martindavey87 Having already laid down the foundations for their post-nu metal career with 2005’s ‘Ten Thousand Fists’, Disturbed have finally shed the stigma that came with the subgenre, and established themselves as a legit and credible metal band with 2008’s ‘Indestructible’.

The band has managed to taken the groove-laden guitar style of the aforementioned subgenre whilst blending it effortlessly with an old-school metal mentality and vibe. As a result, ‘Indestructible’ is an album brimming with hooks, choruses and intense guitar work that can appeal to metal fans old and new alike, as well as more casual listeners too.

David Draiman’s melodic vocals work fantastically, his unique style has always given Disturbed their own sound. And they work in complete synergy with Dan Donegan’s guitar riffs, which perfectly capture the essence of traditional metal with the styling of nu metal. Donegan really lets rip a number of times on this album, and shows that he’s more than capable of shredding up the guitar when necessary, but can also show restraint when it’s needed.

Highlights from this release include ‘Indestructible’, ‘Inside the Fire’, ‘Perfect Insanity’, ‘The Night’, ‘Criminal’, ‘Divide’ and ‘The Curse’. The first three tracks in particular were all downloadable content for the incredibly popular 2007 video game ‘Rock Band’, which no doubt helped boost the bands popularity to no end around the time of this albums release.

With a number of stand-out tracks and an outlet for a whole new audience, ‘Indestructible’ is another strong outing by Disturbed, who have so far gone from strength-to-strength since the demise of nu metal, and have firmly cemented themselves as one of the standout metal bands of the 2000’s.

martindavey87 Disturbed’s third studio album, 2005’s ‘Ten Thousand Fists’, sees the band finally hit their stride, adapting a more contemporary sound while somewhat maintaining their groove-based nu metal style. With that particular subgenre of music being dead and buried, this was a pivotal album for the band to show that they could hold their own outside of that scene, with an album that would appeal to fans of metal old and new alike.

Having focused on the highlights of their previous releases, catchy choruses in particular, ‘Ten Thousand Fists’ has an abundance of hooks that makes every track memorable, and with its monstrous production and simple song structures, Disturbed’s music sounds a lot more accessible and mainstream.

Guitarist Dan Donegan’s guitar playing is brilliant here. With skull-crushing precision, his riffs are heavy, yet groovy, and fit perfectly with David Draiman’s melodic vocals. In fact, Donegan lets rip in a couple of tracks with some very slick guitar solos, showing that he had the chops all along, but either left them out to further conform to nu metal trends, or simply that there was no need for them. Either way, he’s finally cutting loose, and it sounds great!

Highlights include the thunderous hit single ‘Stricken’, the huge and epic-sounding ‘Overburdened, and a cracking cover of the Genesis classic, ‘Land of Confusion’, as well as ‘Just Stop’, ‘Guarded’, ‘Sacred Lie’, and ‘Pain Redefined’. And then of course, the title track itself, which is an absolute anthem that will literally produce a sea of raised fists for a metal call-to-arms. The musicianship on these tracks is fantastic, with exceptional performances from everyone involved.

Overall, while ‘Ten Thousand Fists’ isn’t quite a masterpiece, it’s a solid album that definitely helped Disturbed shake off any nu metal remnants, and established them as a legit heavy metal act. It holds up well today, and marks the band as one of the more important acts to burst onto the scene at the turn of the century.

martindavey87 Disturbed's second album, released in 2002, continues where 'The Sickness' left off. With groove-laden detuned guitar riffs and David Draiman's signature vocal style, the band show a maturity that will enable them to survive the dying nu metal scene.

The most notable difference between 'Believe' and the bands 2000 debut is that there's more emphasis on hooks, with the songs being catchier and with more focus on strong, memorable choruses. Unfortunately, like before, there's still a good amount of filler material here too. The good songs are really good, but the rest are entirely forgettable.

Dan Donegan's guitar work is great, however. We know he can shred by his work on later albums, but here he's restraining himself immensely. Whether for the good of the song, or simply because the nu metal fad didn't allow for guitar solos, either way, his riffs are heavy, yet melodic, and each flows into the next effortlessly.

While 'Believe' is still an average album at best, there are some notable tracks. 'Prayer', 'Remember', 'Liberate', 'Bound' and 'Rise' are all fantastic songs that make this worth at least one or two listens, and while the band are still pretty much a nu metal act here, there's potential to outlive the subgenre while appealing to both metal fans and radio alike.

Kingcrimsonprog Disturbed are one of those bands that have been around for over a decade and a half but still feel like young upstarts to a certain generation. Disturbed are one of those bands that are loved by a legion of loyal fans and play massive shows but are still thought of as ‘that band everybody hates’ by a certain generation. Disturbed are one of those bands who have released a slew of very good records across their career but are still thought of as a ‘the debut album is ok as a guilty pleasure but the rest sucks‘ kind of band by a certain generation.

