10 Rock Bands That Defined The 2000's

The turn of the century was a whirlwind time for pop culture. Not only were cell phones becoming much more prevalent, but an interesting technological idea called 'the Internet' was still coming out of the shadows.

Music was changing radically as well with Apple becoming a massive conglomerate and the format shifting from CDs to pirated and non-pirated downloads. The charts, however, were somewhat abysmal for rock music, being dominated by sugary pop music, R&B, and hip hop.

As the decade went on, many different bands came out of the woodwork to be the spokespeople for rock as we entered the digital age.

Was rock's impact as large as the swinging 60's or the grunge 90's were? That, of course, is up for debate. Regardless, these are bands that crafted new directions rock could go in as the music landscape broadened.

Keep in mind this is not a list to end all lists. These are simply a collection of bands who have made strides that stuck out compared to their contemporaries. Cool? Cool.

At the start of the decade, it really felt that rock had lost its edgy nature. No one was taking a ton of risks, especially in the lyrics department. Then out of nowhere comes this band from California with a harsh metal sound and pointedly political lyrics. Behold: System of a Down.

With System, 2000's kids had found their successor to Rage Against the Machine. Principal songwriters Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian crafted scathing critiques of government as a whole, while also finding time to write more heartfelt material on albums like Toxicity and the technically-double album Mesmerize and Hypnotize.

At the decade's halfway point, System decided to go on the dreaded hiatus with Tankian and Malakian going their separate ways.

While the band has reunited in recent years, it's anyone's guess as to whether we will be hearing any new material from them in the future. But we will forever have gems like "Chop Suey" and "B.Y.O.B" to look to as the gold standard of modern day rebel songs.