10 Amazing Hard Rock Concept Albums

By the time that System of a Down got around to making their one-two punch of Mezmerize and Hypnotize, fans really knew what to expect. Toxicity had already positioned them as one of the more unique voices in nu metal, and hearing them go after political injustice on that album made people want to rebel against the system. That was pre 9/11 though, and the guys had a lot more on their mind once the Bush administration really got underway.

Across both of these albums, each song seems to work as some subtle critique of what America is coming to, starting with the protest song BYOB setting its sites straight on George W. Bush and his way of fumbling through warfare. System were also a group of very different men that they were during Toxicity as well, and more than a handful of songs on here detail what it's like for a band like them to have to deal with fame, with Daron Malakian talking about the phoniness of celebrity culture on Lost in Hollywood or how you can get mesmerized into sedation on the song Hypnotize.

Right alongside him, Serj Tankian brings a much more political edge to his tracks, almost demonizing war propaganda on U Fig and watching as the soldiers in Soldier Side come to the realization that they're going to die from a war that was ultimately pointless. America may indeed be called the Land of the Free, but System's perspective shows us a country in shambles and on the verge of consuming itself from the inside.