As with the rest of human existence, the year 2000 was a time of rapid, digitised change for rock music. Stylistically, the 90s grunge revolution was a fading memory, while the nu-metal that had taken its place had largely jumped the shark, morphing from the angsty, edgy, downtuned sound of the outsider to a mainstream-straddling pop cultural force owned by fat cats attempting to monetise teenage rebellion. Traditional punk and metal were still on the wane, while pop-punk only pulled further towards the norm. In many ways these were the last throes of the music industry gravy-train and many of the bands ridingit.

At the same time, a new breed of artists and some sleeping giants recognised the possibilities in play. The widespread popularisation of mp3s with Apples first iPod mightve still been a year away, but rapidly-evolving technology and the Napster controversy proved that music was about to become unimaginably easier to make, advertise and distribute. The world was growing smaller in front of our eyes, and music was to be a new ambassadorial force. Our collation of the stand-out albums of the year makes for a vibrant (and only occasionally cringe-inducing) trip down memorylane

50. High On Fire The Art Of Self Defense

If you think the year 2000 was a total wasteland in terms of traditionally heavy sounds, you just werent looking hard enough. When Sleep guitarist Matt Pike decided to strike out with a project of his own, few envisioned an outfit anywhere near as impactful as the mighty High On Fire. Coming on like a dirtier, heavier, druggier Motrhead, this was stoner metal with zero chill: all neck-rending weight and bludgeoning riffage. Although much of debut LP The Art Of Self Defense isnt up to the speed of their more definitive later work (2005s Blessed Black Wings being the watershed moment), there is a density and abrasiveness to odd numbers like 10,000 Years, Fireface and Master Of Fists that would whet our appetites for the jawbreaking feasts tofollow.

49. Mudvayne L.D. 50

BRBR-DENG aside, Illinois metallers Mudvayne tend to be defined by their shifting eras and imagery. As such, the nightmare carnival aesthetic of L.D. 50 was their most thrillingly bonkers moment. Watching back the music video for slamming lead single Dig, itd be all too easy to discount the quintet like many did as clowns. Dig into the schizoid atmospherics of -1, however, or the mathy tumult of Death Blooms and we find the experimentalist spark thatd make them a musical force for years tocome.

48. Nevermore Dead Heart In A Dead World

Often compared to (a darker, heavier, nastier version of) classic prog-metallers Queensrche, the fourth album from Seattle nightmares Nevermore was the sound of a monstrous line-up on cruise-control. Less personal than 1999s Dreaming Neon Black (which was inspired by the disappearance of vocalist Warrel Danes ex-girlfriend) theres a more scattergun approach to hot topics as varied as drug abuse (Narcosynthesis) and atheism (Believe In Nothing), while a cover of Simon & Garfunkels The Sound Of Silence feels absolutely unhinged. The main draw remains, of course, shred supremo Jeff Loomis contributions as he began to experiment with seven-stringguitars.

47. Kittie Spit

In many ways, nu-metal was a regressive step for gender equality in heavy music. Ploughing through the machismo and misogyny, however, all-female Canadian outfit Kittie arrived on their own terms: trading in a pulse-quickening blend of Korns unbound heaviosity and the riot grrrl attitude of Hole and L7. With teenage sisters Morgan and Mercedes Lander at the helm, and songs like Do You Think Im A Whore dealing with sexism, betrayal and bullying, Spit remains a provocativedelight.

46. Cypress Hill Skull & Bones

Never shy about their links to the world of rock and metal (frontman B-Real backed-up Prophets Of Rage, second vocalist Sen Dog went to school with Slayers Dave Lombardo and fronts rap-metal supergroup Powerflo, while 1994s Black Sunday openly samples Black Sabbath), Californian hip-hop collective Cypress Hill dove in headlong with Skull & Bones. While the first half of the double-disc set was a straightforwardly excellent rap workout, the second (Bones) saw them welcome aboard Fear Factorys Dino Cazares and Christian Olde Wolbers, Rage Against The Machines Brad Wilk and Deftones Chino Moreno to tear through metallic cuts like Valley Of Chrome, Cant Get The Best Of Me and the thumping (Rock)Superstar.

