Ten Thousand Fists | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 20, 2005 | |||
Recorded | January – June 2005 [1] | |||
Studio | Groovemaster Studios (Chicago, Illinois) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 56:09 | |||
Label |
| |||
Producer |
| |||
Disturbed chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Ten Thousand Fists | ||||
|
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. [2] 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.
Ten Thousand Fists marks the first album with bassist John Moyer who replaced Steve Kmak following his dismissal in 2003. However, Moyer was considered a session musician during the time of recording, and only became a full-time member during the tour supporting the album. [3] It would be the band's third and final collaboration with mainstay producer Johnny K. In addition, Ten Thousand Fists is also the first album to feature their now-famous mascot The Guy on the cover; he would later appear full-bodied in the music video for the band's "Land of Confusion" cover.
Ten Thousand Fists is, as of 2010, Disturbed's second highest selling album in the United States, with sales of around 2 million copies. The Sickness , the band's debut CD, has shifted sales of almost 4.2 million copies in the United States. [4] The album was dedicated to Dimebag Darrell, who was murdered the year before the album's release. [5]
The album title was announced via Disturbed's website on June 16, 2005. [6] Later that month, the track listing was revealed. [7] The song "Guarded" was released to radio stations in late June 2005 as a teaser. Vocalist David Draiman said the motive behind releasing the song was to promote the album. He said, "[The song] was put out there to just whet everybody's appetite. It's one of the more aggressive tracks on the record, just to remind everybody where we came from and who we are." [8]
The first single, "Stricken", was released on July 25, 2005. [8] On August 19, 2005 the music video "Stricken", directed by Nathan Cox, was posted on the Warner Bros. Records website. [9] The music video was filmed in an abandoned hospital, in the same location where some scenes from the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street were filmed. [10] In early August 2005, viral marketing was used to promote Ten Thousand Fists. A piece of software was sent via e-mail to certain recipients, who passed it along to other recipients. When the software was passed along to at least 250,000 recipients, it unlocked the song "Ten Thousand Fists". [11] In early July 2006, the third single, "Land of Confusion" (originally written by Genesis), was released, alongside an animated music video directed by Todd McFarlane. [12] [13]
The album features several styles, including alternative metal, [14] [15] heavy metal, [16] nu metal, [17] [18] and hard rock. [19] [20]
Vocalist David Draiman said that Ten Thousand Fists "seems to fuse the brutality and darkness of The Sickness with the added melodic nature and complexity of Believe . It's more aggressive than the last record, and at times, more aggressive than the first one." [7] The song "Overburdened" is about soldiers going to Hell. [10] Draiman said that the song "Guarded" is about Draiman guarding himself from other people. He said the song "reflects what choosing this life forces certain people to do in a certain way — you have to remain guarded on a certain level." [8] Draiman said the song "Ten Thousand Fists" is meant to "[signify] strength, unity, conviction, power, and the exhilaration that you feel when you get to see that at one of our shows." [11] Draiman continued to say, "It's one of my favorite moments, and people know that I have an affinity for asking people to put their fists in the air, and it's just, it's exhilaration to be able to see ten thousand raised fists or more." [11]
According to band members, while Ten Thousand Fists was not written as a political album, it was their most political record to date. [21] Vocalist David Draiman's lyrics for the title song, "Ten Thousand Fists", were heavily influenced by his feelings towards American president George W. Bush, and several of the songs included war/anti-war themes, including "Deify", for which the intro features audio clips of Bush urging the nation to push forward in war, interlaced with an individual's political commentary, while the video for "Land of Confusion" depicts big business and capitalism as being a corrupting Nazi-style enemy being overthrown by an army of the people led by The Guy, the band's mascot. [21] [22]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 59/100 [23] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [14] |
Blender | [24] |
IGN | [19] |
NME | [25] |
Rolling Stone | [20] |
The Village Voice | Positive [26] |
Ten Thousand Fists earned mixed reviews from critics; it received a score of 59% on the review-aggregating website Metacritic, based on seven reviews. [23] Allmusic reviewer Johnny Loftus gave the album a positive review; however, regarding the album's sound, he stated "Ten Thousand Fists does start to sound the same after a while." [14] The Village Voice's reviewer Phil Freeman also gave the album a positive review, "The guitarist and drummer are an airtight team, and the session bassist capably underpins the guitar solos that are a welcome new addition to the band's sound. Program out the cover of 'Land of Confusion' and you've got the best mainstream metal release since Judas Priest's Angel of Retribution ." [26] NME gave it a 1/10 review describing it as "unfocused rage" and "you'll find nothing more despicable this year". [25]
Region | Year | Publication | Accolade | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 2015 | Loudwire | 10 Best Rock Albums of 2005 [27] | 1 |
The song "Decadence" was featured in the 2005 racing video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted . The song "Ten Thousand Fists" was featured in Madden NFL 06 .
