20. System of a Down

Lurking somewhere in these ambitious albums -- two overstuffed CDs totaling nearly two hours, released in May and November -- is the supercharged art-metal cherry bomb this L.A. quartet was destined to make. But anyone with iTunes can find it for himself: Start with the rabidly screeching Iraq protest "B.Y.O.B." and pluck from SOAD's gloriously burned-out landscape, being sure to include "Sad Statue," "Revenga," "U-Fig," "Stealing Society" and "Kill Rock 'N Roll." With help from Rick Rubin, these songs blend Ginsu-sharp riffage and deliriously ornate effects -- overdubbed chorales and sun-baked guitar flutters, especially -- with Serj Tankian's prolix bile. Let's hear it for raging against the machine while the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

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