45. Children Of Bodom Follow The Reaper

In the year 2000, hard as it may be to believe, melodic death metals cutting edge took the shape of the reapers scythe. Nowadays, overfamiliarity and an obstinate refusal to meaningfully diversify or re-energise their songwriting mightve dulled the sheen, but having honed their attack over 1997s Something Wild and 1999s Hatebreeder Follow The Reaper saw Children Of Bodom deliver a masterclass in combining shred-heavy instrumentation and earworm bombast, with the duelling six-strings of frontman Alexi Laiho and Janne Warman catching the ears of metalheads around the world. From the springy title-track and fist-pumping Bodom After Midnight to the more atmospheric Mask Of Sanity and Hate Me!, this was Bodom at theirbest.

44. The (International) Noise Conspiracy Survival Sickness

When ex-Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzn formed garage-rock project The (International) Noise Conspiracy in late 1998, fans of his previous outfits energy, abrasion and unbending edge were unsure about this cooler, more laid-back vision. Second album Survival Sickness won many over, however, with the driving sounds and unbending leftist politics of songs like Smash It Up and The Reproduction Of Death sublimating much of what had made that previous band great. As a bonus, the uninitiated had just as much fun shakingalong.

43. Nightwish Wishmaster

The Nightwish formula was beginning to really fizzle by fantastical third LP Wishmaster. By some distance their grandest and most coherently-realised offering to date, the Kitee collective built on the foundations laid by 1997s Angels Fall First and 1998s Oceanborn with a symphonic metal masterclass. Although eccentric mainman Tuomas Holopainen has commented that its probably the least personal album in the bands catalogue, the warcry title-track, She Is My Sins vertiginous vocals and the majestically evocative Dead Boys Poem built on imagery from deep within Tuomas psyche which would be frequently revisited ensured this has stood as a landmark through the years thatfollowed.

42. Enslaved Mardraum: Beyond The Within

Think Viking metal is all swords, shields and single-minded brutality? Think again. Although Norwegian visionaries Enslaved never truly conformed to the lo-fi standards of so many of their Scandinavian extreme-metal contemporaries, fifth album Mardraum (translating as nightmare) felt like a quantum leap. Beefing out their black metal template with elements of jazz, retro avant-garde and outright psychedelia, tracks like Strre enn tid tyngre enn natt (Greater Than Time Heavier Than Night) and Krigaren eg ikkje kjende (Warrior Unknown) proved as vibrant as Asgards rainbowbridge.

41. Halford Resurrection

Rob Halfords 1990s exploits were the stuff of metal infamy, with neither of his semi-experimental post-Judas Priest side-projects (Fight and 2wo) getting close to the glaring brilliance of his 1990 parting shot Painkiller. As the decade turned over again, however, the Metal God made his way back on track with the aptly-titled Resurrection. The tellingly-titled likes of Made In Hell and Locked And Loaded packed plenty to get fans banging along, but it was his inspired collaboration with prodigal Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson on cheekily-titled cracker The One You Love ToHate.

40. Sleater-Kinney All Hands On The Bad One

Following a minor fan backlash to the darker, more complex sounds of 1999s otherwise-acclaimed fourth album The Hot Rock, Washington riot grrrls Sleater-Kinney clapped back with All Hands On The Bad One. Thematically fixated on the perception and expectations surrounding women not just in rock, but in broader modern media the likes of sardonic opener The Ballad Of The Ladyman and Male Model demanded that these women be viewed on their own singular terms. Meanwhile, other cuts like Youth Decay and Pompeii plumb into the anxieties of growing up in that harshest ofspotlights.

