As debut singles go, it would be hard to find one that pointed further away from mainstream success than System Of A Down’s Sugar. Described by singer Serj Tankian as a “psychotic, schizophrenic” version of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name, its lyrics contained paranoid rantings about ‘mushroom people’ and its violent video was filled with images of war, nuclear explosions and gun-toting old ladies. Despite it all, the song was the first step on the four-piece’s road to becoming one of the biggest metal bands of all time.
Although we’re used to System’s scatterbrained sound nowadays, back in the late 90’s, they were wildly different to what the burgeoning nu metal scene was handing out – and that was by design.
