Disturbed

One Liner: Oooo wahahaha!  Nu metal rockers with a schlocky side.

Wikipedia Genre: Heavy metal, hard rock, alternative metal, nu metal
Home:  Chicago

Poster Position: 4
Day: Saturday at 6:30
Weekend Two Only.

Thoughts: Now, listen.  I'm not going to act like I didn't fully enjoy some of the Disturbed songs back in the early 2000's.  The same way I enjoyed me some Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock right about the same time - it was highly fun to leave the grunge sound and seriousness of late 90's music in favor of this highly aggressive cock rock anger shredding.  Their most popular song, "Down With the Sickness" reflects that spirit entirely.

Ohhh wahahaha!  Oughhh ouughhh (*scary angry monkey sounds*).  Pure aggro feelings in there.  99% sure I downloaded this from Napster back in the day and put it on a mix CD I would use in my truck to get hyped up during my boring drive from Dallas to Lewisville each day.  This song, from their debut album The Sickness, was released in 2000.  197 million streams since then, with over 4 million copies of the album sold.  Pretty large.

The other song from that album that I recall well (and probably also downloaded for my sweet road rage mix) is "Stupify," which I also always think of when watching Harry Potter movies.

In fact, I think I liked that track better than "Sickness," because when I hear both now again, for the first time in a long time, that is the one that brings back memories of yelling along to it in my truck.  However, I appear to be alone on that island, as the track only has 17.6 million streams.  Ooo yeah, and the sweet middle eastern breakdown in the middle.  So worldly, before the rock hammer crushes back in with DON'T DENY ME, NO BABY NOW DON'T DENY ME!  Good memories right there.

That being said, these dudes have continued to release albums, and after running through them, I seriously don't think I've heard a single one of these songs (with one exception to come later).  After that 2000 album, you've got 2002's Believe, 2005's Ten Thousand Fists, 2008's Indestructible, 2010's Asylum, 2011's The Lost Children, and 2015's Immortalized (as well as a live album from Red Rocks in 2016, which is so weird, to think of these guys angrily shredding at the idyllic and all natural Red Rocks).  Among those albums, some of the songs have been popular - way more popular than I would have expected - to the tune of all of their top ten songs having more than 33 million streams.  I'm honestly shocked that they continue to be so huge.  Per this website, which is bound to be full of crap: "DISTURBED is only the third group to score five consecutive chart-topping records, joining an elite club in which METALLICA and DAVE MATTHEWS BAND are the only other members."  That seems extreme, but who knows, Drake has like 47 straight number one albums in 3 years of existence, so I know nothing.

Other fun thing to do, search "Disturbed sucks" in google.  You get fun posts like this or like this.  Personally, I just think that the musical world has passed these guys by.  If you think about other bands who came out and were huge around the same time based on this same type of nu metal/hard rock sound - Korn, Limp Bizkit, Nickelback, Creed, Drowning Pool, whatever - none of them get any respect or modern love.

Many of these songs sound like the kind of thing that a movie would use to show how hardcore being a soldier is in modern times.  Like the tune they used in Hurt Locker when Jeremy Renner was rocking out by himself in his room, or like during a scene of The Punisher destroying some foes.  See "Warrior" or "Ten Thousand Fists" or "The Vengeful One."  From IDMB, it looks like their most popular actual movie soundtrack was Transformers (which also makes perfect sense) and Dawn of the Dead (which also works).  And a lot of spots on video games.

My top ten ranking of places where Disturbed got so many streaming plays, based on nothing more than pure conjecture:

1. Hummers/Jeeps/ RAM trucks.
2. At the gym/ CrossFit arena/ home garages outfitted with weights.
3. Forward Operating Base Camp American Freedom Forever Lasting America Power.
4. Video Game Dungeon rooms in Moms' basements.
5. Non-denominational mega churches.
6. Football (NFL/college) locker rooms.
7. Kentucky strip clubs.
8. Guantanamo Bay detention rooms.
9. My office right now, where the sudden spike in streams has likely been noticed by the Feds.
10. Mixed Martial Arts Arenas.

That 2008 album had their only Grammy nomination (until just recently), with the truly bad "Inside the Fire" being nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance.  Here you go.

Holy shit, man.  Who makes that video and thinks a short PSA about suicide is enough?  That shit is disturbing.  And literally cutting from the lead singer doing his crappy laugh in the shred/synth intro to him dropping to his knees to hold the legs of his dead lady friend?  Who thought this was a good idea?  Also, why is he washing her boobs in the tub later?  What is going on?  Final thought, what the hell does the singer have in his face?  Like spider legs poking out from his bottom lip.  The best part of the song is the Dimebag Darell-esque guitar solo in the middle.  But fuck that video and most of the jenky song.

Finally, I'll give you their most listened to track on Spotify (224.9 million streams on the studio version, yet only 1.5 million for the live version), the one that garnered their most recent Grammy nod (2017 for Best Rock Performance, which they lost), and the cheesy reason that they regained popularity enough to probably be added to this poster.  Which you can sense on the live album, because he tells the audience to fire up their lighters because "NOW IS THE TIME!"  And then slides into the shoes of Paul Simon.  "Sounds of Silence," as covered by an over-the-hill nu metal band:

Oh the raging self-importance.  Well, I'll say that the original song is so amazing that this still works, but I still can't get behind these pure riff rock dudes breaking out the Queensryche string section to show all levels of their feeling.  But then he just goes ahead into full metal voice to scream/sing the last minute or so.  For further comedy, they also remade "Land of Confusion," that Genesis song with the Ronald Reagan puppet video.  To predicable results.  "There's not much love to go raaaaawnd!  Uhhhh uhhhh! *scary monkey sounds*"

For the sake of science, I went ahead and listened to the live at Red Rocks album twice.  And honestly, it sounds pretty fun.  It continues to have a very homogeneous sound - every song has a similar tone and speed until they get to the cheesy interlude - but if you are in the mood to thrash and throw your fist in the air and hear repeated scary monkey sounds, then what the hell man, give in.  Although I have to feel a little bad for the guy, still playing the Sickness 18 years later and having to get the crowd hyped up with a cheesy intro of "Oh man, hey guys, I think all of Colorado has been infected!  WITH THA SICKNESSSSS!  HA HA!"  Ugh.  And then still having to scream the spoken interlude about his mom.  Cringing right now listening to it again.

Hell, I might just go do it and have a metal freakout.