10 Hard Rock Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

There's probably a certain subsect of hard rock fans who live and die by the work of System of a Down. Across their all-too-brief tenure at the turn of the century, their material became some of the most forceful nu metal ever conceived, with lyrics that didn't mince words about the evils that take place in society. However, if you had to distill these guys down to a single record, you have to listen to Toxicity.

In just under an hour, this entire record feels less like listening to music and more like a call to arms from some of the greatest musical thinkers in the world. Even though there is plenty of anger to go around on this release, the focus isn't so much on internal pain as much as it's about societal evils, from the incarceration problem on Prison Song or our inability to communicate with our fellow man on Aerials.

As far as hard rock goes, this is also far more musical than you would think, with Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian making some of the most ethereal sounding harmonies to ever come out of the '00s. Whereas most acts were getting by on the real pain and anger that came with teenage angst, this is where nu metal grew up and took a stern look at the world around them, critics be damned.