Introduction | Background | Album Covers and The Guy | The Sickness | Believe | Ten Thousand Fists | Indestructible |
Introduction to Disturbed |
To believe in something is religion enough. |
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The purpose of this project is to study the music of the group Disturbed, utilizing the theme of religion. The primary reason for undertaking this study is to explore a topic that affects virtually everyone and secondly, despite this impact, largely goes by most people without a second thought. This study is undertaken through an analysis of several works from Disturbed. In doing this it should become clear that religion is not limited simply to organized religions but that the analysis can be extended to more personal, spiritual and even seemingly secular areas through a careful analysis of the underlying religious themes. The music of Disturbed poses several interesting, sometimes paradoxical, questions. First, front man David Draiman when interviewed stated that he was not religious. Yet, the group’s second album, entitled Believe, offers several tracks, such as the title track which itself is called Believe and the first single that came from the album entitled Prayer that both directly deal with religious themes. On a more general note, the heavy metal music genre is often characterized or labelled as being against religion or at least against organized religion. Thus, this study attempts to demonstrate how musical themes are not simple matters. In the Karma experiment interview, the interviewer suggested that the vague complex lyrics could be one of the reasons the band maintains popularity.[1] The study will be conducted in four steps. First, it outlines a brief history of the impact of music on pop culture. This section is needed as the test subject must be understood to appreciate the effects and changes that happen. The second step is to explore the band, through its use of images and themes. This will lead directly into the third step which is dealing directly with Disturbed’s collective works. This will include their songs, and how these songs are portrayed in music videos and in other media, such as live performances and interviews. The fourth step will bring a conclusion to the above three points and show the extent to which religion plays a factor in the music of Disturbed using fan reaction and created artwork. |