39. Morbid Angel Gateways To Annihilation

Perhaps the last truly great Morbid Angel album proved that even 11 years after defining release Altars Of Madness they were still at the very forefront of death metal. Featuring the stacked line-up of bassist/vocalist Steve Tucker, guitarists Trey Azagoth and Erik Rutan, and drummer Pete Sandoval, Gateways To Annihilation dampened the frenetic pace of 1998s Formulas Fatal To The Flesh in favour of a more suffocating attack in line with 1991 masterpiece Blessed Are The Sick. Tracks like He Who Sleeps, To The Victor The Spoils and Opening Of The Gates proved that you dont need orchestral accompaniment for a truly epic extreme metalsound.

38. Good Charlotte Good Charlotte

Described by the brothers Madden as Good Charlottes brightest, most innocent and starry-eyed moment, the Maryland pop-punks self-titled debut now feels like a lucid glance back through time. This song is dedicated to every kid who ever got picked last in gym class begins opening track Little Things, and the wholesome odes to the underdogs just keep coming. There was little of the Hollywood cool that would define later releases in songs like The Motivation Proclamation and Change/Thank You Mom, but it also spoke its message more directly to those downtrodden fans who needed to hear itmost.

37. Nile Black Seeds Of Vengeance

Broadly acknowledged as their defining work, the second album from Ancient Egypt-obsessed tech-death-metallers Nile was a quantum leap for both band and genre. Although 1998s Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka hinted at their complex ferocity, Black Seeds Of Vengeance captured it in its full widescreen (gory) glory. The influence of recently-recruited guitarist Dallas Toler-Wade is plain to see in the compelling economy of songs like Defiling The Gates Of Ishtar and Masturbating The War God, while the chant-along title-track remains their go-to setcloser.

36. The Offspring Conspiracy Of One

After the genre-defining brilliance of their output throughout the 1990s, sixth album Conspiracy Of One was a jarring change of pace for some Offspring fans. Teaming with hard rock super-producer Brendan OBrien, there was a more professional tightness and maturity, with elements of hip-hop and grunge making it into the mix on bangers like Come Out Swinging, Want You Bad and Million Miles Away. The old sense of humour was there too, of course, in tongue-in-cheek hit single Original Prankster. The bands vocal stance in favour of file-sharing mightve hit sales, but the album still achieved a platinum rating and more importantly extended their crowd-pleasingrun.

35. Cave In Jupiter

Methuen, Massachusetts mavericks Cave In cemented their uber-ambitious credentials with this sophomore epic. Their meld of metal, post-hardcore, noise and alt.rock that was only really hinted at on 1998s debut LP Until Your Heart Stops and which was beginning to take shape on 1999s Creative Eclipses EP was in full-on psychedelic flow by the aptly-titled Jupiter. Openly inspired by outfits like Failure and Radiohead, the soundscape swells and subsides through the crushing Big Riff and on into the otherworldly In The Stream Of Commerce and acoustic closer New Moon. It remains the standout release in the catalogue of vocalist Caleb Scofield, who tragically died in a 2018 trafficaccident.

34. Amen We Have Come For Your Parents

Theres a single-minded political purpose that stands out even two decades down the line from Amens third full-length. Referencing Ohioan heroes Dead Boys 1978 release We Have Come For Your Children, We Have Come For Your Parents found frontman Casey Chaos on vitriolic form, with the socially-charged purpose of songs like Mayday, Dead On The Bible and Too Hard To Be Free feeling thrillingly ahead-of-their-time. That the video for lead single The Price Of Reality featured Casey reconfiguring Francis Bacons nightmarish 1954 painting Figure With Meat overlaid with fragments of lurid Americana speaks loudly to their lofty artisticambitions.

33. Soulfly Primitive

The use of 18 guest musicians across 12 tracks undermined the credibility of Max Cavaleras post-Sepultura project as early as its second album for some fans. With the benefit of hindsight, however and the nine more conventional Soulfly releases that have followed in its wake Primitive stands as a shapeshifting (yet slab-heavy) landmark in Maxs extended catalogue. Whether nailing-on big-name vocals (Slipknots Corey Taylor on Jumpdafuckup, Slayers Tom Arya on Terrorist) or dabbling in more experimentalist waters (Deftones Chino Moreno and Will Havens Geady Avenell crash the spring-loaded pain, while Sean son of John Lennon ruminates with Max over lost fathers on Son Song), this was a fascinating testament to the Brazilian legends towering reputation in heavymusic.

