When System of a Down released Chop Suey! I, for some reason, bought all the versions of the single - the two and cds and, a day later, the 7". I don't know if I was planning on building up a complete SOAD collection or not, or maybe it was just because it was just after my birthday and I was feeling relatively flush. The cds had some live tracks as b-sides, along with the new song here, Johnny.
Chop Suey! was, without doubt, System's breakout hit. It took them to levels of fame so many steps above where they were, and where they would have been had the second album not featured it. It's still quite fun, despite having heard it played to death in rock clubs over the years. It did everything you wanted the band to do in one song, was sufficiently weird, and has a few "movements". In a lot of ways, it was their Bohemian Rhapsody. The b-side is nice enough, and has a strong chorus.
The cds were minimal in their artwork - featuring a clear case and the cd only printed as far as there was music, leaving a clear band of plastic for most of its 5"s. Fittingly, the 7" is on clear vinyl, and numbered. The reverse just shows images from the video for the song, which is an unusual route to take - a type of promotion I'd not seen before.
Format: 7", numbered #2161
Tracks: 2
Cost: £1.50 new
Bought: FM Music, Southampton
When: 24/10/01
Colour: Clear
Etching: none
mp3s: no
