Disturbed: Believe

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Published September 24, 2002

My younger brother has spent his entire life moving from one musical genre to the next. For instance, crib-ridden and bored, he'd belt out some of Chicago's Greatest hits at the top of his little lungs, usually around 2 AM. Before he even learned to walk, he discovered that the Latin inspired beats of War would make him shake his diaper-padded money maker.

Around the age of 12, music really started to mean something to him and he became enamored with the rap renaissance as well as the whole embarrassing break dancing thing — complete with two-toned parachute pants. It was, by all accounts, including my own, a dark period for his budding musical taste buds. Fortunately, sometime between the time that I left for college and the when I graduated, he started high school and a miracle happened. For better or worse, he began to listen to music that I could appreciate and understand.

To this day, he's usually the first person I pump for information about a new hard-grinding metal song or band. In fact, it was on a trip to visit my family last year that he introduced me to Disturbed by playing their 2000 debut, The Sickness, as loudly as he could.

With their simple and raw aggression, Disturbed wasn't so much a reminder of the power metal I listened to in high school, but a exciting mix of pounding guitars, ear-shattering drums and screaming vocals delivered in a machine gun stutter. I like them but there was something missing on the platinum selling debut.

It wasn't until I had a chance to explore their second major release, Believe, that I discovered what it was. Where Believe succeeds, and conversely where The Sickness fails, is in the little things... like variation. Even though I found the sound of their first album refreshing and exciting, it all sounded the same and I'd have to check the track number to make sure I wasn't listening to the same song over and over again.

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Disturbed: Believe
Published: September 24, 2002
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Section: Music
Filed Under: Music: Alternative Rock, Music: Hard Rock, Music: Rock
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Comments

#1 — September 26, 2002 @ 13:28PM — Jason Luce

shut up

#2 — September 30, 2002 @ 15:19PM — E.A. [URL]

Hey, thanks for the comment Jason. Eloquent and insightful!

#3 — October 4, 2002 @ 17:41PM — Tuchanique Miles

I love their new CD. Jason is such a loser

#4 — November 3, 2002 @ 22:14PM — Big Dawg

I am not a big listener of this style of music, but Disturbed's new album is great. This is coming from somebody who grew up listening to rap, so you know it has to be true that this is a great record. Go pick it up now!

#5 — November 5, 2002 @ 20:58PM — Paddy Skunk [URL]

Hello there. I just recieved Disturbed's "Believe", as a gift, and i truly believe it is the best thing since sliced bread. It definetely IS a major maturity from "The Sickness", and if this INCREDIBLE band can keep putting out albums like this one (while still continuing to evolve for the better), they will soon be a household name. I am a die-hard Disturbed fan. I would DEFINETLY recommend this album, as well as "The Sickness", for any heavy metal listener. I simply put on track one (Prayer **INCREDIBLE SONG**), and let it play through.. talk about an emotional roller-coaster... GO BUY IT NOW!!

#6 — November 20, 2002 @ 05:17AM — Belial

i love the album dont get me wrong its just what most people call a'maturity' in the band i just call pussing out. I like my metal to be as visceral and raw and unpleasant as possible. so while believe is great sickness is better. i could really live without tracks 5 8 and 12.

draimen has a really great unique sound and he can sing some real tongue twisters at speeds that boggle the mind. i like it

#7 — November 30, 2002 @ 20:34PM — Common Sense

You guys are a PR agent's wet dream. Just keep lapping up everything that is dropped in your bowl. I see very little difference between the pap (Britney, Backstreet, Puff) that is often ridiculed by fans like yourselves and this brand of "metal." They are both HEAVILY produced; they are both filled with boring, uninsightful cliches; and, they are both marketed perfectly for their demographic. Here's a tip: just cuz it has down-tuned guitars, it don't make it real music with integrity. Draiman and Stapp must be lovers, as they both embrace posturing, posing, and making pouty faces to the camera; both have mediocre voices, and both indulge in messiah complexes. The musicians in both bands aren't even worth mentioning as they are just dancers with props. We have here a complete return to the hair-metal arena rock that is so often laughed at. This one-dimesional, vapid, metal-by-the-numbers will soon be destroyed by some other trend, and you all will jump on whatever comes next. I can't wait. Don't bother responding; I won't check back as your opinions matter not to me. You've already proven your lack of ears or intellect.

#8 — January 20, 2003 @ 14:34PM — kristine smith

i love david draiman he is so sexy!

#9 — January 20, 2003 @ 18:11PM — Jim Carruthers [URL]

I've read through this thread, and I have no idea what this band or record sounds like. Is it blues based? Is it chunder-headed metal, is it mook-rock, is it sunny-shine time happy disco?

Somebody once said that the only thing more stupid than a stupid band is their fans.

#10 — January 20, 2003 @ 18:21PM — Chubby Pecker [URL]

Me, hi like de 'eavy medal, evr'ting from da h'acee-deecee to da bay-tay-oh.

#11 — April 8, 2003 @ 12:37PM — Elisha

I love David Draiman. He is the coolest Human alive!!!

#12 — April 8, 2003 @ 13:57PM — The Theory

Jim, i suspect that the crap known as disturbed leans more toward sunny-shine time happy disco than anything else.

seriously though, they're just another radio-friendly harder rock b(l)and.

peace.

#13 — April 8, 2003 @ 14:17PM — andy

mall metal

#14 — June 17, 2004 @ 16:36PM — Shadow

I just wanted to say that I love disturbed. But I think the question on a lot of people's mind is what happened to Fuzz?

#15 — March 10, 2005 @ 09:41AM — Adam Parker

Hey how dare you say their is no musician ship in Creed and Disturbed (stapp and draiman) They are my two favourite bands becuase of their musicianship. I would love to see you play every song they have ever written. Remember is a complex disturbed song with time changes and was classed as a grade 6 piece on guitar. (better than any stupid OVER RATED classical guitarist) oh and the memebers of Creed have formed a new band Alter Bridge with grade 8 standard guitars on it which cannot be replicated in a million years. Tremonti guitarist in Creed and now Alter Bridge is a GOD ok.

#16 — June 15, 2006 @ 22:48PM — me

i love disturbed

#17 — August 2, 2006 @ 13:21PM — Peg

There's nothing I enjoy listening to more than Disturbed. The Narcissistic comments of "Common Sense" offend me. What makes anyone think that people who don't embrace their personal preference are less intelligent?

#18 — August 2, 2006 @ 15:11PM — zingzing

because... disturbed is a very, very bad band. there is nothing special about them. their sound is bland, the songwriting underdeveloped... and they represent the neutered crap that is radio metal. there is so much music out there. don't restrict yourself to radio fodder.

and adam--what is this "grade 6, grade 8" mumbo jumbo? that's no measure of anything. if creed is difficult, they sure aren't interesting. blandest mom-rock ever, man. ...ugh. come on now, grow out of it.

#19 — November 13, 2006 @ 15:14PM — Neil

Disturbed kick ass and ne1 that doesnt think so SCREW YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#20 — February 1, 2007 @ 17:59PM — peg

someone asked what happened to Fuzz

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