32. Pearl Jam Binaural

Binaural marked a major creative watershed for Seattle legends Pearl Jam. A decade since their formation, the band stepped away from producer Brendan OBrien (who had presided over the previous four releases) in favour of Tchad Blake and a more atmospheric, less hook-oriented sound. There were a handful of catchy cuts in Gods Dice, Evacuation, Grievance and Light Years, but the rest of the album is an unapologetically experimental affair that signposted the way for much of their later work. The ukulele-led Soon Forget even hinted at frontman Eddie Vedders later solooutput.

31. Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage

All bright ideas and rough-edged execution, Killswitch Engages debut remains a breathlessly exciting listen. Formed from the remnants of metalcore also-rans Aftershock, Overcast and Nothing Stays Gold with a band name nicked from an episode of The X-Files and eventually pivotal guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz on drums Killswitch were all about marrying the grandiosity of classic and death metal to the energy of the rising metalcore and NWOAM scenes. From cutting intro Temple From The Within (a match for the albums serrated artwork) to the high atmospherics of closer One Last Sunset, it was a fitting beginning to one of the most dramatic journeys in modernmetal.

30. Snot Strait Up

When troubled frontman Lynn Strait was struck and killed in a traffic accident on December 11, 1998, it seemed to have spelled the end for renowned Californian funk-metallers Snot. Having already started work on what would be their second LP, however, his bandmates decided to complete the project in tribute to their departed friend. Rather than welcoming an outsider into the fold, the decision was made to get Straits friends to fill in. The assembled cast of contributors from Serj Tankian and Jonathan Davis to Max Cavalera, Corey Taylor, Fred Durst and even Ozzy Osbourne was one of the most impressive in the history of heavy music. It was the lower-profile contribution of Sevendusts Lajon Witherspoon (and bandmates) on Angels Son, though, which would make for the albums stand-outtrack.

29. Rancid Rancid

If 1998s genre-defying Life Wont Wait proved that Berkeley roughs Rancid werent slaves to their street punk heritage, 2000s self-titled follow-up (not to be mistaken with 1993s also-self-titled debut) confirmed that they were still very much bound to it. Veering close to hardcore, its 22 tracks in 38 minutes are overflowing with aggression and energy, with the no-holds-barred likes of Disgruntled and Corruption loading on the Black Flag influence, while righteous ruminations like Antennas and Dead Bodies reaffirm their unimpeachable socialconscience.

28. Monster Magnet God Says No

It wasnt released until April 2001 in the US, but the fifth album from New Jersey stoner metal legends Monster Magnet dropped several months earlier for UK fans. Recorded in a turbulent flurry as the bands label A&M was being merged with Interscope and Geffen and less than two years since the release of banging breakthrough Powertrip there was an obvious element of striking while the iron was hot, with tracks like Heads Explode and Doomsday attempting to recapture the magic, while the industrial inflections on Queen Of You and Silver Future attempted to tap into the nu-metal zeitgeist. Oozing swagger, Dave Wyndorf and the boys had a fair bit of success,too.

27. Smashing Pumpkins Machina/The Machines Of God

Although roundly regarded as one of Smashing Pumpkins lesser releases, the sheer scope of ambition and stylistic dexterity exhibited on Machina demands celebration. Conceived as the self-referential swansong for a band whose brilliance has always been enhanced by their skirting on implosion, its broad, high-minded approach to songwriting was the antithesis of the knuckle-dragging nu-metal movement that so many of the rest of the rock mainstream had bought into. From bristling, overdriven opener The Everlasting Gaze through the deep textures of Stand Inside Your Love and the dreamy acoustic of Try, Try, Try to towering, heart-on-sleeve climax Wound, the swirl of bittersweet purpose here only feels intensified byage.

