Top 15 Best Nu-Metal Bands of All Time

With their debut album Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park made nu-metal one of the best-selling music movements in the world. The interplay between Mike Shinoda's tight raps over the melancholy piano riff and Chester Bennington's heartbreaking, pitch-perfect cry in the chorus remains otherworldly brilliant.

When Jonathan Davis screamed 'Are you ready?!' in 1994, accompanied by Munky and Head's growling low guitars and David Silveria's hip-hop drum fills, the genre was officially born. Blind is pure sonic disruption.

Fred Durst and guitarist Wes Borland knew exactly how to make tens of thousands of kids jump at once. The minimalist bassline explodes into a wall of guitars that perfectly channels the frustration of a bad day.

Nine masked maniacs from Des Moines, Iowa, squeezed death-metal intensity together with melodic choruses. Wait and Bleed switches seamlessly between brutal growls and catchy melodies.

Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian brought together Armenian folk music, absurd humor and fierce social criticism. The shift from lightning-fast verses to that emotional, angelic singing in the chorus is legendary.

Deftones set themselves apart by embracing an intoxicating, sensual darkness. Chino Moreno's whispering vocals and Stephen Carpenter's heavy chords create an oppressive beauty.

Jacoby Shaddix wrote about depression and despair over a razor-sharp guitar riff that is etched in the collective memory. A generation-defining anthem.

David Draiman's famous staccato vocal cry and Dan Donegan's pumping guitar riffs made this one of the biggest metal bangers of the decade.

Amy Lee's operatic vocals and gothic piano met Paul McCoy's raps and heavy guitars in a breathtaking monster hit.

Wayne Static called his style 'evil disco'. The combination of industrial dance beats and lightning-fast guitar bursts sends your heart rate soaring.

Bassist Ryan Martinie showed off fabulous slap bass technique in one of the most aggressive breakdowns in nu-metal history.

With their positive reggae and rap influences, Sonny Sandoval and company scored a hopeful anthem around the time of the 9/11 attacks.

That iconic whispered opening escalates into a wild wall of guitar violence.

The standard-bearers of 'spooky' nu-metal. Dez Fafara's possessed delivery and bone-dry low guitar tuning capture the raw mid-'90s vibe.

Their heavy, funky rock version of Michael Jackson's classic proved that nu-metal could also be full of fun and humor.