System Of A Down Lands Second Number One Debut Of The Year

12/01/2005 2:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
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System Of A Down has scored a chart-topping double-header this year. Following the Number One debut of Mezmerize back in May, the band's new album, Hypnotize, has followed suit, topping the Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of more than 320,000 copies.

Guitarist Daron Malakian, who coproduced both albums with Rick Rubin, said that the band's appeal is that they don't compromise. "What we're doing right is basically not compromising our real emotions through our music," Malakian said. "We've stayed honest--you know, when I'm sitting at home writing the songs, I don't sit there and say, 'Well, what's gonna be the hook?' and 'What's not gonna be the hook?' I mean, sometimes the songs just, like, fly right through me, and I have no idea where they came from. I didn't think about it at all."

Mezmerize sold 453,000 copies in its first week of release. It's gone on to sell more than 1.5 million copies in total.

System Of A Down's only remaining gig of the year is a radio station festival on December 10 in Universal City, California.

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