Steal This Album!

Steal This Album!
Studio album by System of a Down
Released	November 26, 2002
Recorded	2002
Genre	Alternative metal, hard rock
Length	43:22
Label	American Recordings/Columbia/SME Records
Producer	Rick Rubin, Daron Malakian
System of a Down chronology
Toxicity (2001) Steal This Album! (2002) Mezmerize (2005)
Singles from Steal This Album!
"Innervision" Released: October 2002 "Boom!" Released: December 2002

Steal This Album! is the third studio album by Armenian American rock band System of a Down, released on November 26, 2002, on American Recordings. The album was produced by Rick Rubin and Daron Malakian, and reached #15 in the Billboard Top 200.^[1]

Album information

This album was released shortly after a collection of medium-quality MP3s found its way onto the Internet under the unofficial name Toxicity II, a year after the release of the group's multi-platinum record, Toxicity. The band issued a statement expressing their disappointment that their fans were hearing unfinished material, and released the finished versions of the leaked material. Most, but not all tracks from the original leak (e.g. "Cherry") made it onto Steal This Album!, and three new tracks including "Roulette" were also added. Many song titles, lyrics, and melodies were changed, making the new album significantly different from the unfinished product.

Though often reported in the media as being a collection of B-sides and outtakes, the band insists that the Steal This Album! material is of the same quality as the tracks which made it onto Toxicity. Vocalist Serj Tankian has said that the songs were left out of Toxicity "because they did not fit the overall continuity of the album". In May 2009, drummer John Dolmayan revealed that the album is his favorite System of a Down release.^[2] Similarly, Tankian expressed his fondness for the album in a 2012 AMA on Reddit.

An alternate version of "Streamline" was used in The Scorpion King soundtrack, which was released in early 2002, and as a B-side on some copies of the "Aerials" single.

The album title is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's book Steal This Book, which is regarded as a classic example of counterculture literature. A similar title (Steal This Movie!) was used for a movie about Hoffman's life. A year prior to this album however, The Suicide Machines had already released an album entitled Steal This Record. The Coup had also released a Steal This Album in 1998.

The packaging for this album is quite unusual. The album comes in a normal CD jewel case with only a disc and no booklet. On the CD and the back of the case, the text is styled as if written by a black permanent marker, in faux-bootleg appearance. This is an obvious response by the band to the people who leaked the original Toxicity II CD.

Most songs on the album have received little appearance in concert. However, songs "Mr. Jack" and "I-E-A-I-A-I-O" were played extensively to live audiences.

After the end of the band's hiatus in 2011, the only songs to have been played from the album are "I-E-A-I-A-I-O", "Mr. Jack", "Innervision", and "Roulette". In the 2013 tour they played also "A.D.D.".^[3]

Multi-instrumentalist Arto Tunçboyacıyan sings on the song "Bubbles", making his third appearance with System of a Down (having appeared on two songs on Toxicity).

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Blender	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Spin	8/10[9]
Sputnikmusic	4.5/5[10]

• CMJ (12/16/02, p. 23) - "Both arty aggro and perverted political punk."
• Entertainment Weekly (11/29/02, p. 105) - "Steal This Album stands head-and-tattooed shoulders above its competition in the hard-rock genre."
• Rolling Stone (12/12/02, p. 93) - "An absurdist blast of political rage, silly theater and shattered math metal."
• Spin (2/03, p. 96) - 8 out of 10 - "The way these simple songs blur together works in the album's favor: Just when you think you've got a foothold, the ground disappears under your feet."

Alternative covers

In the United Kingdom and United States releases of Steal This Album!, for a limited time four alternative versions of the disc artwork were available. Each were designed by a member of the band. One featured an entirely blue background with text swirling into the center. One was a drawing of crude stylized flames, accompanied by text. The third was black and gray, depicting a skull with writing in the mouth. The fourth, and perhaps most controversial featured two 'V' shapes, crossing over in the center to create a diamond. One 'V' was entirely blue, and the other red and white striped. If looked at close enough, it becomes apparent that the "V shapes" are actually legs, meaning a woman (in the red and white) is laying on her back with her legs in the air, while a man (in blue) is standing over her, symbolizing the fact of how the American society is so connected with sexual acts. These versions are considered very rare. Additionally, the vinyl edition of the album was released as a double picture disc with each design featuring as a side of the album.

In Europe and the UK the standard version includes a one sided front insert, the reason for this being that most CDs in the UK are not sold sealed so it might appear that the cover had been stolen had it been shipped without it. It is all white with the album title in black, similar to the original CD cover. The insert contains minimal information and contains a link to the official website for more track information.

Track listing

Personnel

System of a Down

• Serj Tankian — vocals, keyboards, theremin
• Daron Malakian — guitars, vocals, oud
• Shavo Odadjian — bass, backing vocals
• John Dolmayan — drums, backing vocals

Production

• Produced by Rick Rubin and Daron Malakian
• Engineered by Greg Collins, Darren Mora, and Dave Shiffman
• Mixed by Andy Wallace
• Worldwide Representation: Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group
• Additional Vocals by Arto Tunçboyaciyan on "Bubbles"

Charting performance

Singles

References