#1. System of a Down, “Holy Mountains” – from the album Hypnotize
No track this decade matches the sheer beauty that is this song. It’s melodic paired with metal, you couple that combination with the most unique set of vocals to hit the hard rock/metal world in Serj Tankian, you have a good formula for a soaring track. This song, about the Armenian Genocide that took place right before World War I, captures the horror and desperation of the Armenian people trying to hide from their pursuers, that being the Turkish Army, in the mountains located near the River Aras. This is the most personal and politically toned song SOAD has ever made. It’s a shame and embarrassment that the Armenian Genocide has not been globally recognized, due to Turkey never admitting that they were the brutal nation that led this pre-Holocaust invasion. We get so offended whenever we hear of Holocaust-deniers, well, why don’t we get as offended if not more so when this horrid event has not been properly addressed? This is SOAD’s cry, as they shred through this extremely emotional and vocally powerful piece of art with fervent passion.
#2. Slipknot, “Vermillion” – from the album Volume 3. – The Subliminal Verses
This might come to a shock to many that I would have a song by this band so high. Some people I know diss “Slipknot” because they use effects in their guitar work to disguise the fact that they’re “not very good guitar players”. That’s like saying Tom Morello is a terrible guitarist because he plays his guitar like a disc-jockey rather than an instrument. Nothing could be further from the truth. It still takes talent, and Slipknot has a lot of this. This track represents Slipknot at their most mature point. It is a song about beauty, and how someone so perfect can be ever so fake and hollow. The first two minutes of the track are mostly a haunting whisper by lead vocalist Corey Taylor, about a woman he is obsessed with because outside she’s pleasing to the eye, but, as illustrated shortly after the two minute mark, he realizes that “she isn’t real”, and this is met with a jarring change in the vocals. The last couple minutes or so of the song feature the band completely in unison, from the beautiful vocal work, to the brilliant instrumental work. Anyone who says that Slipknot is just a heavy metal band with songs about violence and anarchy, needs to listen to this incredibly pieced together track.
#3. Audioslave, “Wide Awake” – from the album Revelations
It’s a real shame lead singer Chris Cornell decided to leave this band after only a short time. Audioslave produced three albums, the first two, Audioslave and Out of Exile, being outstanding, with Revelations, their last album, being a nice send off. The album is mixed in with some politics as well as some personal nostalgia from Cornell. When it turns to politics, it’s usually spot-on, and this track, which is the peak of everything Audioslave ever did, is potentially the most shattering political statement of this decade, especially the chorus in which Cornell screams, “I’ve found you guilty of a crime, for sleeping at a time, when you should have been wide awake”. The “crime” Cornell is referring to here is FEMA’s pathetic response time to Hurricane Katrina, leaving thousands fighting for their lives and scared that no one would come to help them. While this song strays at one part, leveling a lazy, recycled cry at Bush (“While you’re trading lives for oil, as if the whole world were blind”), this is a roaring, passionate, incredible track. This could have just been a good song, but Cornell’s vocals and stirring screams in the chorus, and especially the ending, really leave a mark. Ironically, this would end up being the breaking point for Cornell remaining in the band, as it was no secret that he sometimes got annoyed with the rest of the band (the remainder of my favorite band, “Rage Against the Machine”) trying to push their political agenda through his vocals.
#4. Staind, “Outside” – from the album Break the Cycle
If you listen to Staind as much as I do, it’s not hard to figure out that lead singer Aaron Lewis is a very personal and depressed individual. This track captures Lewis’s disappointments and revelations all in one big envelope. Lewis admits regrets, sacrifices, strife, and personal revelations in this emotionally-heavy track. The chorus is worded to perfection, saying, “But I’m on the outside, and I’m looking in, I can see through you, see your true colors, cuz inside your ugly, your ugly like me, I can see through you, see to the real you”. Staind knows how to go full-throttle on accusations on people that hurt them, but instead of following this method that allowed them to make their debut album so special, they decide to pull back a bit, allowing self-loathing to creep into the picture ever so faintly. The last minute and a half of the song should blow you away; Aaron Lewis really has a phenomenal voice that doesn’t lose anything even live. Below is a video of him performing this song live with Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst.
#5. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Wet Sand” – from the album Stadium Arcadium – Jupiter
The release of the album Stadium Arcadium signals the bulk of the Red Hot Chili Peppers fan base coming aboard the bandwagon. When “Dani California” hit the airwaves, seemingly everybody became a fan of theirs all of a sudden. For good reason, the album is one of the better ones of the last decade, which also features one of the best songs of this past decade, this being my personal favorite RHCP track, “Wet Sand”. It starts off gently, with appropriately restrained vocal work by front main Anthony Kiedis. It builds slowly but beautifully into a hard rock ballad, in which Kiedes mourns over a relationship that didn’t work out. Sometimes this works out horribly, in which the band runs the risk of sounding whiny and washed-up (see the last half of Staind’s Chapter IV record), but here it works out incredibly. Once Kiedis starts singing about that “wet sand”, the song really takes off, as the band forms gorgeously as one vocally and musically, to bring home a hard-rocking, almost ear-piercing guitar solo finale that should hit you like a train.
