System of a Down - Toxicity (Vinyl)

Black Vinyl

American Recordings brought Toxicity back to vinyl in October 2018, catalog number 19075865591, after seventeen years out of press on the format. A single black LP in a plain jacket with a printed inner sleeve carrying the lyrics. One quirk of the pressing worth knowing: the label on side B prints the title track as "Toxic."

Rick Rubin produced the album with guitarist Daron Malakian at Cello Studios in Hollywood between March and July 2001. Serj Tankian sang and played keyboards, Malakian played guitar and sang, Shavo Odadjian played bass and John Dolmayan drums.

It entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 on about 220,000 copies. Three singles followed — "Chop Suey!," the video above, then "Toxicity" and "Aerials," which topped both the Mainstream Rock and Alternative Songs charts. "Chop Suey!" was nominated for the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2002 and "Aerials" for Best Hard Rock Performance the following year.

The album came out on 4 September 2001, a week before the September 11 attacks, after which "Chop Suey!" was pulled from many American radio playlists.

"Arto" is not indexed on the sleeve: it arrives after a stretch of silence at the end of side B.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Prison Song
2. Needles
3. Deer Dance
4. Jet Pilot
5. X
6. Chop Suey!
7. Bounce
8. Forest

Side B

1. ATWA
2. Science
3. Shimmy
4. Toxicity
5. Psycho
6. Aerials