Music as a Weapon II (CD & DVD) Review

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(More customer reviews)Even though I never attended any of the 'Music As A Weapon 2003' shows, I have seen Disturbed & Chevelle live, and that is why I found this album so appealing. Disturbed's second headlining package tour featured Taproot, Chevelle and the now defunct Unloco. Together, some of the bands best tracks are present, with a few collaborations, covers and rarities. Obviously, Disturbed are prominently featured. Most of the live songs here are pulled from 2002's 'Believe' disc, but there are a few little nuggets that stand out, such as a collaboration with Pete of Chevelle and Joey of Unloco on the hit "Stupify," the previously unreleased track "Dehumanized" (the studio version remains unheard) and a surprising cover of Metallica's "Fade To Black." The band is in top form (just as when I saw them in 2001) here. Taproot, who played direct support to Disturbed on the tour, only get three songs, which is disappointing. I would have hoped for more, especially since nothing from their debut, 'Gift,' is featured, but the band does a superb job with what they are given. Chevelle are given a mere two tracks, which is shocking considering the amount of success they have had in the past two years. "Forfeit" is an amazing song live, and Disturbed frontman David Draiman helps beef up "The Red" with a guest spot. If you want more live Chevelle, they have a live CD out called "Live From The Road," which is definitely worth checking out. As far as what they have featured here, I am a little disappointed. It would have been nice to hear some songs that are a little harder to find from them (i.e. "Don't Fake This," which they didn't play live when I saw them and doesn't appear on their live album either). Finally, Unloco, the opening band makes a decent performance with "Empty" and the far superior "Bruises." Nothing much to scream over, though. The DVD covers the same area as the CD. Same performances and all, along with the music video for Disturbed's "Liberate." All in all, it's a decent buy. It's definitely somewhat lacking, but if you went to one of the shows or have seen any of the bands live, this would be a nice little package to own. Personally, I don't feel the DVD is really necessary, and I recommend sticking to just the CD version.

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ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Disturbed’s "Dehumanized" is a previously unreleased song. The band also performs acoustic for the first time-Metallica’s "Fade To Black" and its own "Darkness."DVD FEATURES: The DVD is a direct visual companion to the CD, capturing the molten energy of the live performances plus Disturbed’s "Liberate" music video. A menu function also allows the user to customize the playlist to play selections by artist.

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Indestructible Review

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(More customer reviews)Released on June 3rd, 2008, Disturbed's latest album is my personal favorite and arguably the best they've ever created. There's a huge difference with the band's chemistry and specifically the progression of their guitar riffs (including some sick solos in Indestructible) into memorable choruses. The following includes my personal ratings of each song, including a brief synopsis of what each song is about. Ultimately, the entire album is fantastic and well-balanced. You can't help but believe (especially after listening through the album in it's entirety, several times) that this is one of the best heavy metal albums ever created.Indestructible: 9/10: Great lead-off song, definitely the best since Voices. Right from the get-go, you recognize that this is going to be a fast-paced, heavy album. This is a great song to start the album because it kind of pumps you up.
Inside the Fire: 8.6/10: I started to play it out after listening to it too many times, but it's still a great song. It fits especially well in the second slot of the album, because it keeps that past-paced, heavy beat that we saw ini the previous song. In any event, it's a good single (the video's up on their website).
Deceiver:8.4/10: The beginning has such a good riff to it. Once again, this song punches you in the face with heavy, fast riffs and a great solo right in the middle. The chorus is particularly good.
The Night-11/10: Best song on the album, and one of the best songs they've ever made. The riff in the beginning is amazing, and it continues with variations throughout the remainder of the song. And the solo in the middle is just stunning. It's definitely one of my favorite songs ever by them. I can easily see this being a single in the future.
Perfect Insanity:6.9/10: I'm not a big fan of Perfect Insanity, and there are much better songs on the album than this one. They specifically stuck the worst song on the album in between the two best songs (The Night and Haunted). I guess it was chosen as a single because of it's length. It's fast but not particularly memorable.
Haunted:10/10: An extremely dark, heavy song. It's easily the second best song on the album in my eyes, but I can also see why many people believe it's the best. The progression of the song rises until a climactic peak right in the middle. Thereafter, the song crashes down into an aggressive ending. Nice.
Enough-9.8/10: The way he sings the chorus in this song is particularly memorable and fantastic. Great hooks throughout, nice and heavy as well. You can really hear the emotions behind this song in his voice. It's also extremely heavy, but the chorus is incredible because the guitars slow down perfectly with Draiman's voice.
The Curse-7.7/10: It's a good song, no doubt about it. It just wasn't as memorable as other songs throughout the rest of the album.
Torn-9.5/10: The hooks right in the middle are incredible. The second best solo throughout the entire album. Absolutely amazing.It starts off really heavy, but doesn't really get to you until halfway through the song just how good it is.
Criminal:9.3/10: The lyrics and the guitar playing coordinate especially well in this song. Extremely catchy chorus. You can't help but rock out to it.
Divide: 9.4/10: At first, I didn't really like this song. I thought the end was kind of simple ("Divide, Divide, Divide, Divide. Divide, Divide, Break Apart and Divide"). But after listening to it a couple of times, It really began to grow on me and reminded me of their old stuff especially. I especially like the guitar effect they use for the main riff.
Façade: 9/10: A worthy ending to an amazing album. There's a nice change of pace in the song right in the middle. It ends up changing the song and made me gain more appreciation for the song in general. I originally thought that Believe was alright, but probably the bands low-point as far as I'm concerned. After listening to Ten Thousand Fists, I noticed a startling change with the dynamics of the band, and Indestructible is the next step in their progression and evolution as a maturing and coherent band. That being said, I would consider this my favorite Disturbed album made thus far and certainly one of their best. It's almost as if the band combined the best of what they had to offer in Believe and Ten Thousand Fists and meshed the positives of each album together, leading to Indestructible. It's hard to find any songs that I didn't like on this album; each one is different in their own rights, and worth being listened to. The album as a whole exceeded my expectations, and they were high to begin with.Overall Rating: 9.7 (Out of 10)

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Nearly a decade after the release of their groundbreaking debut, The Sickness, Disturbed have become one of the most respected bands in the hard-rock universe thanks not only to pummeling riffs and jackhammer beats but passionate insights into our troubled times. Three platinum-plus albums-Believe and Ten Thousand Fists charted #1-have led to Indestructible, the group’s darkest, angriest outing yet.

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