In case there was any doubt, they nail in concise factoids (‘ Nearly two million Americans are incarcerated / In the prison system, prison system of the U.S.’, ‘ The percentage of Americans in the prison system has doubled since 1985’, ‘ All research and successful drug policies show that treatment should be increased / And law enforcement decreased while abolishing mandatory minimum sentences…’) to solidify a righteous statement right at the outset of their triple-platinum career-high. A bludgeoning, juggernaut riff gives way to storming vocals challenging the American prison industrial system, and pointing the finger at a government largely responsible for the domestic proliferation of drugs yet whose prison system is half-populated by drug offenders. The balls-out opening track (and unofficial airplay-only single) to Toxicity finds the band at their most ostentatiously political, picking up the baton dropped when their friends in Rage Against The Machine had disbanded the year before. So many great rock bands have been banned. In music, that’s a badge of honour, says System guitarist Daron Malakian. Hope endures, but while we’re holding out for that new album to change the game all over again, here’s our definitive Top 20 to keep everyone busy arguing in the meantime… The lines ‘I don’t think you trust in my self-righteous suicide/I cry when angels deserve to die’ were deemed too much for post-9/11 America to take, and the song was quietly pulled from the Clear Channel network. Vocalist Serj Tankian’s solo work and contributions alongside Tom Morello on Axis Of Justice, bassist Shavo Odadjian’s AcHoZeN, and guitarist Daron Malakian’s stunning Scars On Broadway (sometimes featuring drummer John Dolmayan) have shown flashes of brilliance, but the old chemistry has never fully been rekindled. From 1998’s earthquaking self-titled debut and 2001’s era-defining masterpiece Toxicity to 2002’s pirate-hijacked Steal This Album! and 2005’s towering sister releases Mezmerize and Hypnotize, there was constant cutting-edge evolution, but also a singularity of sound that even their most esteemed peers could never hope to touch.Īcross the years since, the band have resurfaced and departed again and again. They might’ve managed only five studio albums in a short seven-and-a-bit year stretch between June 1998 and November 2005, but such is the level of consistent quality, quirkiness and genre-shaping innovation from Los Angeles quartet System Of A Down that it’s truly difficult to narrow their catalogue down to just 20 songs.

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