r/Disturbed

Righteous Indignation (secular): an emotional mix of sadness, frustration, and anger as a response to perceived Civil Rights Abuses, Injustices, Greed, and other crimes against humanity.

Ten Thousand Fists released in 2005. And if you are aware of the world during this time, you understand the climate that we all lived in post 9/11 and 3 years into the War on Terror.

One of the things I love about Disturbed is that they wear their politics on their sleeves, and there is only one phrase I can think of that encapsulates how I feel about this album.

Righteous Indignation.

Anyone who tells you that Disturbed is not political simply does not listen to the lyrics. These are the type of people to go to a Rage Against The Machine concert with a Blue Lives Matter flag shirt and Red Cap and be utterly shocked when they find out what said Machine the band is Raging against.

Disturbed is a lot in the same way, given both the political climate of the mid 2000s and David's own Political Science Degree.

And boy, does it really show in this album.

As for ranking, at this point it's more of a formality. I am nearly unable to be objective with Disturbed's music. Songs where my gut tells me A can be S on another day depending on how I feel.

Forgiven and Avarice are definitely great Disturbed songs but in my head they are the ones I forget about the most when it comes to the album.

At the end of the day, this is Disturbed's most popular album and it shows.

From Ten Thousand Fists being about solidarity to Deify being about how Leaders were glorified to the point that criticisms of them got people blacklisted and said leaders using their power to take from us.

From Sons of Ponder being about the music industry following trends and the bands that followed to I'm Alive being about being true to oneself to the point of choosing death rather than capitulation.

Then we get to Land of Confusion.

Disturbed has a really good track record of covers. In fact, I'd love an entire album of just covers in their style, much like Shout, ISHFWILF, Living After Midnight, and of course, Sound of Silence.

And while this is one of their best, this song was deliberately chosen to fulfill that Righteous Indignation I was talking about.

But Righteous Indignation also comes with sadness, depression, and apathy. We see this with Overburdened and Pain Redefined.

And of course how could we forget Decadence, the song that likely brought more people previously unaware of Disturbed thanks to Need For Speed Most Wanted.

Honestly, Ten Thousand Fists seems to be more relevant now more than 20 years after its release.

This album has spoken to me more and more the past 10 years. It's informed and brought voice to the anger I've felt as I became an adult and aware of the world.

I think it's their best album but not my personal favorite. It's definitely top 3.

Honestly, when Disturbed is speaking with such conviction, bringing voice to the injustices of this world…

It's their best work in my opinion.

With an average of 4.86/5, it is the highest rated albums in my rankings. Its one of 2 where I could argue it is flawless and the A rankings are fluid which would make this a 5/5. But then id feel its more of a circle perk. “Oh yeah, the Disturbed Fan on the Disturbed Subreddit thinks Disturbed is the best band ever” logic.

Something new coming ?

Last year I went and ranked all the albums and songs to a) go through the entire discography and b) see if I can find a pattern to why I like Disturbed.

I know ive been listening to them since Indestructable with randomly hearing Indestructible on the radio around 08-09 when I was 12-13...almost 20 years ago.

This year, I thought about visualizing and sharing.

And...oh boy how do we start with this?

So to clarify, star rankings are personal favorites but still S tier, so when calculating averages, they are the same. And as for any -/+ ranks, they count as the same base rank, just something holds them back/above the rest, though this will be uses sparingly.

And let's talk about the title and the Ranking:

S tier gives 5, D gives 1.

Now, 8 of the 12 songs on the album are A and above so thats good.

But other than 2 B tiers with Want being saved by its choruses and flow, as without that it could have been a C tier, this albums has 2 of the "weakest" songs of their catalog.

Honestly, the difference between C and B is mostly vibes. It could be Flow, Mixing, or even David's voice. The two first albums are you can tell David is either trying to find his full range/voice but it either just doesnt hit or actively messes with the flow/mixing. Luckily it only affects The Sickness and Believe, as past those, Disturbed really found irs flow and sound.

However, I can not for the life of me get into Dropping Plates. It is so hard for me to get into the flow and it just doesnt feel like Disturbed.

I do want to say, this is all subjective, and any song can be someone's favorite. Idkw Dropping Plates would be someone's, but...to each their own.

With that, the Ranking of The Sickness get a 3.91/5, which is a B+. If it wasnt for having 2 of the lowest ranking songs, it would have easily reached A tier in the Ranking. Unfortunately, this means by the math, it is the lowest ranking.

Thankfully, no other song ever reaches C, though one song gets close but squeaks by as a B-. Which we will talk about in the next ranking.

Believe is their second Nu-Metal Album and their last before going more mainstream or finding their style that has been their bread and butter since Ten Thousand Fists.

Unlike The Sickness which is bogged down by Dropping Plates, Believe is a more consistent attempt that feels very early Disturbed.

The only song that I could argue goes in C tier is Devour but is saved by its great Chorus. Its the Verses that throw me off but a great Chorus can save a song from a certain tier.

So what is the difference between S, A, and B?

Honestly, almost entirely vibes. But here's what goes through my head when im try and justify those feelings.

The difference between a B tier and A tier has more to do with me hearing the song and going "yep, this is early Disturbed." This could be the flow of a song, the riffs, the drums, or David's vocals. But if you arent a big Nu-Metal fan or a big Disturbed Fan, B tiers are songs are the ones you'd only remember or wait until someone getting into Disturbed is ready for their more not popular music.

A Tier is the music where you go "Yes, THAT is Disturbed." No matter the era, these songs are distinguished as Disturbed, mostly because of flow and David. But doesnt reach S becsuse they are either held back by imperfections (mixing), not as popular, or youd still hold them back from sharing with someone who is just getting into Disturbed.

S tier is when you know for a fact that it is Disturbed. The songs no matter the era are just pure Disturbed. David is a huge part of this. His vocals are just so unique that not many people can copy it. Nik Nocturnal made a "How to Disturbed" and managed to find and write a song with a vocalist that just NAILED it.

The riffs. The flow. The drums. The themeing. Its Disturbed.

Is all the reasoning post-hoc? Could it be picked apart and songs argued for higher tiers? Can the reasoning be bullshit and im just grasping at straws?

Absolutely. I find it hard to be objective with Disturbed as its been my favorite band for 20 years.

But thats just me. Every song can be someone's favorite. And honestly, Believe has plenty that one of these is likely someone's favorite.

So why under rated? Well, I think in all the albums, Believe is the most forgotten. You've got The Sickness as their Debut with songs like Down With the Sickness, Stupify, and the such.

Then Ten Thousand Fists comes after and thats when Modern Disturbed really takes of. To the point nearly all albums after The Lost Children are paying service to 10k Fists.

So Believe sits there. Part of the Nu-Metal era. That only fans who REALLY like Disturbed are gonna listen to it in its entirety or those who prefer Nu-Metal.

And thats why I say its not for me. Im just very selective with my Nu-Metal and it honestly shows in both Tier Lists ive posted so far.

After all that, from the rankings, Believe manages to hit a 4.0/5, which manages to hit a firm A Tier.

It beats The Sickness due to it being held back by DP, and is the second lowest rated in my rankings so far.

And what comes next is going to be the Album that many would argue truly defines Disturbed more than 20 years later.

Snagged this beauty up the other day!!