10 Underrated Hard Rock Songs Of The 2000s

In the beginning of the '00s, any rock music that had a prayer on the radio had to be put through a specific lens. Whether it was the sounds coming from the pop punk movement or the brooding tones coming from nu metal, the idea of someone getting by just as a rock band was starting to become less and less likely. That is, until Songs for the Deaf happened.

Taking the stoner rock tropes out for a test drive, Joshua Homme created a true experience with this album, as the freewheeling vibes paint a picture of a ride through the deserts of California. Though most of the actual music still feels like a good time, there's a bit of a different story going on with Hanging Tree. From the weird 5/4 rhythm, you can already tell that something's a bit off, which gives way to Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan having a turn on the mic.

As Homme's guitars cascade across the speakers, Lanegan's role is a lot more skeazy than Homme's register, almost like he's talking about the hanging tree checkpoint as some sort of dirty rendezvous, which could result in sex, death, or in the worst case both. Along with one of the greatest Homme solos on the entire record, Hanging Tree is the sound of when the dream of California starts to turn into a nightmare.