System of a Down -- Steal This Album!

10/10

After 2005's Mesmerize, I had System of a Down fever. I needed more, but I'd already played out 2001's Toxicity. My local CD store had 2002's Steal This Album! for $6.99. I had never given Steal This Album! a chance back when it was released because I'd heard it was just a collection of Toxicity b-sides. My temperature was too high, though, and I had $8 in my wallet. Upon first listen on the way home, something became immediately apparent: Steal This Album! is not just a toss-off b-side album.
Apparently, in early 2002, someone released some of Steal This Album!'s unfinished tracks online, under the title "Toxicity II." The band expressed disappointment that these songs, which they considered the equal of anything found on Toxicity, were being presented incorrectly. Thus, System of a Down got together, worked on the songs until they were happy with them, and sequenced them into Steal This Album! ...an entirely new work. It's my favorite album System of a Down have released.
Steal This Album! features the same style of idiosyncratic hard rock SOAD had been known for up to this point...only, these songs, even with often short running times, feel a bit looser. Despite strong songwriting, the shifts from quiet-to-loud, the kinetic rhythms, and the unexpected melodies almost feel like a preternatural, 43-minute display of improvisation...and it all sounds great! System of a Down's guitar, bass, drums, and vocals have never been mixed better than they have on this album. Specifically, Shavo Odadjian's bass-playing has never been better served. In addition, the lyrics feature the band's best blend of topicality and nonsense.
Rightfully pegged as a political band, System of Down often dove into some weird non-sequitur headspaces. Sometimes that weirdness could feel a little overwhelming...something I'll get to in my upcoming review of 2005's Hypnotize. Here on Steal This Album!, the balance is perfect. For instance, album opener, "Chic 'N' Stu," takes some clever jabs at consumerism, but also gives Serj Tankian a chance to bark out pizza toppings. The song also showcases some great dynamic changes, with an unexpectedly hushed bridge suddenly giving way to an explosive final chorus.
The band are able to delve into their weird sense of spirituality on "Innervision" and "Ego Brain," to denounce corrupt authority on "Boom!" and "Mr. Jack," and revel in total nonsense (I'm sure it means something to them) on "Bubbles" and "I-E-A-I-A-I-O." This is also System's best-paced and most cohesive album, with the band reaching a darkest point with "Mr. Jack" in the middle, then slowly and irresistibly building back up to huge, cathartic closer, "Streamline." On the way there, System explore more acoustic sounds until they go full acoustic with penultimate track, "Roulette." Everything just feels right. The building momentum, the flow, it's perfect. I feel like I can nitpick the other SOAD albums I like, but Steal This Album! is perfect.
Here's a recent performance of the band playing "Chic 'N Stu" in front of an enormous crowd in the land of their heritage, Armenia, during a rain shower.

And finally, here's a personal note that only serves myself, but I remember listening to "Mr. Jack" on my discman at our original camp at Grand Isle, Rise and Shine I. It was my penultimate trip there, early in the summer of 2005, before the old fishing trailer was destroyed by Katrina. I'd just watched the first season finale of Lost,and was lying in bed late that night, thinking about an encounter I'd had several years before with West Baton Rouge Parish's finest that I don't want to talk about here.

The night before that, I'd watched The Shield's "Back in the Hole." How fitting.

2002 American Recordings/Columbia Records
1. Chic 'N' Stu 2:23
2. Innervision 2:33
3. Bubbles 1:56
4. Boom! 2:14
5. Nüguns 2:30
6. A.D.D. (American Dream Denial) 3:17
7. Mr. Jack 4:09
8. I-E-A-I-A-I-O 3:08
9. 36 0:46
10. Pictures 2:06
11. Highway Song 3:13
12. Fuck the System 2:12
13. Ego Brain 3:21
14. Thetawaves 2:36
15. Roulette 3:21
16. Streamline 3:37