Disturbed – Asylum (2010)
It is hard for me to believe that two years has gone by since Disturbed’s last album Indestructible. It was Indestructible CD and tour that made a fan of Disturbed, so needless to say, I have been looking forward to Disturbed’s follow-up to that CD. The band’s latest album Asylum is finally here, and has secured yet another #1 spot for Disturbed. How does Asylum stack up? Read on.
I expected Disturbed to come slammin’ out of the gate with a heavy rocker, so they took me by surprise with the instrumental track “Remnants”. The track opens with some moody keyboards, and closes with a cool guitar riff that sounds like a mix between Pantera’s “Cemetary Gates” and the beginning of Great White’s “Save Your Love”. This is a very cool beginning to the song “Asylum”, and an unexpected approach for Disturbed.
“Asylum” is more of what I expected Disturbed to open the album with. This is a hard-hitting number with the sound that Disturbed is known for. I have played this song several times and I just can’t get into this. I have heard Disturbed record many songs like this one, but to me the song “Asylum” is not as good as most of the songs on Indestructible.
I like the song “Infection”, but the lyrics kind of make me chuckle. Every time I hear “the infection must die” I think to myself, get you some penicillin dude.
Somehow I can see the song “Warrior” showing up on WWE as a theme song for one of the wrestlers. It is just an ok song in my opinion.
“Another Way To Die” is easily my favorite track on “Asylum”. To me, this song is the most memorable on the album, and features some of the best guitar work from Dan Donegan.
With the song “The Animal”, I can see Disturbed trying to grow in their music. While not a huge departure from their sound, I can see a few small things that shows some growth with Disturbed. First and foremost David Draiman’s vocals are excellent. While this song is on the heavy side, the keyboards are a nice touch. This ought to be the band’s next single in my opinion.
Depending on which version of Asylum you picked up, you album will either close with the song “Innocence” or the bonus track “Leave it Alone”. “Innocence” is a pretty cool rocker, and a good way for Disturbed to go out swinging. Oddly enough, my CD was supposed to come with the bonus song “Leave it Alone”. After hitting play, and enduring a minute a half of dead silence, a completely different song appeared. Disturbed covered the U2 song, “I Still Have’s Found What I’m Looking For”. This is a more rockin’ version of the classic U2 song. I have always liked Disturbed’s take on the some of the big 80 hits. This one is easily as solid as some of their previous covers.
I have given Asylum several spins, and I don’t think this album is as strong as their previous releases. I can see this CD as being a grower, but the songs just haven’t stuck with me as of yet. Asylum isn’t a bad album, and I would recommend checking out the videos below to hear a couple of the tracks from the CD. Disturbed fans will probably enjoy Asylum.
Rating: Out of 10
Track listing:
1. Remnants
2. Asylum
3. The Infection
4. Warrior
5. Another Way to Die
6. Never Again
7. The Animal
8. Crucified
9. Serpentine
10. My Child
11. Sacrifice
12. Innocence
13. Leave It Alone
Disturbed is:
David Draiman – lead vocals, backing vocals
Dan Donegan – guitar, electronics, backing vocals
John Moyer – bass, backing vocals
Mike Wengren – drums, percussions, backing vocals
Another solid album but I have to admit that no song has stood out to me the way they have on their previous albums. I always have a few songs I have to play over and over when they release a new album but I haven’t found that on this album yet. I hate saying anything bad about Disturbed cause they are awesome but this is NOT their best album.
That is exactly how I felt Kevin. It almost felt rushed to me. Some of the songs on Asylum, could have been B-Sides or Demos that were left over from other sessions. It isn’t terrible, but not as good as their previous releases.