26. The White Stripes De Stijl

The second album from Detroit duo The White Stripes was arguably the greatest example of their combination of retro pop-rock and modern garage stylings. Quickly gaining buzz, the bands peculiar mystique (were they brother and sister; husband and wife; ex-lovers?) threatened to outshine their music on occasion. Whether peeling off some classic blues (Death Letter), spinning-45 swagger (Why Cant You Be Nicer To Me?), twanging country (Your Southern Can Is Mine) or Dylan-esque folk (A Boys Best Friend), however, they oozed weirdoclass.

25. Bad Religion The New America

From righteous punk rock to rabid extreme metal (see entry 12 on this list), there was a fixation on the idea of a New America that ran through rock music at the turn of the millennium. The eleventh album from Los Angeles stalwarts and the last of their major-label affiliation with Atlantic Records tackles the pitfalls of encroaching modernity with a pre-9/11 frivolity that seems strange now, especially on tracks like I Love My Computer and The Hopeless Housewife. But when Greg Graffin got personal discussing his punk coming of age (A Streetkid Named Desire) and recent divorce (1000 Memories) there was an unusual warmth and intimacy in the rebelsongwriting.

24. Wu-Tang Clan The W

Three years after theyd pushed the stylistic envelope with Wu-Tang Forever, New York hip-hop legends Wu-Tang Clan returned to the formula with which they had risen to fame. All stripped-back beats, grindhouse attitude, soul swagger and kung-fu punch, tracks like Hollow Bones and Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off) were the perfect soundtrack to back-street wrongdoings, generally avoiding macho posturing in favour of more streetwise hustle. Collaborations with heavyweights like Snoop Dogg (Conditioner), Nas (Let My Niggas Live) and Busta Rhymes (The Monument) emphasised their wide-ranging influence, while the appearance of soul legend Isaac Hayes on I Cant Go To Sleep showcased elements of velvety vulnerability thus farunseen.

23. HIM Razorblade Romance

Finnish Love Metallers HIM were at the absolute height of their powers on this scintillating sophomore offering. Painted in deepest gothic black and passionate blood red, concepts showcased on 1997 debut Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 were distilled into something singularly seductive. With frontman Ville Valo growing in confidence and his band nailing down their shadowy, surging schtick, songs like Poison Girl, Join Me In Death, Gone With The Sin and Right Here In My Arms swelled a swooning fanbase well beyond their homeland where as it happens the album raced to number one and eventually wentdouble-platinum.

22. Cradle Of Filth Midian

Heavily inspired by legendary Liverpudlian author Clive Barkers novel Cabal and its cinematic adaptation Nightbreed the fourth album from Suffolk metal extremists Cradle Of Filth unfolds as a nightmarish sort-of concept album, and the closest theyd ever get to a truly cinematic experience. Having welcomed guitarist Paul Allender back into the fold after five years away, their trademark twin-leads were swapped out for a more vicious style, with Dani Filths typically overblown performance, and some unapologetically hammy narration from Doug Bradley lending a horror movie accessibility to otherwise brutal cuts like Cthulhu Dawn. Meanwhile, the high gothic textures of Her Ghost In The Fog earned their most comprehensive mainstream exposureyet.

21. Disturbed The Sickness

The debut LP from nu-metal survivors Disturbed showcases the best and worst of what the movement had to offer, while also indicating the more straightforward hard rock direction with which they would find massive success. There are unheralded levels of cringe in the bone-headed lyricism of Stupify and the slathered-on synths of The Game, but there is bombastic brilliance, too, in David Draimans delivery across highlights like Voices and the ingenious absurdity of the now-iconic title track. Altogether now: Ooh, wah, ah, ah, ah oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh!

