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Innervision-Starts out good and heavy. It may be about finding what's really inside you or the government.

Bubbles-Another song that starts out good and heavy. Something about a power struggle. Good song.

Boom!-Very political song(about bombs.Kinda agree with them .). You can tell very easily. The song starts out with Serj(or Daron) speaking. Also talks about trying to find to find a way to peace.

Nuguns-Pretty good song.Maybe about Armenian genocide?

A.D.D.-Also known as American Dream Denial. Mostly about war.

Mr.Jack-Awsome song!Starts out slow but is still cool.

I-E-A-I-A-I-O-Best song on the CD. The song title is just the soud of the chorus. Cool screams. Serj makes this weird sound that will crack you up every single time you hear it even though it's supposed to be serious.

36-Very short song. I mean really fast. Pretty cool.It's 0:46 seconds long. about telivision.

Pictures-Pretty Mid-Eastern sounding. Serj goes " Ba Ba Ba Baa".
What does it mean?

Highway Song-Second best on album. Kinda slow in begining.

**** the System- Awsome song. Can't write out song title not aloud. Serj again is making insane noises.

Ego Brain-Starts out acoustic. Pretty cool

Thetawaves-Really cool song. Pretty fast singing.

Roulette-Increadable! All of it is just acoustic guitar with vocals. Really cool meaning. Makes you want it never to stop.I'm serious this song is breathtaking.

Streamline-Was on Scorpion King Soundtrack. Pretty cool, nothing to brag about.

This is an awsome CD. Go out and buy it if you want something to hold you of until the new one comes out. Keep on rocking.


An in-between album? More like their best album.   April 3, 2004
 18 out of 29 found this review helpful

I have to say for a bunch of songs that were scraps from other albums, I think it's their best one. The tracks have amazing continuity and the lyrics rise above the usual meathead stupidity of metal. Steal This Album has the usual power of System with the brains of political punk.

I would point out some highlights, but every single track is awesome. There's no need to skip tracks.

I have to say that System's marketing is shameful though. They claim that they put out this album because people were downloading poor quality versions... B.S. They put out this album for money, just like they release three or four versions of each album for money. They're worse than Max Cavalera when it comes to ripping off the fans. Then they call it Steal this Album as if they would really like that. Well, maybe it's more Rick Ruben's fault than it is System's.


Not their best, but still very enjoyable   October 12, 2005
 18 out of 21 found this review helpful

Considering it took four years to make "Toxicity," it's not (or shouldn't be) surprising that System of a Down had some leftover songs that they wanted heard. What is surprising, however, is that these b-sides were so good. Some songs here, like "Innervision" and "Chic `N' Stew," are as good as anything on System's last two discs. In fact, the band left some of these songs off of their last album not because they weren't good songs, but because they wanted "Toxicity" to have a different, more serious theme. A song like "Bubbles" wouldn't exactly fit if it were next to, say, "Aerials."

These 13 songs don't have as many powerful lyrics as "Toxicity," so "Steal This Album" doesn't have the sharp impact or depth that its predecessor had. But this C.D. is still very fun to listen to! Daron's riffs are still crunchy and heavy, sometimes (as in track three) almost flattening, and Serj's vocals are (as always) top-notch. ("Roulette" is probably the best example of his proper, nasal, almost soulful singing.) Plus, even though they're not AS good, the lyrics are still pretty intelligent. "Boom" is a bold, unabashed anti-war tirade, and has lyrics like "four thousand children die per hour from starvation/while billions spent on bombs/creating death showers."

Elsewhere, "Pictures" is a fairly odd song with catchy drumming, making it kind of sound like it's a b-side from System's first, self-entitled album. Next, "Highway Song" has a good soft-loud-soft dynamic, as well has a good give and take between the guitars and drums. "Ego Brain" seems in the same mold as "Toxicity"'s album closer, "Aerials," and "Roulette" features acoustic guitar plucking and even some violins. Other highlights include "Mr. Jack," "I-E-A-I-A-I-O," and the silly "F**k The System."

When it was first released, "Steal This Album" served as a nice snack to whet fans appetites for what was to come. Now, since "Mezmerize" was released earlier this year (2005), "Steal This Album" isn't any less good, it's just the band's best album, and not essential for casual System of a Down fans. But if you liked SoaD's first two albums, you're sure to like this, as well.


WHAT? THESE ARE B-SIDES?   January 15, 2003
 14 out of 18 found this review helpful

No...I can't bring myself to believe that these are rejects. Well, I guess System's "trash" is another band's "aspiration". Other nu-metal bands could only hope to be half as good as SOAD's B-sides. I almost didn't waste the 11.99 on this cd but I'm so glad I did.

1. Chic N Stu- This might be my favorite song on the whole damn album. Its worth stealing for this song alone! Worthy of anything on Toxicity (except for Needles and Deer Dance and Chop Suey and ATWA and Toxicity....) 10/10

2. Innervision- At first I was like, hmmm....its an okay song....but the more i listened to it the more I fell in love with it. Beautiful. 9/10
3. Bubbles- Wow. That's all I can say. 10/10
4. Boom!- I love the chorus to this song and the very end of it too. SOAD really knows how to end a song with a bang. 10/10
5. Nuguns- Not as good as the previous four songs...7/10
6. ADD- Again, this song didnt impress me the first 10 times I heard it. Then suddenly one day I was listening to it and I realized that it was one of the best songs. This CD keeps amazing me. 10/10
7. Mr Jack- A slower song but it picks up speed at the end and I LOVE the way it ends, when he screams and then it just cuts off. Very powerful. 9/10
8. A-E-I-E-I-O- If there were a single to this CD, this song would be it. All around catchy, very singable. 9/10
9. 36- Why so short? I want more! This is the strangest song by far, just because of the voice inflections and weird guitar thingy. "Life is so...unnecessary!" 8/10
10. Pictures- Another very catchy song. I like the little drum cadence. 9/10
11. Highway Song- Haunting, beautiful melody. 9/10
12. *uck the System- A tribute to what the band is all about. Amen. 9/10
13. Egobrain- A third song that I fell in love with after a few dozen listens. And getting better every time. 9/10
14. Thetaways- It's ok...kind of blends into the rest of the songs, doesn't stand out all that much to me. 7/10
15. Roulette- The guys slow down for a second here to catch their breath, I guess. And I'm glad they did- the result is...well...breath-taking. 9/10
16. Streamline- This one also kind of blends in and doesn't really stand out on its own. Don't get me wrong, still good though. 7/10

Hope that was helpful!


This album is unbelievable   December 17, 2002
 11 out of 16 found this review helpful

these guys have picked up where rage left off, only with a totally different style than any band in the world today. these guys are original. though i had extremely high expectations for the follow up of toxicity (which was my most listened to cd last year), soad surpassed those expectations.

the opening track is a bit silly, but makes its point about how "advertising's got you on the run", which i totally understand. then the single innervision busts out with the system that your used to, bringing booming guitar and drums, along with that arabian feel. some highlights include the track boom, you can feel how passionate they are about the negative aspects of military and war. moving up to mr. jack, this is probably my favorite track at the moment. this song builds and builds with beautiful screaming harmonies at the end that really hit you. you have to check that whole song out.

one more thing i like about this album is the fact that it is continuous. it sounds less like a collection of songs, and more like a complete album. at times it's hard to tell whether the songs are switching tracks, or are in fact still the same song.

i can not recommend an album more highly at the moment.