10 Great Rock Songs Written In Anger

Ask any artist the key to writing a good song, and there's a good chance that they'll say that emotion is one of the key elements. No matter how you feel about the melodic structure, the core of the track won't mean a thing unless you have a strong feeling about what you're singing.

Though there have been many great songs written about love, happiness and peace, rock can sometimes see its greatest cuts come from a more visceral emotion. Instead of being awestruck by infatuation or lust, these songs have resulted out of pure anger on the part of the songwriter.

It could be directed at managers, exes, or even the other band members, but these artists decided to write their contempt in their lyrics rather than confront the actual source of the problem. This tends to work out well for most artists, with some of the more destructive cuts becoming absolute staples in their repertoire for years to come. These tracks could have resulted in bad blood, but the royalty checks from these songs have properly softened the blow over the years. No matter where these rageful feelings have come from, the magic coming off the band's instruments is too good to pass up.

When Deftones finished the sessions for the album White Pony, they had created one of the seminal records of the nu metal genre. The album has not only held up over time, but has gone on to inspire legions of fans to explore different sonic avenues with their music. At the same time, the band's label wasn't exactly pleased with the final result.

Though most of the album holds together as a comprehensive whole, the label approached the band to see if they could write something that had more mainstream appeal. Vocalist Chino Moreno was particularly displeased with the proposition, reasoning that it was too easy to write a hit and more challenging to come up with more groundbreaking material.

As a joke, Moreno brought in a song that turned bits of the song "Pink Maggit" into a nu metal stomper. The decision to show the label ended up backfiring on Moreno though, with the band's promotional team rushing to release it as a single. Though the band got a lot of exposure thanks to "Back to School," the band detests this version of the song to this day. Even if it looks cheesy nowadays, the core of Deftones' other recorded output is still the best metal to come out of the 2000's.