#6. System of a Down, “Chop Suey!” – from the album Toxicity
Yeesh, two SOAD songs in one top ten list? Yes, no question. I feel sorry for all the people that laughed at me in high school for my different music tastes and passion for the bands I followed. I can live with not listening to most hip-hop and rap which is self-congratulatory and creates a petty fantasy world for most of its fans to imagine themselves living in. You’re the ones missing out, not me. System of a Down is unquestionably this decade’s best artist, it’s not even close. They can create something silly and out of control (“Chic N’ Stu”), or something extremely powerful and personal (“P.L.U.C.K.”, about the Armenian Genocide). Whatever they decide to do, they always succeeded (they are currently on hiatus right now, reason why I’m using the past tense L). Toxicity is also this decade’s best CD, beating out whatever Eminem, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, or Metallica has ever done. “Chop Suey!” was, like some SOAD songs understandably, misconstrued when it was first released. No, it’s not an attack on Christianity or a tale of a suicide bomber like it was originally thought, it’s a fast-talking, guitar chomping, yet personal tribute to one of lead singer Serj Tankian’s best friends, who committed suicide due to his father taking a “God-like” approach in his son’s life. The conclusion to this piece is one of the best closings in modern music, in which lead guitarist Daron Malakain shreds his occasional barks from an additional vocal standpoint, instead assisting Serj with a perfectly pitched voice to amplify the finale. It works out tremendously, and it’s the main reason why SOAD became so popular as a result.
#7. Metallica, “All Nightmare Long” – from the album Death Magnetic
I’ll admit it. I wasn’t exactly excited when I heard Metallica was coming out with a new album back last year. No, I don’t think St. Anger is a terrible album like many of the Metallica fanbase do, but it was far inferior to what they’re previous triumphs. However, this album was an absolute smash. This was the best rock album of 2008, which features a huge “We’re Back!” statement (“That Was Just Your Life”) from the band. The song “All Nightmare Long” slams into the scene, wrecking havoc and creating mayhem in its every violent turn. The chorus is especially memorable, in which front man James Hetfield howls that they’ll, “hunt you down without mercy, hunt you down all nightmare long, feel us breathe upon your face, feel us shift every move we trace”. The guitar work is classic Metallica, consisting of incredible solos from Kirk Hammett. While it might not be the best song Metallica has ever done, it’s definitely one of the best songs of this decade.
#8. Disturbed, “Perfect Insanity” – from the album Indestructible
Disturbed is one of those bands that’s seemingly popular to hate. Yes, perhaps many of their songs come from the Linkin Park school of all sounding the same. Maybe it’s because front man David Draiman thinks he’s more animal than man, barking at the introductions of many of their songs to create a jungle animal character that is supposed to be intimidating. I consider Disturbed to be an incredibly powerful and finely tuned hard rock/metal band, in which Draiman is completely in sync with the riffs, to the point where you almost can’t separate his voice from the rapid-fire guitar work. The song “Perfect Insanity” is Disturbed at their best, with a nightmarish vocals by Draiman and guitar work that creates a Hellish environment for its beast. The best part is unsurprisingly, the ending, when Draiman cries that he’s “lost his mind” over and over again at a machine-gun pace that makes the song erupt into blazing fire and flames.
#9. Eminem, “Til’ I Collapse” – from the album The Eminem Show
Yes, I do like SOME rap. In fact, I like a lot of Eminem’s material, which ranges from incredibly honest personal tragedies that he’s gone through, and the occasional diss track (I prefer the former, personally). As already mentioned in this thread, I am not a fan of the self-loving, fantasy world crap a majority of the rap genre (nowadays atleast) tries to poison its fans with. Although I will admit that there is definitely a good portion of the music that is personal and not conceited, I just haven’t worked up the appetite to delve into other talented rappers work. But anyways, back to this song. This is an intense and incredibly personal song, in which Eminem talks about how he’s going to keep rapping until he can’t do it anymore. There’s that twinge of anger located in his voice that flares up every now and then, keeping you on edge for what he’s going to hit you with next. The chorus is catchy and well put-together, and the beat that is located throughout the song is the main reason why this song is a musical blast from start to finish.
#10. Rage Against the Machine, “Maggie’s Farm” – from the album Renegades
Come on, I had to include at least ONE song from my all-time favorite band didn’t I? To be honest, it isn’t that big of a stretch. The album Renegades, consisting completely of cover songs by one of the most unique bands to ever hit the modern music scene, is a great, funky album in which you can tell the band is having at least a little fun with covering former rock hits. “Maggie’s Farm”, which is originally a more subdued song by the much celebrated Bob Dylan, is a bass heavy jam from Rage in which lead man Zach de la Rocha screams about why, “I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s Pa no more”. From a lyrical standpoint, this is an incredibly written song comparing government to a farm with slaves. The guitars absolutely rip through this song, almost displacing de la Rocha’s crackling vocal work.
