response thing. Hey if you’re confused about any of these entries just listen to the songs I’m talking about.
Number 2: Mr. Jack + Hezze (Steal This Album!)
The version of Mr. Jack I’m talking about here is the one from Hurricane Festival 2005. The intro to this song has everyone playing an instrument and seems improvised. Then it has what is known as the Hezze breakdown; instead of going into the “7 a.m. morning, came to take us away…” part, the song completely changes gear and has some kind of Middle Eastern (Armenian?) portion. Mr. Jack itself is a good song, but these additions make it better.
Number 1: Sugar (Self Titled Album)
Simple but heavy. Again, like in the earlier System songs, it doesn’t really repeat itself overall. There’s the main riff, the suspenseful riff, and then the main riff again but sped up. This song was made to jump around and headbang. Is it the best song? Idk. But I think it encapsulates System the most. If you could describe System in one song (which you can’t), this song seems like it could work. Although it’s definitely closer to older System. The Fuji Rock Festival 2001 version gets crazy!
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