Review Summary: Short, yet sweet, this is a great album for anyone to listen to, although it can be a bit explicit. SOAD do a good job and can be as original as they want.
Steal This Album is one of the best, if not the best albums to be creative. Serj and Co. do a great job at rebounding from a hit album in
Toxicity. I also think that this was the album where they put the songs that they thought weren’t good enough to make the cut for Toxicity. While musically, they may not be, but lyrically, they are brilliant. The CD is short, totaling just over 40 minutes of music, and the average song being just over 2 and a half minutes long. The album opener
Chic ‘N’ Stu, is an instant opener classic, talking about pizza, but could be talking about advertising. A great opener.
Serj does a great job explaining his views of the American Government, as always. Songs like
Bubbles, Boom! and
A.D.D., with A.D.D. (American Dream Denial)being my personal favorite on the album, describe their views very well. Not only do they sing very good, about lyrics, they are catchy songs as well. The chorus for A.D.D. goes like this:
Quote:
We don’t give a damn about your world with all your global profits and all youre to oppose
We don’t give a damn about your world
Right now...
We don’t give a *** about your world with all your global profits and all youre to oppose
We don’t give a *** about your world
Right now...
|
To me, this is about how the dream as Americans keeps on changing, saying we want this, rather than that, and is fueled by power instead of freedom. A great song lyrically and musically, as it is very speedy. Most of these songs on this album are about how the American Government is run by the people, but yet the people have no say in it whatsoever.
Daron has matured as a guitarist, and has been known for his very fast riffs. While he is labeled as a nu-metal guitarist, he is improving and evolving into something better with every album they release. This is his album where he shines the most, and has fast riffs in almost every song, using harmonics and soloing very effectively, as in songs like
F**k The System and
I-E-A-I-A-I-O. The latter song was released as a single, and had some pretty good success, but not anywhere as good as any song off of Toxicity.
As I have mentioned in my other SOAD review, the ballads are amazing, and there is two key songs that define the ballad term on this CD. It is
Roulette and
Streamline. Streamline is more of a hard rock song, but the way they sing it is just simply amazing. Serj shows his vocal talent and how he can have some range while singing. At the very end, they bring in the orchestra, and is a great way to end a great album. Roulette features Serj and Daron doing the signature dual vocals that SOAD have been known to do, and the excellent guitar work and orchestra to accompany the vocals equates for a good song. You couldn’t compare it to anything because it is that good, and is definitive of SOAD at its best, whether it be a ballad or not. There is maybe two or three SOAD songs that are better, that is Spiders, from the s/t album, Chop Suey! from Toxicity, or Holy Mountains from Hypnotize. Great song nonetheless.
The only real rock song on here, and the album’s first single,
Innervision, was a good choice for the album’s lead single, as it could hold its own for being (musically, and possibly lyrically) the best song on the album, and really put Steal This Album! on the market as a must have record for everybody. Everything about the band is going smoothly on this song, and shows the good side of SOAD.
Pros:
Serj’s lyrics and how he sings him
Good choice for singles
Catchy as hell
A.D.D.
Cons:
Too short
Very few solos
You can barely hear Shavo, the bassist (yet very talented)
Recommended Listens
Chic ‘N’ Stu
Innervision
Bubbles
Boom!
A.D.D.
Roulette
Streamline
