It was a Friday night and I had one my friend's staying around my house that night. Before hand her and I had been drinking a little at the pub and had visited Safeway to buy some drink to take back to my place. Whilst there I had seen my ex-girlfriend which struck up a lot of hatred and anger inside of me.

I carried that feeling with me a lot of the night and for the most part of it I was drinking with my friend and listening to the CD's she had brought around. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to listen to one of my albums for more than two songs and for the rest of the night we had to listen to three of her CD's. The one that is important at this moment is of course 'The Sickness' by Disturbed.
That entire night until morning even, we had that and the other two CD's playing. At first I kind of liked the music, though it was a bit disturbing to hear someone sing the word "Die" quite so often. After hearing it about 8 times within 12 hours I was beginning to get annoyed by it though. There was a great feeling of relief inside me when she took those CD's back home with her because for a start I could finally listen to some other music.

What I didn't know at that time was that the Nu-Metal band Disturbed released this Debut album in early 2000. The name Disturbed was familiar to me but I had never realised they were a somewhat new band to Nu-Metal.

Anyways we all know how songs can get trapped in our heads, some annoying and some great until you can't remember how they end and they go in a continuous loop. Well I went back to University after that Weekend and I couldn't get those three CD's out of my head. For the greater part I couldn't get some of the Disturbed songs out of my head and I ended up having to download a couple from the Internet. Now you may think I found these songs annoying or something because I didn't. Somehow or another I had managed to really like Distur
bed and I wanted that album badly. I searched shops all over and the best I could do was a horrific £23 at HMV, which was a joke to say the least. My friend who owns it even said it was a great joke at £23 as she got it for a lot less than that. Finally I found it deep within the net on Amazon.co.uk a site that I thought I'd never use because they charge for delivery. However at a total of £14.59 including delivery I wasn't complaining due to the fact it was a lot cheaper than £23.

So through the door finally arrived my copy of 'The Sickness' by Disturbed and what a pleasure it was to listen to the following tracks:

1. Voices (3:11)
Voices is a highly addictive song and is utterly amazing to listen to. This is the song I heard "Die" mentioned again and again in as at times the lyrics go "Let the living Die, let the living Die"
It's basically about hearing Voices in your head and not wanting to listen to them.
This is a highly recommended song to listen to if you want to check out what the band is like.

2. The Game (3:45)
The Game is another great song and was actually used in the DragonBall Z movie "Cooler's Revenge".
The song quite simply enough is about playing a game with emotions and generally really. It reminds me of the games played in relationships and is a sort of angst relief in that area. Especially where seeing your ex-girlfriend in Safeway is concerned.

3. Stupify (4:05)
Stupify didn't talk to me quite as much as the previous two when I was listening to the album. Don't get me wrong now because it is a good song but the theme I think just didn't make me remember it quite as much.
Still a great song never the less and one that doesn't neglect to use the word "f**k" that's for sure.

4. Down With The Sickness (4:38)
This song really spoke to me now, as it is an amazing song that demands to be heard.
With drums sounding in the beginning and whispering and then it suddenly kicks in to an amazing riff with a lot of vocal noises. The lyrics in the song are great and I would say this song really appealed to me the most when I first listened to the album. The opening lyrics are "Drowning deep in my sea of loathing, Broken your servant I kneel" and these are good enough but the later it gets more interesting.
This song is also highly recommended to listen to if you want to see what the band is like.

5. Violence Fetish (3:22)
Violence Fetish is one interesting song about Violence being Significant or so the lyrics go, "Bring the violence, It's significant".
Still a great song and you can imagine it going a long side of an action movie or I could imagine it going into a DragonBall Z movie to be honest.
Violence Fetish really just brings to light that the world is not a friendly place all the time it's sometimes very violent and a very rash place to be. You can see this in the lyrics, "Take a look around, You can't deny what you see, We're living in a violent society"

6. Fear (3:45)
Fear is yet another song to be in a DragonBall Z movie. This time the movie is "Lord Slug" made a little earlier than "Cooler's Revenge". Still this doesn't make it a good song, the very fact that it is a good song is what makes it great.
Fear is quite a violent song with lyrics like "You'll feel it when I stamp it on your forehead, So you will never forget, That you're a reject". It's almost like the singer is bullying someone in order to create fear in the other person "Fear awaken, Go with it now and let it overcome you".

