Believe | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 17, 2002 | |||
Recorded | March–April 2002 | |||
Studio | Groovemaster Studios, Chicago, Illinois | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 47:16 | |||
Label | Reprise | |||
Producer | Johnny K | |||
Disturbed chronology | ||||
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Singles from this album | ||||
Believe is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed, released on September 17, 2002 via Reprise Records. Produced by the band and Johnny K, it focuses heavily on religious and spiritual themes inspired by recent tragedies. With greater emphases on melodic dynamics, it also demonstrates a broadening in the band's musical range compared to their 2000 debut The Sickness . Believe was the last studio album to feature original bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak before he was fired from the band in 2003.
Believe debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, [1] making it Disturbed's first number one debut, selling over 284,000 copies in its first week of sales. It was certified double platinum by the RIAA in the United States on September 23, 2008. Three singles were released from the album: "Prayer", "Remember", and "Liberate".
With Black Sabbath's August 2001 tour canceled, and Disturbed's opening slot with it, the Chicago quartet planned to use the month following Ozzfest to begin pre-production of their next album while preparing for their own headlining tour. [2]
That summer, vocalist David Draiman's grandfather, an Orthodox Jew, died in Israel. At a young age, Draiman was beloved by his grandfather; however, when Draiman became a heavy metal musician, his elder cut off their communication. It was not until the grandfather fell ill that he wished to see his grandson. But by the time word got to Draiman, who was on Ozzfest, his grandfather had mere hours to live. Regarding his grandfather's death, he noted, "No one could look at the aura I projected over the course of that next week and not feel my pain and those feelings very definitely will present themselves on the record." [3]
That same month, Draiman had undergone surgery to remove a damaged valve that was causing acid to spill on his vocal cords. The successful surgery not only repaired Draiman's voice but also allegedly broadened his vocal range. [4]
The band entered K's Groovemaster Studios in mid March 2002 to begin recording with producer Johnny K, the man behind their debut album. The majority of songs, which reportedly included about 10 at the time, had been written since November the previous year, including "Prayer" which debuted during Ozzfest. [5]
By mid-April, Disturbed had completed 12 songs for Believe. In an interview with MTV, Draiman elaborated how the reevaluating of his own Jewish heritage and compromises of life as a musician affected his writing. He noted the album as being "the greatest work we have ever done in our lives" but also expressed concern over how fans would react to the vulnerability and vast expression of emotions showcased on the album. [6]
As The Sickness, Believe has been described as nu metal, [7] [8] [9] but stylistically it witnessed the band place more emphases on lead guitar and melodic complexity. This musical progression would follow through on future Disturbed albums where guitar solos would become commonplace. While The Sickness focused on heavy compositions, Disturbed's sophomore effort varies more greatly in its range of heaviness and melody, closing with a somber, acoustic ballad entitled "Darkness." Singer David Draiman also wished to demonstrate a greater vocal dimension than the intense style he was previously associated with. Nevertheless, he described the content of the album as "pure and unadulterated in every sense of the word 'metal'." [6]
As noted by Draiman, Believe contains overt religious and spiritual themes. These were inspired by various experiences such as the September 11 attacks and the recent death of Draiman's Orthodox Jewish grandfather:
Lyrically, the album deals with various other topics as well. "Remember" delves into the cutthroat nature of the music industry as well as Draiman's resistance to indulgent partying; "Awaken" deals with America's never-ending obsession with vacuous "wallpaper music"; the tracks "Bound" and "Intoxication" focus on Draiman's inability to have a meaningful romantic relationship. In an interview, he noted, "I've had various experiences with women over the past two-and-a-half years that have made me have several chips on my shoulder - not in an angry way necessarily, but almost in a pleading way. I'm at a point in my life where I've had my heart torn apart so many times that there's just not much left to it." [6]
In keeping with the lyrical themes, the album cover features symbols of major religions, including the Jewish Star of David, the Islamic crescent, the Wiccan pentacle, and the Christian cross. Draiman explained the meaning of the symbol on stage during the Music as a Weapon II Tour:
Believe boasted three singles which gained substantial radio and video airplay. The lead single, "Prayer", featured a video with apocalyptic imagery of a city being destroyed. This led some outlets to refuse to play the video on the grounds that it conjures similarities to the September 11 attacks. After initially considering to edit the video, Disturbed ultimately chose not to. [11] Follow up singles "Remember" and "Liberate" also charted well and gained significant rotation on radio and television. The title track "Believe," although not a single, would also find its way to radio airwaves.
