Disturbed - Lost Children

Tuesday springs forth some new music - and this week it's a little Disturbed. Now, I'm no expert on this band - but I did fall in love with 'The Sickness' - their debut drop back in 2000. That album saw this raw emotion style with a great lead vocal. Dave Draiman's voice is something of magic when you're composing a metal type record. Great "screaming" voice - that doesn't get too over the top. Although this is their sixth studio recording, I don't think I've heard anything start to finish except that first one. And it turns out, this isn't a "new" studio album, but a b-side (YAY that's my name!) record full of compilations of tracks that didn't make other records. The name is in direct classification of the album. Disturbed refers to their songs as their "children" because they can't discern a favorite of the bunch. So the "lost" meaning the ones that got left behind in the fold, but they still liked enough to show to their fans. There are a number of stories behind the songs - which isn't always the way metal type bands work. But 'Hell' is referring to when a person comes in and out of your life - and typically comes back for the worse. 'Mine' is about religion and how it acts as a catalyst for war. Deep stuff here. What I think I really enjoy about this album is - the good old hard, emotional arrangements topped with that same, familiar vocal. While there may be deep meanings to the songs, I don't find myself singing along enough to really follow the lyrics to lead me to any sort of message. But that's okay - I don't look for that in my metal. This album is in no way risky - it's continuing the legacy of what made the band great. And when it comes to certain bands in certain genres - that couldn't be any more perfect. Since it's just a random mix of b-side tracks, there really isn't any sort of amazing flow to the album, it's just 60 minutes of pure metal. And that's just alright by me.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Hell
2. A Welcome Burden
3. This Moment
4. Old Friend
5. Monster
6. Run
7. Leave It Alone
8. Two Worlds
9. God of the Mind
10. Sickened
11. Mine
12. Parasite
13. Dehumanized
14. 3
15. Midlife Crisis
16. Living After Midnight

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Mine
2. Hell
3. A Welcome Burden

FINAL RATING:
3 out of 5 stars

Disturbed - The Sickness

Time to rocket into Monday with some metal! This isn't your grandfathers type of hard rock right here though - this is a breed that's heavy, loud, in your face and lyrically gifted. It's neat when you listen to a metal track and want to go back to listen to the lyrics closer. I picked this up shortly after it came out, and was very impressed. This album (and the band for that matter) don't get the credit they deserve. This is a decade old now, and you can still pop it in and sing along to the great tracks. Sometimes groups fall victim to overpopulation to a certain genre, and maybe that's what happened here. Critics often want to compare them to Korn, Limp, Rage, NIN etc...but I don't want to lump them into that category. If we're painting with extremely wide brushstrokes, sure they all fit into metal - but listen closely to all those bands, and I think you'll find they all have a different and unique sound. Celebrate the decade old 'Sickness' one more time!

TRACK LISTING:
1. Voices
2. Game, The
3. Stupify
4. Down with the Sickness
5. Violence Fetish
6. Fear
7. Numb
8. Want
9. Conflict
10. Shout 2000
11. Droppin' Plates
12. Meaning of Life

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Voices
2. Down With The Sickness
3. Stupify

FINAL RATING:
3.5 out of 5 stars