Short History
System of A Down found some success with the release of their first singles: "Sugar", "Suite-Pee" and "Spiders", found on their debut album System of a Down. But, the band's first real shot at startum came with the release of their second album, Toxicity, which found critical acclaim from music critics and their peers. Toxicity debuted at #1 on the American and Canadian charts and eventually went multi-platinum. Toxicity was #1 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 Suey!". The jury is still out on whether or not the album and the single met such acclaim early on because of the terrorist attack. But, one thing is for sure, Toxicity would be a smash hit either way
Late in 2002, System of a Down released their third album, Steal This Album!. The album was mainly comprised of songs that had been previously recorded but not officially released. Many of the tracks were "leaked" onto the internet where they were met with great approval by the band's fans. Die hard fans and collectors will want to find all of the five different album covers that Steal This Album has been released with. In addition to the "official" cover, each band member designed a cover of their own of which 50,000 copies were later released to the public
In 2004, the System of a Down recorded two new albums named: Mezmerize and Hypnotize. Mezmerize was released in the United States and Europe on May 17 2005, and in Australia on May 22 2005, while Hypnotize was to be released in November 2005. In early January, 2005, a new track called "Cigaro" was purposely leaked onto the internet and was praised by fans. This was later followed by the release of the single "B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs)", which managed its way up the singles charts like many before. First week sales soared to over 800,000 copies in worldwide and debuted at #1 in over 12 countries
What does the future hold for System of a Down? Only time will tell. The band has stormed onto the scene and never looked back. Call it Nu Metal or Heavy Metal, fans don't really care
