Believe (Disturbed album)

Background and recording

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.

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."

That same month, Draiman had 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.

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.

By mid April, Disturbed had completed 12 songs for Believe. In an interview with MTV, vocalist David 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.

Music and lyrics

Believe witnessed the band shift away from the waning nu metal scene and 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 greater in its range of heaviness and melody, closing with a somber, acoustic ballad entitled "Darkness." Singer David Draiman also wished to demonstrate 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'."

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:

"All the songs on the record revolve around the theme of belief in oneself and in humanity's potential. . . And the right-wing reactions of religious leaders of the world to the events of 9/11 had a lot to do with the original impetus of where this record came from. It angered me beyond any way I could possibly explain. The whole album's about questioning your beliefs to determine what you really can believe in."

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."

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:

"The symbol that you see elevated above the set behind me is a symbol of universal belief."

Touring and promotion

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 conjuring similarities to the September 11 attacks. After initially considering to edit the video, Disturbed ultimately chose not to. 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 Unloco. 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, and the group joined the Main Stage of Ozzfest 2003.

"Liberate" appeared on the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Underground 2. "Intoxication" appeared on the soundtrack for NFL GameDay 2004.

Critical reception

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." Culturedose.net cited Believe as "one of the best rock albums of 2002." In 2005, Believe was ranked number 429 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

Commercial performance

Believe debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it Disturbed's first number 1 debut, and shipped over 284,000 copies in its first week. By January 2003, SoundScan had recorded over 1 million album sales.

The record was certified double platinum by the RIAA in the United States on September 23, 2008.

Track listing

All tracks written by Disturbed.

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes

Disturbed

David Draiman – vocals

Dan Donegan – guitar, keyboards

Steve "Fuzz" Kmak – bass guitar

Mike Wengren – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

Alison Chesley – cello on "Darkness"

Production

Johnny K - producer

Disturbed - producers

Andy Wallace - mixing

Howie Weinberg - mastering

Tony Adams - studio drum technician

Chris "Rock" Glatfelter - studio guitar technician

Design

Mick Haggerty - art direction and design

Stephen Danelian - photography