10 Perfect Albums Where Metal Went Alternative

There's a good chance that most people would like to forget their nu metal phase that they had back in high school in the early '00s. As much as acts like Staind and Puddle of Mudd may have spoken to us in our time of need, there's definitely an expiration date on this genre, and most bands that helped us through high school ending up falling by the wayside once the hair styles started to change. Some bands were just there to make you headbang, but there was a sense of purpose whenever System of a Down came on the radio.

Though they may have similar influences to the other nu metal acts coming out at the time, System's anger had a much more specific face most of the time, calling out injustices that were happening every single day in America, from the broken incarceration system that still hasn't gotten better on Prison Song to a song like Chop Suey calling out those who incorrectly categorize people based on how they look to you at the moment.

There was initially some pushback from people who didn't think that the world needed to hear songs like this in the wake of 9/11, but if you listen to a song like Aerials, this wasn't just anger for the hell of it. This was a commentary about how we treat our fellow men around us, and even twenty years removed from its release date, society can still take a few cues from this record about how to avoid the toxic side of yourself.