Back Into Your System

Saliva

Saliva frontman Josey Scott unintentionally elevated his band above countless nü metal clones by teaming up with Nickelback's Chad Kroeger to write and record the song "Hero" for the Spider-Man soundtrack. The tang of mainstream success was exactly what the Memphis, Tennessee, group needed to break away from the pack on Back into Your System. This follow-up to its major-label debut, Every Six Seconds, ups the heavy atmospherics and dyspepsia. "Always" takes on the touchy subject of domestic violence with unblinking force as Scott rips into the verses "I've seen the blood all over your hands / Does it make you feel more like a man?," while "Raise Up" mixes testosterone-heavy rapping with raging guitars in the most menacing way possible, and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx contributes the authentically angsty ballad "Rest in Pieces." It's the sound of a band discovering its potential. --Aidin Vaziri

Back Into Your System Album: