| Toxicity | ||||
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| Studio album by System of a Down | ||||
| Released | September 4, 2001 | |||
| Recorded | March –July 2001 Cello Studios Hollywood, California |
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| Genre | Alternative metal, heavy metal, experimental rock | |||
| Length | 44:06 57:31 (special edition) |
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| Label | American | |||
| Producer | Rick Rubin, Daron Malakian, Serj Tankian | |||
| System of a Down chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Toxicity | ||||
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Toxicity is the second album by American heavy metal band System of a Down. Produced by Rick Rubin, Toxicity was released on September 4, 2001 by American Recordings, debuting at #1 on both the United States, with 220,000 copies,[1] and #1 on the Canadian charts. Toxicity has sold over 12 million copies worldwide and is multi-platinum in the United States.
Toxicity was released without a Parental Advisory sticker, despite a fair amount of minor profanity.
Contents |
Toxicity received mass critical acclaim, making many end-of-year "best of" lists (such as being named SPIN Magazine's #1 record of the year), and earning a Grammy Award nomination for lead single "Chop Suey!"
This album marks a sonic departure from the heavy guitar riffing featured on their debut album. It is the only System of a Down album not to feature the Parental Advisory label, with only minor profanities. However, a limited edition of the album containing a bonus CD with behind the scenes footage of the making of the album does feature the Parental Advisory label, while a different limited edition containing a DVD with the "Toxicity" music video and live footage also does not feature the label.
Several songs have been featured in various video game soundtracks. In 2002, "Science" and "Shimmy" were featured in the games ATV Offroad Fury 2 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 respectively.[2] The song "Chop Suey!" is featured in Rock Band 2 in 2008, and "Toxicity" is featured in Guitar Hero: Metallica and as downloadable content for the Rock Band series. The song "X" was originally recorded for the band's 1998 self-titled debut but it was re-worked for Toxicity.
The album is listed in Blender's 500 CDs You Must Own.[3] MusicRadar held a public poll and Toxicity was ranked as 28th greatest heavy metal album in the list of The 50 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time. The album is ranked at number 44 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the Decade for 2000's.
Digital Dream Door has currently ranked Toxicity at #72 on their list of the "100 Greatest Metal Albums", and #16 on their list of "100 Greatest Albums of the 2000's".
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (73%)[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| E! Online | (A-)[5] |
| Allmusic | [6] |
| Q | |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B-)[7] |
| Alternative Press | (9/10) Oct 2001, p.102 |
| Blabbermouth.net | [8] |
| Kerrang! | |
| Rolling Stone | [9] |
| Sputnikmusic | [10] |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prison Song" | Tankian, Malakian | Malakian | 3:21 |
| 2. | "Needles" | Tankian, Malakian | Tankian, Malakian | 3:13 |
| 3. | "Deer Dance" | Tankian, Malakian | Malakian | 2:55 |
| 4. | "Jet Pilot" | Tankian | Odadjian, Malakian | 2:06 |
| 5. | "X" | Tankian | Malakian | 1:58 |
| 6. | "Chop Suey!" | Tankian, Malakian | Malakian | 3:30 |
| 7. | "Bounce" | Tankian | Odadjian, Malakian | 1:54 |
| 8. | "Forest" | Tankian | Malakian | 4:00 |
| 9. | "ATWA" | Tankian, Malakian | Malakian | 2:56 |
| 10. | "Science" (feat. Arto Tunçboyacıyan) | Tankian | Malakian | 2:43 |
| 11. | "Shimmy" | Tankian | Tankian | 1:51 |
| 12. | "Toxicity" | Tankian | Odadjian, Malakian | 3:39 |
| 13. | "Psycho" | Tankian | Malakian | 3:45 |
| 14. | "Aerials[I]" | Tankian, Malakian | Malakian | 6:13 |
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Total length:
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44:06 | |||
^ I "Aerials" contains the hidden track "Arto".
| Special Edition bonus CD[12] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length | |||||
| 1. | "Sugar" (live) | Tankian | Odadjian, Malakian | 2:27 | |||||
| 2. | "War?" (live) | Tankian | Malakian | 2:48 | |||||
| 3. | "Suite-Pee" (live) | Tankian | Malakian | 2:58 | |||||
| 4. | "Know" (live) | Tankian | Odadjian, Malakian, Tankian | 3:03 | |||||
| 5. | "Johnny" | Tankian | Tankian | 2:09 | |||||
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Billboard 200 | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart | 13 | |
| Australian ARIA Top 50 | 6 | |
| Canadian Album Chart | 1 | |
| New Zealand Top Album Chart | 7 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | "Chop Suey!" | Billboard Hot 100 | 76 |
| Modern Rock Tracks | 7 | ||
| Mainstream Rock Tracks | 12 | ||
| Australian ARIA Top 50 | 14 | ||
| 2002 | "Toxicity" | Billboard Hot 100 | 70 |
| Modern Rock Tracks | 3 | ||
| Mainstream Rock Tracks | 10 | ||
| Australian ARIA Top 50 | 39 | ||
| "Aerials" | Billboard Hot 100 | 55 | |
| Modern Rock Tracks | 1 | ||
| Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 | ||
| Australian ARIA Top 50 | 36 |
| Preceded by Aaliyah by Aaliyah |
Billboard 200 number-one album September 22 – September 28, 2001 |
Succeeded by The Blueprint by Jay-Z |
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