7. Numb (3:44)
Numb starts off quite differently from the other songs, quite slow and with slow rhythmic music. Later it kicks in of course with the old hardcore singing and music and then it goes back to the dis
mal and slow singing.
Numb is a song about feeling absolutely nothing emotionally because of certain things that have happened. The song reminds me of times when I myself have experienced depression so bad that I couldn't feel anything at all anymore but was still crying. Numb is a great song and it isn't quite as sad as it may sound.

8. Want (3:51)
Want is another different kind of song, though fast and hard it's still got a different kind of theme to it. This time it's about somebody's mind not letting them say what they want. You're given the impression that this song is about someone being addicted to drugs or perhaps something else. Lyrics are along like this, "Your kind is just the type that should use me, But your mind won't seem to let you have, The opportunity to abuse me, abuse me."
The fact that you don't know what the addiction may be doesn't make a difference except that you can decide what it is for yourself. This makes the song speak out to more people because different people have different addictions and if you're anything like me you may think people are addicted to hurting you.

9. Conflict (4:34)
Conflict is by far one of my favourite songs off the album. I used this song myself to create a DragonBall Z music video because it was ridiculously perfect for it.
The song is about having enemies and needing to eliminate them. It's an amazing song and one that I would make my theme tune for after I've been meditating or when I'm playing a serious match against someone. Here is a taste of the lyrics from this song, "All the world around enemy, They're tearing up the ground enemy, They're drawn in by the sound, Enemy, enemy, I must eliminate my enemy" This is actually the chorus of the song and occurs as you may expect often.
Personally I recommend this song to people that like Nu-Metal but maybes not to those that want to see what the
band is like. The ones I mentioned earlier are a lot more popular and addictive than this song.

10. Shout 2000 (4:16)
It may be perplexing why the lyrics to this aren't actually inside the booklet along with the others. However I have heard that Shout 2000 is a cover song and inside the booklet Disturbed copyright all lyrics used in the booklet. This is why Shout 2000 isn't there because they cannot copyright somebody else?s lyrics.
The song is heavy and probably heavier than the original. On top of that I think Disturbed have added lyrics if it is indeed a cover of the song I think it is.

11. Droppin' Plates (3:49)
As amusing as the title may be the song is quite well disturbed to be honest. Ok there are still moments where I think the words "Droppin' Plates" are a bit inappropriate and quite amusing but the song is still heavy and hard.
Lyrics at times go like this, "You're too sick, too hard, too f****d in the head, You'll never make it, no, not in this lifetime"

12. Meaning Of Life (4:02)
Finally the album comes to a close with Meaning Of Life as funny as that may sound.
The song is nicely heavy and at a good tempo. This is pleasing because it means the album has had songs quite similar and great throughout.
Often mentioned is the words, "get psycho" and strangely you get the impression that the song is about having sex. With lyrics like, "Give me your glowing, juicy flowing, red hot, Meaning of Life" you can't help but think of one thing in particular. It almost comes confirmed later when the words, "Tell me to take you, scare you, f**k you" are used. However the song may still be about something else considering it's also about getting Psycho and the need to get psycho.
Apart from the quite perplexing lyrics this song is great and a good closer to the album

So that is 'The Sickness' then and all of the m
any wonderful tracks. The album is really great overall and is one that you'd probably find me moshing to if you were to find me in that kind of club. It's also great if you find yourself wrapped in pent up angst as it helps you relieve it as Nirvana did with teenage angst.
So yes I would recommend this album to all Nu-Metal fans, as yes it is a lot better than bands like Linkin Park and Papa Roach.

This album has now been reissued of course and has new tracks added to it. So if you want to buy it then I highly recommend that you buy it with these new tracks on:

1.Decay
2. God Of The Mind (Valentine Soundtrack Version)
3. Stupify (Live)
4. The Game (Live)
5. Voices (Live)
6. Down With The Sickness (Live)

If you do otherwise then it is best you ask yourself the question, "Why?" considering this album actually costs less than the older version that I have.
As for the technical details on the album I own well here they are:

Band: David Draiman (Voice)
Dan Donegan (Guitar, Electronics)
Fuzz (Bass)
Mike Wengren (Drums, Programming)
Released: 12 September 2000
Label: Wea/Warner Bros.
ASIN: B00004YLDW
Total length: 47:44
Websites: www.disturbedl.com / www.GiantRecords.com