Well, after seeing them live last year putting on an absolutely fantastic show, something clicked inside me. Disturbed might get mocked by critics you respect. Your friends might be embarrassed to own their CDs. But you know what? They are a pretty great band. Draiman may have a distinctive style that is easy to parody, but there is no denying he is a superb frontman. Dan may have skimped out on the guitar solos on the early albums, but there’s no denying once he started using them they were great. The rhythm section are solid as hell. Their songs aren’t overly complicated but they are well sculpted and catchy as hell.

Live At Red Rocks is their 2016 Live album; touring on their reformed and rejuvinated album Immortalized at the height of their popular single ‘The Sound Of Silence’ (a Simon & Garfunkle cover) to a hysteric and loving crowd.

They drop in just about all their most famous songs and cover all their studio albums (the less favourably-received Asylum album has significantly less songs than others admittedly); with hits such as ‘Prayer,’ ‘Stricken,’ ‘Voices,’ ‘Stupify,’ ‘Inside The Fire,’ ‘The Light’ and the ever-present ‘Down With The Sickness’ all making an appearance.

The recording quality, sound mix, set-list and performance are all absolutely top notch. The band mix songs from across their catalogue and make one consistently great show from beginning to end. Every piece of the puzzle works together well and it flows well. Older tracks like the catchy ‘Liberate’ and ‘The Game’ gel seamlessly beside newer tracks like ‘Animals’ and ‘The Vengeful One.’ There is some onstage banter but not distracting amounts and no time is wasted on unnecessary solos or self indulgence. It is as much a perfect greatest hits package as it is a live album, and if you haven’t got a Disturbed album yet, this would be the best one to get first. One criticism of Disturbed may be that maybe their studio albums suffer a bit of filler. This live album jams in only the best stuff, so is as high energy from start to finish as you always wanted them to be. When fleshed out by such a solid and energetic performance the result is pretty excellent.

If you are one of those people who liked them when they were new but the media and their reputation put you off since, consider getting back into them now. There’s never been a better time. They have a rich catalogue of hits and they returned from hiatus with a newfound fire and passion. This live album showcases them at their best. It really shows why they have remained so popular for so long and justifies their surprisingly high position within the Rock & Metal world.

Kingcrimsonprog Asylum is the popular American Nu Metal band Disturbed's fifth full-length studio album, it came out in 2010 on Reprise Records and was their final album before their hiatus and eventual reunion and sonic rejuvination. When this album first came out I gave it a miss and skipped over the album, having became a bit numb to the band or their charm but catching them live after their reunion warmed me to the much made-fun-of band again and I subsequently decided to see what I'd been missing.

Musically it is very much in the same direction as their usual formula. A lot of press at the time described it as a bit more elongated or progressive or mature, but basically, it sounds like a typical Disturbed album. The musicianship however has gotten stronger over the years with the drums getting more rhythmically complex and the guitar solos getting more masterful. Draiman's vocal ability gets stronger and stronger with each release. I'd argue the lyrics are also stronger than they were in the beginning.

Overall, on first impression, the album struck me as pretty decent. Not perfect, but still stronger than I had been hoping for. I guess reviews at the time from neutral parties were fairly positive but all I'd been reading or listening to was from people who didn't like the band to begin with really.

Disturbed have had a mixed history with cover songs, there was the very maligned 'Shout' but then there was the very successful 'Land Of Confusion' and five years after this album came the absolute smash hit in 'The Sound Of Silence.' On this record, they drop a U2 cover in the form of 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' which for me doesn't really work and is nowhere near as strong as the original material. I guess its a hidden track technically but still, I could've lived without it. Personal taste issue. Not for me.

The aforementioned original material however is pretty interesting though. The lead single, the environmentally conscious 'Another Way To Die' is pretty damn catchy and memorable. The holocaust-themed 'Never Again' is arguably one of their best to date (pretty lucky really, you wouldn't want to fumble a song about such a serious subject). The title-track and the succinct 'Warrior' are typical but notably strong Disturbed fayer.

As with all of the band's records, there maybe aren't enough ideas to fill a whole full-length. There's a little bit of filler and not every single moment is an immortal classic. There's always about half an album's worth of stuff that would be rousing and welcome live and would fit in any Best Of album or Playlist, and there's always at least a quarter of the album that you overlook after the first few weeks. Asylum is no exception. I'd be lying to you if I said I loved every moment, or that there's no song from it I wouldn't want to see live.

What you do get on Asylum however, is another five or six really great Disturbed moments to add into the collection. Nothing to engage or convert non-fans and nothing to make you shout 'best Disturbed album ever!' but it is certainly a worthwhile and entertaining entry in their discography and not one that should be overlooked. 'Never Again' on its own is almost worth the price of admission. This is the band at their most practiced, developed, and perfected. At the height of their vocal and instrumental prowess, delivering another great bunch of songs. It isn't their best and doesn't have the raw charm of their earliest works or the renewed energy of their reunion album, but is certainly not a record that deserves to be forgotten or overlooked.