"Aerials" is a song by American heavy metal band System of a Down. It was released in 2002 as the third single from their second album Toxicity (2001), which earned the band its second Grammy Award nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards in 2003.
The song hit number one on both the Billboards Alternative Songs and Mainstream Rock charts. It was System of a Down's first number-one hit.[ Billboard.com] The song was played at the funeral of Keith Flint, frontman of the Prodigy.
"Aerials" is widely considered one of the band's best songs. Loudwire and Kerrang both ranked the song number three on their lists of the greatest System of a Down songs. In 2013, the staff of Loudwire included the song's main riff in their list of "the 10 Best Metal Riffs of the 2000s".
Music video The music video was directed by Shavo Odadjian and David Slade. The video features an alien-like, disfigured boy who is accompanied by people in various settings in which he is adored and pampered like a celebrity. The video was shot in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Track listing
Personnel Adapted from Qobuz.
System of a Down Serj Tankian – vocals, keyboards, co-production Daron Malakian – guitars, vocals, production Shavo Odadjian – bass John Dolmayan – drums
Additional personnel Rick Rubin – piano, production Greg Collins – engineering Darren Mora – assistant engineering Al Sanderson – assistant engineering Ryan McCormick – assistant engineering Jim Champagne – assistant engineering Andy Wallace – mixing engineering Rich Balmer – mixing engineering David Schiffman – recording engineering
Charts +Chart performance for "Aerials" Chart (2002–03) Peak position Canada (Billboard) 61
Certifications
References