12 '00s Hard Rock Albums All Fans Should Own

2001 was a tricky time for heavy music, with the nu metal explosion opening the door for some questionable bands. While System Of A Down certainly have some qualities found in the genre, their music, especially 2001’s Toxicity, is so much more melodic, innovative, and forward thinking than their contemporaries that the comparison is unfair.

“Chop Suey” was a great stealth single, introducing new listeners to the band’s wackiness encased in a gorgeous melody, but Toxicity is a far angrier album than that. “Prison Song” sets the stall: this is a highly political record, with vocalist Serj Tankian spewing startling incarceration statistics in his cult leader voice.

It’s a hugely varied album, with gorgeous moments like “Aerials”, big singalongs like “Forest”, wild nonsense (no one does nonsense lyrics better) like “Shimmy”, and more straightforward crunchy metal like “Jet Pilot”.

Best of all is the title track and second single, which demonstrates the virtuosity of the players. Tankian stretches out oblique lyrics over shifting time signatures and a startling, whiplash chorus. The band’s great sense of humour is one of its most endearing features, but that belies a truly great set of songwriters.