| Main Menu | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Band Introductions System Of A Down - Mainstream success | System Of A Down - Mainstream success | | Print | |
| Written by krotzyk | |
| Thursday, 12 July 2007 | |
|
The group's big break arrived when their second album Toxicity debuted at #1 on the American and Canadian charts, eventually achieving multi-platinum certification. The album has since sold 6 million copies worldwide. It was still on top in America on the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding their hit single "Chop In 2001, the band went on tour with Slipknot. In late 2001, a few unreleased tracks made their way onto the Internet. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material. Soon after, the band released the final versions of the songs, which were recorded at the same time, but hadn't been used for Toxicity. The result was Steal This Album!, released in November 2002. Steal This Album! resembled a burnable CD that was marked with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 special copies of the album with different CD designs were also released, each designed by a different member of the band. The name of the album is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's counter-culture book, Steal This Book and as a message to those who stole the songs and released them on the Internet. Dolmayan said in an interview "I don't care if fans download our songs from the internet but I don't like it when fans get our songs before the release date". The singles "Innervision" and "I-E-A-I-A-I-O" were released as radio-only promos and received constant airplay on alternative radio. A video for "Boom!" was filmed with director Michael Moore as a protest against the War in Iraq. From 2004 to 2005, the group produced a double album, Mezmerize/Hypnotize with the two parts released six months apart. The first album, Mezmerize, was released on May 17 2005, to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at #1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of a Down's second #1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide. The Grammy Award-winning single "B.Y.O.B.", which questions the integrity of war, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The next single, "Question!" was released with Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip supporting. The second part of the double album, Hypnotize, was released on November 22 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at #1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with the Beatles, and rappers 2Pac and  DMX, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at #1 in the same year. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day" was released in March in the United States. System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll" as their third. airplay only, single.In February of 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B.", beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Robert Plant. The band headlined Ozzfest 2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage. In May of 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Daron Malakian has confirmed the break will probably last a few years, but insists that the band would not be splitting up. He told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take a rest." On July 8 at the Ozzfest, Malakian improvised the lyrics to "Lonely Day", saying "Such a lonely day, with the band/these motherfuckers I can't stand!". However, later in an interview with Kerrang!, Malakian stated that he said "this" (referring to the day) rather than "these" (referring to the band). During their Ozzfest performance on July 29th in New York City, Serj altered some of the lines on "Toxicity" by singing "The Toxicity of our city, it's so shitty" (instead of "of our city" repeated) and "Disorder, disorder, we're all on a border" (instead of a third "disorder"). Also while performing in New York City Serj altered lines to Sugar saying, "I sit in my desolate room, no lights, no music, just ice cream" (instead of "just anger"). During their performance in Houston, Texas, Malakian also took a moment to say, "There's been a lot of rumors about us breaking up. Well don't fuckin' listen to them. Us four right here, we will always be System of a Down!" Malakian announced he was forming a band called Scars on Broadway, which has since been joined by Dolmayan and Odadjian, and will work on its debut album during the fall. Odadjian will also be working on a project with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan. Tankian plans to keep recording as a solo artist/producer in "Serjical Strike", while Dolmayan, on top of Scars on Broadway, plans to open a comic book store online, which should be up online in November 2007. System of a Down's final performance before their hiatus took place on August 13, 2006 in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when." It was stated by Sharon  Osbourne that System of a Down were paid "about $325,000 a show."System of a Down's latest info is that their songs will be used in the new 2006 film "Screamers". They will also appear in the movie, in an interview talking about the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide. "Screamers" will be hitting theaters in large city markets such as New York City, Detroit, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Fresno, Providence, and Boston. An earlier engagement will start exclusively in Los Angeles on Friday, December 8, 2006." System of a Down was honored at the USC v. Cal game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. The Spirit of Troy also known as the Trojan Marching Band performed three System of a Down songs. John Dolmayan and Shavo Odadjian were kind enough to play "Toxicity" along with the marching band. Tankian recently said that he has wanted to work on his "solo record for years". As for the future of the band, he said that he does not know whether System of a Down is over or not. He also stated that "maybe in a few years" the band would "want to make another album. It's impossible to tell right now. It'll be later down the line; then we'll be able to tell what might happen." Bassist Shavo Odadjian was recently revealed to be directing the first video for the comeback of the hardcore punk band, Bad Brains. For the 2007 Grammys, System of a Down was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Lonely Day", but lost to Wolfmother and their song "Woman". Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto:                  |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
|
|