Click here to listen to System of a Down’s Toxicity on Spotify
This was the #1 album in country when the terrorist attacks on 9/11 took place. Funny what a difference a decade makes.
It wasn’t one of those fly-by-night #1 records, either; this puppy sold three million copies. That will probably never happen again, certainly not in the current climate of popbots, and fake, well, everything.
Here’s the one question that we can’t shake while watching this clip, though: why were so many kids so angry back then? Remember, this was shot before 9/11 happened, so that’s not to blame. Thanks to the internet, the country had just experienced financial boom like no other. What the hell did they really have to be upset about? Is it like the Ben Folds song “Rockin’ the Suburbs,” where someone cut them off in line at McDonald’s? “You better watch out, because I’m gonna say ‘fuck’!”
All questions and kidding aside, this song, which was originally called “Suicide” and was included on Clear Channel’s post-9/11 list of banned songs, kicks some serious tail. Hey, nearly 90 million YouTube plays can’t be wrong…unless you’re talking about Rebecca Black. Then it’s wrong.