#365songs (139 / 365)

Chop Suey might be the most well known SoaD song—it's certainly the one that got me into them—but as I got to know their catalog more it's started to feel like a bit of a novelty song even in a long list of goofy-serious songs that kind of fit that description. Toxicity's title track is the best showcase of the band at the height of their powers: still full of the unhinged mood swings that SoaD built their brand on, but built like a straight up pop song. Serj Tankian's voice has never sounded better than he does here, whether crooning in the verse or barking (zero point five seconds later) in the chorus. And the utterly surprising and over-too-soon coda is 100% vintage System of a Down puckishness.

I confess I've gotten a bit addicted to first-listen reaction videos on YouTube, the best way to relive the feeling of hearing a song for the first time yourself. "Toxicity" has some of the best examples of the form. The transitions between the soft and loud parts of the intro and between the aforementioned verse and chorus vocals; the ridiculous sustained note in the bridge; that coda: the people reliably flip their shit for every one of these. What better evocation of our shared humanity? I still flip my shit for them too.