Heavy metal supposedly died in the
late 1980s, but in recent years, there has been a resurgence
of the genre; however, the metal bands of today have taken
the genre and given it a new twist with regards to both
sound and style. Disturbed is, within the industry, considered
one of these new metal bands, despite the fact that many
fans, and the band itself, consider its sound to be more
hard rock than metal. Whatever its genre, there is no
denying the influence of such ‘80s metal icons as
Iron Maiden and Judas Priest on Disturbed’s rebellious,
thrashing brand of music.
In a way, the formation of Disturbed was like the finishing
of a jigsaw puzzle. Guitarist Dan Donegan, bassist Fuzz,
and drummer Mike Wengren played together in Chicago
for a while before finding the missing piece, vocalist
David Draiman, in the mid-1990s. Fuzz was later replaced
by Jon Moyer.
Disturbed built a reputation and a hard core fan base
on the city’s South Side, eventually gaining a
major-label signing the old-fashioned way: a demo tape
got Disturbed a deal with Giant Records, which put out
the band’s first album, “The Sickness,”
in 2000. Disturbed won even more fans after a stint
on the main stage at OzzFest in the summer of 2001.
The band’s own tour followed that fall, and Disturbed
recorded a highly regarded version of pro wrestler Steve
Austin’s theme song, “Glass Shatters,”
before being recruited for a Faith No More tribute album.
Disturbed followed the success of “The Sickness”
with its sophomore effort, “Believe.” The
album debuted at number one, and in 2003, the band was
once again a part of the OzzFest tour.
Disturbed’s third album, “Ten Thousand
Fists,” came out in the fall of 2005 and debuted
at number one in the U.S. The band is slated to headline
the Jagermeister tour in November 2006. Disturbed will
also play at OzzFest.
With contributions to video game and movie soundtracks,
such as their cuts on “Queen of the Damned,”
Disturbed’s fan base doesn’t seem to be
in any danger of shrinking. Indeed, Disturbed concert
tickets have been selling at a rapid rate almost since
the band’s inception, and that seems likely to
continue for the foreseeable future.
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