Believe is the second studio album of Disturbed, released on September 13, 2002 just a few years after their wildly popular debut album The Sickness in 2000.
On this album, the band makes several notable changes in their style and lyrical content, with less emphasis put on being savagely aggressive and more effort to sound melodic and insightful. While the overall style is similarly heavy to their first album, this has a more refined and polished sound that the band has further improved over the years since its debut.
Believe spawned several hit singles upon its release, including "Prayer," Remember," and "Liberate".
Preceded by The Sickness, succeded by Ten Thousand Fists.
Tracklist:
- "Prayer" (3:41)
- "Liberate" (3:30)
- "Awaken" (4:29)
- "Believe" (4:28)
- "Remember" (4:11)
- "Intoxication (3:14)
- "Rise" (3:57)
- "Mistress" (3:46)
- "Breathe" (4:21)
- "Bound" (3:53)
- "Devour" (3:52)
- "Darkness" (3:56)
Liberate your tropes:
- Cluster F-Bomb: "Liberate" is probably the most profane song the band has ever done with the word "motherfucker" appearing 16 times, counting stanza repetitions. The rest of the songs on Believe are pretty clean by comparison.
- Concept Album: As the title probably tipped you off Believe is an album revolving around the idea of belief (or lack thereof) in various subjects such as personal faith or belief in someone else.
- God Is Evil: In "Prayer," God enjoys making you suffer for no good reason.Another nightmare about to come true
Will manifest tomorrow
Another love that I've taken from you
Lost in time, on the edge of suffering
Another taste of the evil I breed
Will level you completely
Bring to life everything that you fear
Live in the dark, and the world is threatening - Grief Song: "Darkness" is a depressive ballad dedicated to David's late grandfather.
- Holding Out for a Hero: "Liberate."Waiting, for your modern messiah
To take away all the hatred
That darkens the light in your eye - Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every song on this album has a One-Word Title.
- Manly Tears: "Rise".I cannot stop this pure emotion / falling from my eyes
- Motor Mouth: The opening verse of "Liberate" is sung very fast.
- One-Word Title: Not just the album name, but every single track is a single word as well. Interestingly, Believe is the only album Disturbed does this on.
- Non-Appearing Title: "Bound" never drops the title.
- Our Vampires Are Different: "Devour" is vaguely about vampires. The song was inspired by David's experience with the ‘Queen of the Damned’ soundtrack.
- Power Ballad: They've turned "Remember" into one.
- Religion Rant Song: "Prayer" is calling out God for inflicting misery on him to provoke a response and telling him that he can take whatever he dishes out. It was heavily inspired by 9/11 and the problems in the world at the time of its writing, carrying themes of the tribulation and hardship piling up like some sadistic test. The overall idea is "It's gotten so bad that I've stopped caring, so go ahead and kill me, I dare you! You'll never sway me from my defiance of you, you petty bastard."Let me enlighten you
This is the way I pray
Living just isn't hard enough
burn me alive, inside!
Living my life's not hard enough
take everything away! - Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter: "Prayer" has David daring God to inflict him with punishment while declaring that he can't be swayed with suffering and that he can endure anything God does to him without giving in.It's not very godly for a God to inflict pain and suffering on his people to elicit a response. I would hope that God wouldn't be that petty. But if that's what is happening and you're inflicting pain and suffering to get me to return to the flock, bring it on. There's nothing that you're going to do to me that's going to change my conviction or change my path.
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Darkness." It's one of the softest songs the band has ever done which David wrote after his grandfather passed away.
- Switching P.O.V.: "Prayer." The verses are narrated by Evil God talking to humans about how he enjoys making them suffer for no good reason. In the chorus and the bridge, in response, human dares God to try and break him.