System of a Down: Steal This Album : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

System of a Down are an absurdist blast of political rage, silly theater and shattered math metal. Few bands are better equipped to release an odds-and-sods record such as Steal This Album!, because SOAD songs already seem like bits and pieces of different songs welded and held together through sheer force of will. The fact that they shred isn't as important as the oddly vulnerable noises they make when they (momentarily) cease said shredding. The delicate, spindly passage of guitar and chimes in "Highway Song" is one of these moments, and "Roulette," a scared, wounded love letter, complete with violins and acoustic-guitar plinking, is another. When these moments come, like occasional glints of light in a black bombed-out building, System of a Down seem to be proposing that rage only matters if it's underpinned with compassion. And that's pretty cool.

PAT BLASHILL

(Posted: Nov 19, 2002)

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3of 5 Stars

for some reason system keeps pushing albums that wont really take off, and occasionally they will add some filler so you will think you're getting your money's worth. this album is comprised of songs cut from their great 2001 album Toxicity, so this cant really be seen as a step back because these songs were always there. they claim they are trying to be more "melodic", and it works to some degree. This one seems to me like more of a road-trip album when compared to their other rock-out go-crazy mosh-pit albums. you might find yourself humming the tune of "i-e-a-i-a-i-o" or "innervision" and get that music induced sweeping feeling while listening to "highway song" or sing along wildly to "chic'-n-stu", but overall the effect is a slightly above-average album that is worth a buy if you are a fan of SOAD or non-screamo metal, but youre better off obeying the title if you aren't into the genre because it appeals to many groups of listeners.

entertainment weekly said it: "if the songs were really that good, they would have been on Toxicity."
Sam K.

Feb 9, 2006 17:11:52

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