In 2003, Disturbed headlined Music as a Weapon II with Chevelle, Taproot, and Ünloco. A live album, featuring Disturbed's cover of "Fade to Black", would result in 2004. Upon finishing the tour, Steve Kmak was fired by the band because of "personality differences". He was soon replaced by John Moyer, [12] [13] and the group joined the Main Stage of Ozzfest 2003.
"Liberate" appeared on the soundtrack for the video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2 . "Intoxication" appeared on the soundtrack for NFL GameDay 2004 .
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 62/100 [14] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [15] |
Blender | [16] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [17] |
Kludge | 5/10 [18] |
Rolling Stone | [9] |
Rock Hard | 8/10 [19] |
Believe currently holds a score of 62 out of 100 on review-aggregating website Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on nine reviews. AllMusic's Bradley Torreano praised the album, declaring that on Believe, Disturbed takes the kind of leap that their heroes in Soundgarden and Pantera had after their respective albums of progress. He also states that "it is not a function of the agitation of the tempo and percussion-based riffing of the past; guitarist Dan Donegan has made great strides in expanding its sound to include more varied guitar work all around." [15] Greg Cot from Rolling Stone called the record "a skillful, if calculated, variation on the melodrama-meets-mayhem formula that has been driving the most commercially successful new metal in recent years," praising Andy Wallace's mixing of Wengren's drumming for having "a John Bonham-like prominence" and Donegan's guitar work for having the feel of "a percussive hammer." [9] Ben Mitchell of Blender gave credit to the band for doing away any idiosyncratic vocal work and rap metal flourishes from their debut effort for more political topics and highlighted both Donegan's guitar line as well as Draiman's melodic delivery, saying that "Musically, Believe is as solid as this kind of generic support-slot-on-Ozzfest stuff gets and — thank Christ — at least there’s no DJ." He concluded that "Overwhelmingly, though, Disturbed have yet to come to terms with just how average they really are — seldom unlistenable, never inspirational, but consistently merely OK." [16] Culturedose.net cited Believe as "one of the best rock albums of 2002". [14] In 2005, Believe was ranked number 429 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. [20]
Believe debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, [1] making it Disturbed's first number 1 debut, and shipped over 284,000 copies in its first week. The album also debuted at number 2 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 13,400 copies in the country in its first week. [21]
By January 2003, SoundScan had recorded over 1 million album sales. [22] The record was certified double platinum by the RIAA in the United States on September 23, 2008.
All tracks are written by Disturbed
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Prayer" | 3:41 |
2. | "Liberate" | 3:30 |
3. | "Awaken" | 4:29 |
4. | "Believe" | 4:27 |
5. | "Remember" | 4:11 |
6. | "Intoxication" | 3:14 |
7. | "Rise" | 3:57 |
8. | "Mistress" | 3:46 |
9. | "Breathe" | 4:21 |
10. | "Bound" | 3:53 |
11. | "Devour" | 3:52 |
12. | "Darkness" | 3:55 |
Total length: | 47:16 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
13. | "Shout 2000 (Live)" (Tears for Fears cover) | 4:48 | |
Total length: | 52:04 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
13. | "Prayer (The Video)" | 3:44 |
14. | "Behind the Scenes on the (Prayer) Video Set" | 7:45 |
15. | "In the Studio Recording (Believe)" | 4:46 |
16. | "Highlights from Disturbed's DVD (M.O.L.)" | 9:27 |
Total length: | 72:58 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Remember" (live) | 4:22 |
2. | "Bound" (live) | 3:51 |
3. | "Fear" (live) | 3:50 |
4. | "Conflict" (live) | 4:40 |
5. | "Droppin' Plates" (live) | 3:57 |
Total length: | 20:40 |
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Believe. [23]
Disturbed
Additional musicians
Production
Design
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Singles
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [48] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [49] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [50] | Gold | 7,500^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [51] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [52] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Disturbed is an American heavy metal band from Chicago, formed in 1994. The band includes guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren, lead vocalist David Draiman and bassist John Moyer. Donegan and Wengren have been involved in the band since its inception, with Draiman replacing original lead vocalist Erich Awalt in 1996 and Moyer replacing original bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak in 2004.
