System Of A Down’s political statements would be so much more effective if they would only learn how to couch their outsider-isms within pointed stories, instead of just shouting out predictable slogans. We’ve all felt as pissed off as does the character in “F**k The System,” which is a track that finds vocalist Serj Tankian sounding like a crazy man with a severe case of tourettes syndrome. But just as on other tracks, like “Boom!” and “Nuguns,” this quartet is too often stating the obvious, instead of adding new nuances to their familiar arguments. In “Boom!,” we’re told that it’s wrong to put the building of bombs above feeding the hungry, and on “Nuguns,” guns are called bad things. But who doesn’t know this already? These guys are just too smart for such simple statements.

These lyrical faults are especially frustrating because Tankian is an extremely flexible and talented vocalist. He can sound angry one minute, confused the next, then tender and soft shortly after that. His band mates are also tight enough to stop on a dime, and they more than reveal these skills with the stop ‘n start rhythms of “Nuguns.” The group then gets a little funky with “I-E-A-I-A-I-O” (which has what sounds like a Native American chant for a chorus), and even unplugs to gentle with the cello-assisted and acoustic “Roulette.” “Roulette” also contains one of this album’s real lyrical gems: “I don’t know how I feel when I’m around you.” (Get it? “Around you” is like being on a perpetual roulette wheel.)

The sound of this recording is clear, present and dangerous, mostly due to the spot-on production work of Rick Rubin. Rubin loves hard rock just as much as he digs funky R&B, which makes him the perfect fit to oversee this soulful hard rock group.

The packaging for “Steal This Album” resembles a homemade CD, as it is housed in a clear jewel case with no cover art, no booklet, and no standard J-card. But while it has the look and feel of a bootleg, it also has (for the most part) the sound of finished product. This is yet one more album filled with superior hard rock noise, but System Of A Down will be even more vital once they learn how to make their political sketches into memorably personal portraits.