20. In Flames Clayman

Some argue that by the year 2000 In Flames were past their peak. Following on from the 1990s unholy trinity The Jester Race (1996), Whoracle (1997), Colony (1999) the future was clay in their hands, the Metallica conundrum looming large: stay put as big fish in the underground pond or break cover in a run for mainstream metal success? Going one last round with longtime producer Fredrik Nordstrm and refusing to blunt their razors edge on full-blooded bangers like Pinball Map and Another Day In Quicksand, there was the sense of one foot planted safely in their past. But with an influx of stadium-worthy hooks and a ramped-up focus on melody from the untouchable, oft-harmonised guitars of Jesper Stromblad and Bjorn Geloette turning tracks like Swim and Suburban Me into compositions worthy of a hoarse-throated Iron Maiden or Thin Lizzy, to the glaring synth-lines colouring Only For The Weak another found traction in freshground.

19. Napalm Death Enemy Of The Music Business

Having parted ways with their long-time management and seen tensions with Earache Records boil over following 1998s Words From The Exit Wound, Napalm Death were in bristling (but liberated) form going into their ninth LP. Ditching the deeper grooves that had characterised their late-90s run we saw a return to the grindcore violence they had pioneered. On the final record to feature guitarist Jesse Pintado, too, tracks like Vermin, Thanks For Nothing, Necessary Evil and Cure For The Common Complaint burn with renewed anti-establishment purpose. Excruciatinglybrilliant.

18. Electric Wizard Dopethrone

While the contemporary sludgy stoner doom genre was a recognisably American phenomenon, Dorset trio Electric Wizard had established themselves as purveyors of a brand of sonic suffocation every bit as heavy as anything from the other side of the Atlantic. Loading up the sheer heft of riffmasters like Black Sabbath, Sleep, Saint Vitus, Cathedral and Candlemass, and, er, electrifying it with a sense of manic, tripped-out purpose, they were already recognised as one of the heaviest bands on the planet. Dopethrone picked up where they had dropped off on 1997s Come My Fanatics with the crazy heaviosity of songs like Vinum Sabbathi and Funeralopolis setting the bar for years tocome.

17. Alkaline Trio Maybe I'll Catch Fire

Falling between landmark 1998 debut Goddamnit and 2001s commercial breakthrough From Here To Infirmary, Maybe Ill Catch Fire often feels like the overlooked gem of Alkaline Trios back-catalogue. After relatively optimistic opener Keep Em Coming, the record unfolds a shade darker than what had preceded it. Madam Me is all stabbing six-strings and pained regret, Youve Got So Far To Go is one of their best-ever Dan Andriano cuts and album closer Radio with that immortal opening line Shaking like a dog shittin razorblades / Wakin up next to nothin has become arguably their most instantly-recognisable anthem. The fireburns.

16. Papa Roach Infest

CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES, THIS IS MY LAST RESORT! With their numerous reinventions and renaissances since, Papa Roach have put serious distance between themselves and the scene from which they emerged, but their smashing second LP remains their apparently immovable high watermark. Detonating dance-floors with Last Resort, tugging heartstrings with Broken Home and getting under our skin with Between Angels And Insects, Jacoby Shaddixs Californian mob delivered angst-overload via the hookiest songwriting nu-metal would eversee.

15. Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven

Across four sprawling tracks comprising almost 90-minutes of music, Canadian collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor redefined post-rock for the new millennium. Presented across two discs whose artwork did not feature the bands name, Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven painted a potent yet mysterious apocalyptic vision of capitalist society in collapse. A ravaged, largely wordless soundscape that veers between moments of rattling dissonance and others of transcendent beauty sampled voices occasionally peeking through this still feels like a strangely sepia-toned glimpse into a broken future just about tounfold.

14. Glassjaw Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence

On the strength of a demo recorded with local producer Don Fury, New York post-hardcore upstarts Glassjaw found themselves being championed by the mighty Ross Robinson (Korn, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit), signed to Roadrunner Records and whipped across the country for recording at Robinsons renowned Indigo Ranch studio in Malibu, California. These twelve tracks were the result. Although the label (from which the band split, somewhat acrimoniously) didnt seem to know what to do with the explosion of emotions at play in songs like Pretty Lush, Siberian Kiss and Ry Rys Song, their biting brilliance and enduring influence has been transparent in the yearssince.