The Sickness is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on March 7, 2000, by Giant and Reprise Records. The album peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard 200, and spent a total of 106 weeks on the chart. It was Disturbed's only album to not hit number one on the US Billboard 200 until their seventh album Evolution debuted at number 4 in 2018. In 2018, The Sickness was certified five times platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over five million copies in the US, making it the band's most successful album.
Ten Thousand Fists is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on September 20, 2005 by Reprise Records and became Disturbed's second consecutive number 1 debut on the Billboard 200 in the United States, shipping around 239,000 copies in its opening week. It has been certified 2x platinum by the RIAA and was also the band's second number 1 release in New Zealand. It is also the first Disturbed album to not have the Parental Advisory label.
"Down with the Sickness" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was recorded in 1999 and released as the second single from the band's debut studio album, The Sickness. "Down with the Sickness" is one of Disturbed's best-known songs and is a concert staple, usually played as the last song. This was Disturbed's first single to be certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"Prayer" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on 14 August 2002, as the first single from their studio album, Believe. The song was inspired by the death of vocalist David Draiman's grandfather as well as various circumstances after the September 11 attacks, and is about a conversation between Draiman and God. Upon release, many media outlets refused to air the "Prayer" music video, citing supposed similarities between the imagery of the music video and that of the September 11 attacks. "Prayer" peaked at number-three on two United States airplay charts, Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts, as well as peaking at number-fifty-eight on Billboard's Hot 100 and number-fourteen on the Canadian Singles Chart. "Prayer" is Disturbed's second highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 and their highest-charting single on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and one of only two of their songs to reach the top five on the chart. The song is playable and part of the soundtrack to the 2015 music video game, Rock Band 4.
"Stupify" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on April 12, 2000, as the first single from their debut album, The Sickness. It peaked at No. 12 on the United States Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and No. 10 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song was used in an English adaptation of the Dragon Ball Z movie, Lord Slug, in the trailer for the film Swimfan, and remixed for the movie Little Nicky as "Stupify ", and even Little Scarlet. Unlike many other Disturbed songs, "Stupify" features mostly synthesizers throughout the song.
"Liberate" is a song by the American heavy metal band Disturbed. The song was released as the third and last single from their second studio album, Believe.
"Remember" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on December 3, 2002, as the second single from their studio album Believe. Vocalist David Draiman stated that "Remember" is his favorite from the first two Disturbed albums.
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The discography of American heavy metal band Disturbed includes eight studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, one extended play, 31 singles, three video albums, and 27 music videos. The band formed when guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren and bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak hired vocalist David Draiman in 1996. A demo tape led to their signing to Giant Records, which released their debut album, The Sickness, in March 2000. The album reached the top 30 on the United States' Billboard 200, and the Australian ARIA Charts. Since its release, The Sickness was certified 5× platinum, a measure of its high sales volume, in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), 3× platinum in Canada by Music Canada, and platinum in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Four singles were released from the album, "Stupify", "Voices", "The Game", and "Down with the Sickness"; the latter of which was the most successful, having been certified platinum by the RIAA.
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Divisive is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. Produced by Drew Fulk, it was released on November 18, 2022, via Reprise Records.
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