Metal Reviews

I first heard this band in 1997 on there third demo, it blew me away! I listened to that tape for months straight, just kept it in my car and it would play one side, flip and repeat those three songs on and endless rotation. I couldn't get enough. No other band I'd ever heard had sounded like them.

In 2005, 8 years later no band has even come close to the sheer originality that SOAD has. Even on their very first demo you could hear something special through the fuzzy, slowed down versions of "Suite-Pee," "Sugar" and "P.L.U.C.K."—courtesy of Fudge Tunnel's Alex Newport—you could still hear a band brimming with something special.

Anyway, with the state of music today great bands are often overlooked because trends seem to dictate what kind of recognition a band receives. It is my opinion that SOAD are one of those bands that need to go down in history alongside the greats such as The Beatles, Black Sabbath and Nirvana. Nirvana was the last band to come onto the music and simply blow it to bits. Ever since then the music world has been all about money with major label corporations and MTV owning radio/TV and any other musical outlet. A monopoly. Had SOAD come out in the 80's or early 90's they would currently be held in the same high esteem as those aforementioed bands.

Unfortunately, I don't see any band being able to achieve this in the same manner for a long time to come. The musical landscape has simply changed too much. It's a totalitarian world out there now when it comes to music. So when you have the following people from such varying musical backgrounds including SOAD's Mezmerize or Hypnotize, or both, on their best of 2005 lists, you can't deny the greatness of this band!

Anders Iwers (Tiamat)
Andrea Cantarelli (Labyrinth)
Armando Benedetti (Mad Dragzter)
Charlie Benante (Anthrax)
Doc Coyle (God Forbid)
Elisa C. Martin (Dreamaker - ex-Dark Moor)
Gabriel Spazziani (Mad Dragzter)
Hugo Mariutti (Shaaman - Henceforth)
Jyri Vahvanen (Battlelore)
Kiko Loureiro (Angra)
M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)
Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater)
Phil Demmel (Machine Head - Vio-Lence)
Sabrina Carrion (Heavenfalls)
Simone Simons (Epica)

SOAD will go down as one of the greatest bands to ever walk the face of the earth.

SOAD is not that great.

They are amazing. Admit it!

SOAD sucks.

Meh...my point wasn't whether or not you think they suck. Name one band in the past 10 years that has come out and been so utterly original that you can't possibly pigdeonhole them into any genre or style? Name one other band that has blown up on the scene at some point like SOAD and didn't have a million copycat bands swinging from their nuts?

SOAD are what music SHOULD be about.

Nevermore comes to mind.

Not funny.

Puh-lease.

Refute what I said then!

Doing something different does not automatically equate to doing something earth-shattering. Sure, no one sounds like System, fine. And?

And... Thank god (or whoever) for that..

Blown up on the scene? I agree that they are probably one- if not the- most inventive mainstream band around at the moment . You can't think that they are the single most original band of the last ten years, surely- including underground music? Even in the mainstream albums have been released over the past decade that surpass what they could dream of: OK Computer springs to mind.

I always relate the real quality of a band like this on how they play live, as producers can fix a lot. Sure, they are a very original band, but they are really terrible live. And their originality is overrated, there are a lot more bands that play something no other band plays than what is generally assumed.

I see nothing so groundbreaking about soad. As a band I'd rate them 5/10. They have good songs as well as annoying ones.

Well for being a commercial band they are pretty good i guess.

They're good, but not Jesus mk II as Ken thinks.

I'm not saying they're the best band ever!

hey I agree with you man, SoaD are the saviours of music. also, pop idol is the saviour of TV and j.k. rowling is the saviour of literature.

and while we're embracing mediocrity, nevermore and demons & wizards are like super cool guys

Lizardtail, par usuale, is correct.

Oh, and saying that System of a Down are the most inventive band of the past ten years is like saying that the iPod is the most inventive product of the past ten years.

Considering I never said that I'm thinking I should probably ignore what you just said?