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System of a Down is a heavy metal/ alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, USA consisting of Serj Tankian (vocals, keyboards), John Dolmayan (drums), Daron Malakian (guitar, vocals) and Shavo Odadjian (bass). All four members are of Armenian ancestry, and some of their songs are about Armenian history and politics. Their diverse instrumentals range from baritone electric guitars, electric mandolins, sitars, 12-string classical guitars to many other East Asian instruments.
Their main influence is noticeably the heavy metal veterans known as Black SabbathThis article is about the British heavy metal band. For the 1946 British arrests of Jewish paramilitaries, see Operation Agatha. For the 1963 film see Black Sabbath (movie Black Sabbath sometimes simply called Sabbath is a British heavy metal band origina, but they have many other musical influences such as jazzFor other article subjects named Jazz see jazz (disambiguation). Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. It has been called the first original art form to develop in th, fusionJazz fusion (sometimes referred to simply as fusion is a musical genre that loosely encompasses the merging of jazz with other styles, particularly rock, funk, R&B, and world music. It basically involved jazz musicians mixing the forms and techniques of j, Armenian folk musicFolk music in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. Folk music arose, and best survives, in societies not yet affected by mass communication and the commercialization of culture. It normally was shared and performed by the entire, classic rockGenre Classic rock was originally conceived as a radio station broadcasting format and although loosely defined, it generally includes the music from rock bands formed between the early 1960's and 1990. The most common classic rock band line-up is a, lead, bluesBlues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which evolved from African American spirituals, shouts, work songs and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. Blues has been a major influence on later American and Western popular music, and industrial metal.
There has been debates among fans of the band if they are " nu metalNu metal (or aggro metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically combines aggressive, hip hop influenced, angst-ridden vocals, samples, rap-style beats and drum set patterns, and/or DJ techniques. The genre is occasionally called "nu-metal," usin" or not. System of a Down have done rapping in some of their songs but have never included turntables. They do include guitar solos in some of their songs as well but they are usually just a few notes. Guitarist Daron Malakian personally said to Guitar World that he was glad that System of a Down had not slipped into that subgenre of heavy metal, even though they are still being called that. Just because you dont agree with what they are labeled as does not mean they are not in a certain genre.
The band enjoyed moderate success with their first singles, Sugar and Spiders, off their debut album System of a Down. Their first big hit was the controversial " Chop Suey!", released in the late summer of 2001. The title comes from a poem of Father Armeni, who wrote about Armenia after the genocide of 1915. He called the Armenian land a chop suey and asked God why have you forsaken me in your eyes. Father Armeni also said that in Armenia a self righteous suicide has taken place. The song can also be attributed as a tribute to the late lead vocalist for Snot, Lynn Strait. System of a Down received constant airplay throughout late 2001 and 2002 with their hits, Chop Suey!, Toxicity, Aerials, off their second album, Toxicity, and Innervision off their third album, Steal This Album!.
Their third album, containing songs from the Toxicity recording session, was released as " Steal This Album!" because early recordings of most of the songs had leaked out onto the Internet. There are four different designs of the album available. One version of the CD resembles a CD Recordable that was labeled with a felt-tip marker.
