10 Perfect Rock Debut Albums Of The 2000s

10. Fallen - Evanescence

Before any of the true metal heads start trying to burn yours truly at the stake for this, nu metal felt like it was in a state of freefall during the beginning of the '00s. While bands like Korn and Fear Factory may have been fun back into the day, the newer bands on the spectrum were a lot more cringy than what you'd expect out of someone like Deftones. You needed someone to mess with the formula, and that's exactly what Evanescence did on Fallen.

Off the strength of singles like Going Under, Amy Lee positioned herself as one of the greatest female voices in rock, sounding like she could take on real metal bombast while having the range of an opera singer. That wasn't a mistake either, if the remix albums that would follow are any indication of how operatic this music can feel.

Then again, this might not be considered the heaviest album by any stretch. Not when you have people like Limp Bizkit and Slipknot on the charts around the exact same time. Rather, this serves as a gateway album for the kids who were just starting to develop a fascination for what the heavier side of rock could be. The rest of power metal may be miles ahead of Evanescence from a technical standpoint, but this is what got all of us hooked...and you never forget your first love, do you?