All tracks are written by Disturbed, except "Land of Confusion", which was originally written by Genesis
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Ten Thousand Fists" | 3:32 |
2. | "Just Stop" | 3:45 |
3. | "Guarded" | 3:21 |
4. | "Deify" | 4:17 |
5. | "Stricken" | 4:06 |
6. | "I'm Alive" | 4:41 |
7. | "Sons of Plunder" | 3:49 |
8. | "Overburdened" | 5:58 |
9. | "Decadence" | 3:26 |
10. | "Forgiven" | 4:14 |
11. | "Land of Confusion" (Genesis cover) | 4:49 |
12. | "Sacred Lie" | 3:07 |
13. | "Pain Redefined" | 4:09 |
14. | "Avarice" | 2:55 |
Total length: | 56:09 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
15. | "Monster" | 4:03 |
Total length: | 60:12 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
15. | "Monster" | 4:03 |
16. | "Two Worlds" | 3:30 |
Total length: | 63:42 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Just Stop (Live From Riviera)" | 3:57 |
2. | "Just Stop (Form Yahoo Music Artist Mods)" | 3:44 |
3. | "Stricken" | 4:10 |
4. | "The Making of Stricken" | 20:07 |
5. | "Land of Confusion" | 4:47 |
6. | "Network Live Show
| 57:22 |
Total length: | 94:07 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Ten Thousand Fists" (Instrumental) | 3:35 |
2. | "Just Stop" (Instrumental) | 3:48 |
3. | "Guarded" (Instrumental) | 3:25 |
4. | "Deify" (Instrumental) | 4:20 |
5. | "Stricken" (Instrumental) | 4:09 |
6. | "I'm Alive" (Instrumental) | 4:44 |
7. | "Sons of Plunder" (Instrumental) | 3:53 |
8. | "Overburdened" (Instrumental) | 6:01 |
9. | "Decadence" (Instrumental) | 3:29 |
10. | "Forgiven" (Instrumental) | 4:17 |
11. | "Land of Confusion" (Instrumental) | 4:52 |
12. | "Sacred Lie" (Instrumental) | 3:10 |
13. | "Pain Redefined" (Instrumental) | 4:12 |
14. | "Avarice" (Instrumental) | 2:57 |
Total length: | 56:52 |
The UK and Tour editions of the album both feature four bonus tracks ("Monster", "Two Worlds", "Hell", and "Sickened"), the first of which was also included as an iTunes bonus track. All four songs are also included in the band's B-side compilation The Lost Children .
Disturbed
Session member
Production
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Year | Song | Chart | Peak position |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | "Guarded" | Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks [44] | 7 |
Alternative Songs [45] | 28 | ||
2006 | "Just Stop" | Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks [44] | 4 |
Alternative Songs [45] | 24 | ||
"Land of Confusion" | Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks [44] | 1 | |
Alternative Songs [45] | 18 | ||
UK Singles Chart [46] | 79 | ||
"Stricken" | US Billboard Hot 100 [47] | 95 | |
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks [44] | 2 | ||
Alternative Songs [45] | 13 | ||
Pop 100 [44] | 89 | ||
UK Singles Chart [46] | 88 | ||
2007 | "Ten Thousand Fists" | Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks [44] | 7 |
Alternative Songs [45] | 37 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [48] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [49] | 2× Platinum | 200,000‡ |
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.
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.
David Michael Draiman is an American musician. Noted for his distorted baritone voice and percussive singing style, he has been the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Disturbed since 1996. He has written some of the band's most successful singles, such as "Stupify", "Down with the Sickness", "Indestructible", and "Inside the Fire". In 2006, he was ranked at No. 42 on the Hit Parader list of "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time". During Disturbed's hiatus from 2011 to 2015, he worked on an industrial metal project with Geno Lenardo, which was later named Device. They released one self-titled album in 2013. Disturbed returned with the album Immortalized in 2015, Evolution in 2018, and Divisive in 2022.
