Customer Reviews

The Sickness 10th Anniversary Edition (Limited Edition)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ten years seems like yesterday with the way time flies. I was a high school freshman when Disturbed's debut album came out, and it was one of the cd's I heard to help get me through high school. To celebrate the 10th anniversary, The Sickness was remixed by Neal Avron (who also did Indestructible) and remastered by Ted Jensen (Slipknot, Metallica, Bullet For My Valentine), and was repackaged with two bonus tracks ("God Of The Mind" and "A Welcome Burden," both recorded during the album's sessions, and previously available on soundtracks to Dracula 2000 and Valentine, and the Sickness import) and new expanded artwork as well as a nice holographic cover. Now, the question that previous owners of the original probably have on their minds: is it really worth it? Hell yes. The remixing and remastering does make a difference. What was raw and visceral is now even more upfront and more darker sounding in my opinion. I honestly felt like I was listening to a new album. Plus, if you weren't happy with the 47 minute and 47 second length, you've got two bonus tracks that push it over 54 minutes. All in all, if The Sickness is your choice for favorite Disturbed album, then you should get this.

Hark back with me, if you will, a full ten years ago this month. A then yet little-known band by the name of Disturbed hit the "nu-metal" scene with their debut album The Sickness and slowly took the rock world by storm. Their unique spin on a genre of music that was, at the time, slowly becoming stale and predictable with a swarm of Korn-wannabes stepping up was certainly refreshing. Granted their sound wasn't TOO original, but it was definitely a break from what was becoming popular. The band (vocalist David Draiman, guitarist Dan Donegan, then-bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak...who has since been replaced by John Moyer, formerly of the Union Underground...and drummer Mike Wengren) formed a powerhouse quartet, and that was evidenced by such pulsating, rhythm-driven singles as "Stupify," "Voices," and the anthemic "Down With The Sickness."

A decade and three more studio albums (Believe, Ten Thousand Fists, and Indestructible) later, not a whole lot has changed. The band's sound has improved by leaps and bounds since the original release of The Sickness, with Draiman's vocal abilities more pronounced than ever before and Donegan's ever-impressive soloing, but through it all they have remained true to the style that got them where they are today. With this re-release of their debut record, the band is symbolically saying "thank you" to all of the fans who have been with them since day one. The remastering of this album makes it sound like it could have been released last month instead of ten years ago.

Songs like the singles I mentioned above, as well as "The Game," "Fear," "Shout 2000," and "Droppin' Plates," sound as great and are as fun to rock out to as they were when The Sickness originally came out. But this release is more than just another useless double-dip that so many bands are fond of. Along with the original twelve tracks are: a special lenticular piece which alternates between the album's original cover and an image of the band's mascot "The Guy," a code for the band's website [...] which grants users access to clips of the recording process for their yet to be released fifth album, and two bonus tracks, "God of the Mind" and "A Welcome Burden." Granted these two additional songs were available on a couple different movie soundtracks several years ago, but it is nice to have them here as well. If you've never heard either of these, give them a listen as they are certainly among the finest in the group's catalog. The only surprise here was that the release listed Fuzz as one of the members of the band after he has long parted ways with them, but I assume this was done solely for maintaining the debut album's integrity amongst fans.

The band, in the liner notes, thanks its fans for all of the support over the last ten years. No, thank you Disturbed, for crafting some of the most memorable and rocking modern metal tunes of the past decade.

It was really cool of Disturbed to re-release The Sickness. And it's not just a double dip to make a quick buck. You don't see many bands do this. The entire album is remixed and remastered and you can definitely tell. I've played certain parts right after another and there is clearly a difference. It hits harder and has a much darker feel to it. It's almost like listening to a whole new album. The bonus tracks are certainly a nice addition. Die hard Disturbed fans probably already have these tracks, but again, they sound so much better than the versions that I had of them. Also included are new artwork and a promotional code for their official website. As for the album itself, I've never reviewed it before so I might as well. I personally think it's their best album and it's one of my favorite albums of all time. I love all of their albums but I feel their nu-metal sound on this album worked perfectly for them. My favorite song is Conflict. I feel their next three albums are about equal so I'm not going to bother ranking them. Overall, really nice re-release and one of the only ones I didn't feel ripped off buying.

For one, it is a great album that I believe sounds fantastic in its original version. Usually a remastering brings out a clarity in drums, bass, etc... but at the expense of the guitars. This is one of the few remasters I have ever heard that actually create a second mix that is just as good and interesting as the original. I cannot really declare either mix better than the other... as I really sincerely like both versions and I think song by song I find myself sometimes prefering one mix to the other. In general though the clarity in the guitar riffs on the remastered version is a little shocking. Like I said, in most other remasters, I feel the guitar takes a huge beating at the expense of giving clarity to the other instruments... I stopped buying most remasters because 9 out of 10 times I prefer the original version. Megadeth offers one of the best examples of this... the original mix of Youthanasia is massively better than the remastered. Fight's War of Words had a remix/remaster too where I greatly prefer the original. The thing with heavy metal... is the guitar is KING... and thus, it has to be #1 in the mix... I will gladly foresake some clarity and volume on drums and bass if the guitar sounds greater because of it. Anyway, with this release you can rest assured... even if you have the original CD already, you will enjoy this version too. If you LOVED the original version, then I say you must get this version as well. If you already have the original and just enjoy it but don't LOVE it per say... then you might want to save your money because the songs are the real key to both versions and thus both versions are highly comparable in terms of enjoyability. The Sickness ranks really high on the list of my favorite heavy albums and is by far Disturbed's best work (not saying I do not like the others, just that The Sickness is just so darn good).

If you even remotely like Disturbed just buy it!!! Adds a new twist to some old songs and gives a few new ones. Turn it up and enjoy the "Sickness"

Disturbed is GREAT!! this CD was really good was not there best but I loved it all the same. I am so in love with this band keep pumping out the hits.

I got this Cd, because this is a great album. Listening to the 10th anniversary the Sickness was interesting. I thought it was a What If Cd. By this I mean what if we had a way of going back and making this Cd sound as good as today's new digital sound. It is state of the art. They have improved the sound quality, the bass sounds more like John Moyer, than original bass player Fuzz. And David Draiman, the lead singer of this band, voice sounds better than ever. They also include two songs that were never on the original Cd, God of the Mind, which features a great bass sound. And Welcome Burden, which was only featured on the M.O.L. DVD . On the DVD David Draiman is seen singing this song, but the finished product is so much better. I will always love the pure rare quality of the original Cd, but this Cd is worth having in your collection. If you just want to ponder, What If this Cd was made by today's standards, than this Cd is for you. And of course, if you are a collector of everything Disturbed it is worth having.

This is a good Disturbed album. It's a great bonus to get the 2 bonus tracks that come with this 10th Anniversary Limited Edition. Also, the songs on this cd were remixed and remastered by the same guy who mixed and mastered the Indestructible album. The songs are good, but you can definitely tell that Disturbed has gotten better as a band since this album was initially released. If you're a Disturbed fan, this is a must have though.

I ordered this item 3 weeks ago, received it fairly quickly with standard shipping. If you're a Disturbed fan, this is a definite must buy. I thought the album art cover was cool because it changes from The Sickness original cover into the Disturbed logo. The only thing I didn't like about this product was that the lyrics were inaccurate in the album booklet, not a big deal.

Well like the other reviewer that posted about the missing cd. I happen to be missing the cd as well. I am not happy with this, the album/vinyl looks great...the packaging is great..but the lack of/missing the bonus cd is not right. I hope amazon sees this review and trys to make things right. I want my bonus cd.