Song · System of a Down
“B.Y.O.B.” by System of a Down
From the album Mezmerize (2005)
“B.Y.O.B.” by System of a Down appears on 33 radio countdowns from 24 stations between 2005 and 2026. It was first released in 2005 on the album Mezmerize. Its best result is #1 on the CHOI Top 98 Songs of 2005. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #21 alternative song of 2005, #2,738 alternative song of all time and #173 of the '00s.
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"B.Y.O.B.", short for "Bring Your Own Bombs", came out in March 2005 as the lead single from Mezmerize, System of a Down's fourth album, and it's an Iraq War protest delivered at thrash velocity. Like "Boom!" before it, it aims straight at the war machine, and it lurches between machine-gun riffing from Daron Malakian and a sing-along chorus so bouncy it almost feels like a trick, with Malakian and Serj Tankian trading vocals like two men arguing inside a burning building. Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan keep the whole contraption from flying apart.
Rick Rubin produced it with Malakian and Andy Wallace mixed it. Jake Nava's video sends masked soldiers with TV screens for faces marching down the street and into a nightclub, and the song took the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2006.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 89 | 96.5 The Buzz | 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the New Millennium | 96 |
| 2006 | 72 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 107 Songs of the Millennium (December 2006) | 107 |
| 2006 | 393 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) | 500 |
| 2008 | 444 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) | 500 |
| 2009 | 45 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2009) | 70 |
| 2010 | 50 | WJRR | WJRR Top 101 Songs of the Decade | 101 |
| 2010 | 15 | 94.1 The Zone | 94.1 The Zone 210 Most Played Songs of the Decade | 210 |
| 2013 | 171 | KBPI | KBPI Top 200 Songs of All Time | 200 |
| 2014 | 167 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) | 500 |
| 2015 | 178 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) | 500 |
| 2019 | 286 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) | 500 |
| 2022 | 480 | 101X | 101X 500 (2022) | 498 |
| 2022 | 467 | X96 | X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time | 500 |
| 2023 | 305 | 94.3 WCYY | WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) | 500 |
| 2025 | 99 | 94.1 WJJO | WJJO Frequent Rocker Top 100 Songs of 2025 | 100 |
| 2026 | 417 | 101X | 101X 500 (2026) | 500 |
Also listed as: BYOB; B.y.o.b.; Byob.
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