13. The Hives Veni Vidi Vicious

As evidenced elsewhere on this list, there was a huge garage-rock revival in the early-2000s with bands like The White Stripes, The Strokes, Kings Of Leon and Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs all playing their part but few outfits broke out with the unabashed abandon and sheer sense of fun that we got from Swedish wildcards The Hives. Led-on by uber-charismatic frontman/ringleader Howlin Pelle Almqvist, the high-energy likes of Hate To Say I Told You So, Main Offender and Die, All Right felt custom-tooled to get bodies shaking and fists pumping. Crucially, there was a wry self-awareness that meant both band and fans were enjoying the stupidly good times with no stringsattached.

12. Lamb Of God New American Gospel

By 2000, Lamb Of God were shaping up as one of the dominant forces of the New Wave Of American Metal and they hit the next millennium with a fresh name (previous moniker Burn The Priest having been jettisoned to avoid accusations that they were an overtly Satanic outfit) and debut album to prove it. Bridging the gap between the brutalist death-inflected sounds with which they emerged and the groovier direction that would lead them to the top of the metal mountain, New American Gospel isnt the best LOG release, but killer cuts like Black Label and Pariah cement its importance in the millennial metallandscape.

11. AFI The Art Of Drowning

After nine years and four previous LPs, The Art Of Drowning finally saw shady Californian punks AFI make some kind of mark on the mainstream. While still flirting with the horror-punk of their early years, this was slower and more melodic with a pronounced gothic influence bleeding through tracks like Ever And A Day and 6 To 8. They confidently showcase other shades, too: surging stand-out The Days Of The Phoenix burning with a sense of arms-in-the-air catharsis while The Lost Souls blueprints much of the punchiness and raw emotion with which they would ascend to real stardom on 2003s Sing TheSorrow.

10. Pantera Reinventing The Steel

Although its roundly recognised as the weakest offering released after their 1990 reinvention, there is a pugilistic defiance about Panteras final LP that ensures it cannot be ignored. With internal cracks stressed further by massive external pressure, the album is characterised by the tension between classic metal (of which the band had become regarded as defenders), the increasingly experimental tendencies of the Abbott brothers and the more extreme death and black metal influence frontman Phil Anselmo was keen to explore. Chuck the baggage to one side, though, and tracks like Revolution Is My Name and Ill Cast A Shadow standtall.

9. Green Day Warning

Although the album marked something of a commercial dip for the Berkeley punk heavyweights, Warning found Green Day daringly evolving their sound in a way that would prove pivotal. Building on the foundations laid by 1997s Nimrod, there was less outright high-tempo punk influence, with shades of pop and folk often coming to the fore. The jangling acoustic attitude of the title track and underrated minimalist melancholia of anti-commercialism closer Macys Day Parade showcased Billie Joe Armstrongs more nuanced songwriting, while the thumping Minority sowed the seeds of more political thinking that would bear world-conquering fruit with their next LP: 2004s AmericanIdiot.

8. Limp Bizkit Chocolate Starfish & The Hot Dog Flavoured Water

Limp Bizkit took the ridiculous/sublime dynamism of nu-metal to its (il)logical conclusion. From its bewildering lyrics (Ben Stiller, you are my favourite motherfucker!) to frontman Fred Dursts insufferable wannabe-celebrity swagger to an album title literally referencing the human anus, Chocolate Starfish had no right to succeed. But with guitarist Wes Borland embracing the insanity, cranked-to-11 smashers like My Generation, Rollin and Take A Look Around won pretty much everyone over regardless, setting sales-records for a rock band and burrowing into the subconscious of a whole generation offans.

7. Iron Maiden Brave New World

Iron Maiden mightve never officially gone away, but 2000s Brave New World remains one of the greatest comebacks in the history of heavy metal. Having struggled with artistic decline and dwindling audience numbers for the best part of the 1990s, the British metal legends welcomed human air-raid siren singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith back into the fold, setting up their ultimate three-guitar line-up and giving their sound an epic escalation perfectly befitting 2002s subsequently iconic live album Rock In Rio. From pounding opener The Wicker Man via the stirring Blood Brothers to high-wire closer The Thin Line Between Love And Hate, Brave New World opened the floodgates for a bright newera.