"Guarded" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on June 28, 2005, as a promotional single for their third studio album, Ten Thousand Fists. "Guarded" was the first single featuring their new bassist John Moyer. The track is featured in the soundtrack of the film Saw III, and on the video game soundtrack of MX vs. ATV Untamed.
"Just Stop" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on February 7, 2006, as the third single from their studio album, Ten Thousand Fists (2005).
"Stricken" is a song by the American heavy metal band Disturbed. The song was released on July 25, 2005, as the second single from their third studio album Ten Thousand Fists. "Stricken" was certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America on August 18, 2008, for selling 500,000 copies. It is one of the first of Disturbed's songs to include a guitar solo. The song is featured in Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero Live in addition to the Disturbed track pack in Guitar Hero 5. The song is also a part of the Rock Band downloadable content catalog. The song was also featured in the Project Gotham Racing 4. The musical video for the song was filmed in an abandoned hospital in which some scenes from the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street were filmed. "Stricken" was used as official theme for WWE's PPV New Year's Revolution, in 2006. The single is also certified 2x platinum in Canada, platinum in Australia, and silver in the United Kingdom.
"Ten Thousand Fists" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on December 28, 2006, as the fifth and final single from their studio album, Ten Thousand Fists. The track is used in the 2005 video game Madden NFL 06.
The Blackening is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Machine Head. Released on March 27, 2007, in the United States, The Blackening sold 16,000 units in its first week, and became Machine Head's third highest charting release at number 54 on the Billboard 200, and charted in the Top 20 throughout many countries in the rest of the world. The Blackening has been certified silver by the BPI for sales in the UK in excess of 60,000 copies.
Indestructible is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. A self-produced effort, Indestructible is the first Disturbed album that did not feature Johnny K, the producer of Disturbed's previous three albums, The Sickness, Believe, and Ten Thousand Fists. Indestructible was recorded at Groovemaster Studios in Chicago, Illinois. The album features two songs, "Perfect Insanity" and "Divide", that were written by Disturbed prior to their first album, The Sickness, but were never previously released.
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.
"Inside the Fire" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. The song was released as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album, Indestructible (2008), on March 25, 2008, as a digital download. The song features suicidal themes, and, in May 2008, a music video was unveiled for the song. However, due to the involvement of suicidal themes in the uncensored music video, an edited version of the song and music video was released, in which these themes are absent.
Asylum is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on August 31, 2010, in the United States through Reprise Records. The album is meant to take a fresh direction in the band's music career, while remaining consistent with the band's previous albums. Most of the lyrical content was inspired by aspects of frontman David Draiman's life prior to making the album. Asylum is also the third consecutive Disturbed album to not feature the Parental Advisory label. A tour in support of the album, titled the Asylum Tour, started in late August 2010.
Super Collider is the fourteenth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was released on June 4, 2013, and is Megadeth's first album to be released on Tradecraft, a Universal label created for frontman Dave Mustaine. In the U.S., a special edition of the album was made available exclusively through Best Buy retailers. The album features a guest appearance from Disturbed vocalist David Draiman. On April 23, 2013, the title track was released on iTunes as the album's lead single.
Device was an American industrial metal band started by David Draiman, frontman of the heavy metal group Disturbed, and Geno Lenardo, former guitarist of Filter. They released one album, Device, in 2013.
Device is the only studio album by American industrial metal band Device, a side project featuring David Draiman of Disturbed and former Filter guitarist Geno Lenardo. It was released on April 9, 2013, with their first single, "Vilify", out on digital download on February 19, 2013. The second single, "You Think You Know", was released on June 11, 2013.
Vengeance Falls is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Trivium. It was released October 10, 2013, in Japan, October 14, 2013, in UK, and October 15, 2013, in US through Roadrunner Records and was produced by David Draiman, the lead vocalist of the band Disturbed. It is the second and last album to feature drummer Nick Augusto before his departure from the band in May 2014.
Immortalized is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. The album was released on August 21, 2015, by Reprise Records, and is Disturbed's first studio album since Asylum (2010), marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career.
Evolution is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on October 19, 2018, by Reprise Records. The album's first single, "Are You Ready", was released before the album in August 2018, while the second single, "A Reason to Fight", was released a month later. The third single, "No More", was released on June 2, 2019.
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.