Steal This Album! - S.O.A.D | Teen Ink

Steal This Album! - S.O.A.D

April 29, 2024
By Anonymous

I'm an avid alternative music enjoyer. But I am very picky. Some songs are just not put together correctly or the albums are messy. Yet then one day through a friend and the internet I slowly discovered System Of A Down. 

When I started exploring them and saw the initial picture and title of this specific album, I thought it was going to be bland. Steal This Album! That's what it is called. Who would even want to steal this album? I thought.  The cover is boring as well as the name. Yet—I was so wrong.

I clicked the first song “Chic N Stu” and it was a bounce of energy, funny and catchy. The song felt like metal, but fun. It is fast mostly but they slow down nicely sometimes. The lyrics, “pepperoni and green peppers, mushrooms, olives, chives” are so fun and intriguing. 

The next song “Innervision” is smooth, a great transition. This song is vengeful and it feels as if it's building up with anger almost as if something is being planned. Perfection. 

Bubbles is a solid song. The guitar is beautiful and fast. I always admire their guitarist’s guitar abilities. The song is peppy and the speed gets slowed down for the buildup at the end. Could be better with some more energy, thought, and more instrumentals—but I still love it. 

Boom, the next song is a slow gradual start but then the boom hits you with the guitar and sound effects. The speed and frustration in the song is glorious. 

Next was Nuguns and this one was different and mysterious in the beginning, then the Nugun sounds came and heated the song up. This song was good but could have had more energy and better lyrics. 

The next songs A.D.D and Mr. Jack were also pretty ok but did not catch my attention too much. They just could not compare to the energy and perfection of the other songs. Then the peak of the album came. I-E-A-I-A-I-O. Super interesting title. The song is amazing, speedy, awakening; the guitar is insane and the speedy singing is gorgeous. Absolute highlight of the album. 

After that the song 36 and Pictures come. They both have the same energy and are very peppy and funny. I love how they incorporate cool different instruments into these ones. 

The last 4 songs were the downfall of this album—very mid. They were not organized, almost as if they just wanted to add more songs to the album. The guitar did not stand out to me. Also the names of the songs were not as fun at all. As well as the lyrics. started snoring through the end of the album to be honest. 

My overall critique of the album is there could definitely be a more creative cover, more pep and thought to the name of the album, but If you are like me and enjoy metal you should listen to this album because of the amount of creativity, vocals, instrumental perfection, and unique songs. Don't bother with the end of the album though…


The author's comments:

I am so cool and so splendid!


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 1 comment.


on Oct. 5 at 11:46 pm
BubblyMetalhead, Carbondale, Colorado
0 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
"...security cannot be the scapegoat to distract attention from the inequalities and injustices in our homeland." - Serj Tankian

I like your review, and I'm very glad you liked this album! I am a SoaD fan myself, and it's always nice to find other fans. I love System because, as you pointed out, they are very energetic and unique. They weave politics into their music but also sing about the most random things, or about their culture, or about drugs or the rock 'n roll lifestyle. And the way they sound is a literal mix of heavy metal and Armenian folk melodies. The way Serj (their lead singer, for those who don't know) sings and writes is so odd and amazing. From my knowledge, he often chooses lyrics from his poetry notebooks, and even if they don't quite fit into the beat of the song, he makes it work! Listen to "Prison Song" from their album Toxicity, for example. During the bridge, he simply starts spitting statistics. Listen to the track "Arto" at the end of that album as well---it is a cover of the Armenian hymn Der Voghormia (SoaD is an American-Armenian band and has dedicated their platform towards raising awareness for the Armenian genocide of 1915, which killed over a million people).

Back to Steal This Album!, I do agree with your points on a lot of the songs. Personally, I can find myself enjoying pretty much everything, so I liked pretty much every song on this album. ADD I thought had a very cool opening guitar, simple as it was, and a great buildup with whispered harmony and drums to an explosion of one-note-sung lyrics and political screams. Mr. Jack, to me, had a great message and the harmonies between Serj and Daron (their guitar player) were haunting and powerful, though sparse. I liked the end, where it gets a bit more metal, the guitar gets more precise and almost sounds like a drum, and the vocals play with the tempo.

I liked the end of the album, some songs more than others, but I agree that a few songs did seem a bit like fill-ins. I liked pieces of them individually, but I do think they could have used a bit more. Ego Brain was one track I enjoyed, however, as the harmonies and guitar together just made such a potent piece. I loved the drums as they sang "Ego Brain", because the sort of offbeat urgency added to the texture of the song, and how each instrument had a different, unique part.