6. A Perfect Circle Mer De Noms

A Perfect Circle became one of the more remarkable metal side-projects of the millennium for a variety of reasons. When Billy Howerdel transitioned from working as guitar tech to alt.metal figurehead in his own right and managed to recruit Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan as vocalist, the stage was set for a musical blend that combined the thumping heaviness of Tool with an atmospheric dexterity more like something from a movie soundtrack. Mer de Noms (French for Sea Of Names) was the grandstanding first release. Mesmeric highlight Judith remains the landmark, but the darker shades of 3 Libras and The Hollow were further stand-out singles, while the mysterious likes of Sleeping Beauty and Thinking Of You expanded that rich initialworld-building.

5. At The Drive-In Relationship Of Command

If, as many believed, American hard rock was crying out for saviours at the turn of the millennium, big-haired El Paso collective At The Drive-In were the heroes wed been holding out for. Righteous anger and unbound creativity spilled freely from Cedric Bixlers almost Dio like vocals and Omar Rodriguezs hard guitars on One Armed Scissor and Invalid Letter Dept. Hell, the king of punk himself, Iggy Pop, even crops up to lend guest vocals on the agitprop firecracker Rolodex Propaganda. The record has been lauded many times since as one of the most important rock records of all time, and its damn hard toargue.

4. Marilyn Manson Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)

Even after the shock-rock-redefining greatness of 1996 Antichrist Superstar and 1998s Mechanical Animals, Marilyn Mansons ferocious fourth album is the release that lingers in so many fans minds. Featuring that mega-provocative image of a jawless Manson as the crucified Christ, the record was a scathing response to the scapegoating that perceived artistic martyrdom Manson suffered in response to the 1999 Columbine school shooting. Returning fire, the God Of Fuck opened-up on guns, God and government, attacking the moral ignorance and hypocritical rot at the heart of modern America from rock-club-ready bangers Disposable Teens and The Fight Song to The Nobodies lingering creep, the rigour-mortise jerk of Cruci-fiction In Space and despondent closer Count To Six And Die (The Vacuum Of Infinite SpaceEncompassing).

3. Queens Of The Stone Age Rated R

Although 1998s cult classic, self-titled debut slipped under the radar somewhat, Rated R catapulted Queens Of The Stone Age straight into rocks mainstream. Having already contributed to Seattle stalwarts Screaming Trees, fronted desert-rock icons Kyuss and co-founded boogie-rockers Eagles Of Death Metal, Josh Homme was a respected face in the scene. This was the moment he really stepped into the sun, though. Bringing aboard livewire bassist Nick Oliveri, eventual EODM co-conspirator Gene Trautmann and Trees frontman Mark Lanegan, wordily-titled hits The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret and Feel Good Hit Of The Summer were towering tentpoles, but it was the consistency of inspiration and invention from the fast-fire Quick And To The Pointless to sprawling closer I Think I Lost My Headache that made this an all-timeclassic.

2. Deftones White Pony

Although Deftones entire catalogue demands a degree of reverence, White Pony remains their undisputed masterpiece. Severing ties, for good, with the flailing nu-metal genre into which they had been lumped, the Sacramento visionaries delivered their most artful, progressive offering. Bred from the battle for creative control and subsequent brinkmanship between guitarist Stephen Carpenter and vocalist Chino Moreno (who had recently picked up his own six-string), the breakneck shifts from extreme heaviness to near-ambience created a tension and pulsating ebb-and-flow. The textural contributions of electronic specialist Frank Delgado added yet another dimension to tracks, from the crashing Mini Maggit to the ethereal Digital Bath and brooding mega-single Change (In The House Of Flies). The appearance of Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan (at the height of his powers) on the incredible Passenger was further icing on thecake.

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The 50 Best Albums From 2000 - Kerrang!