DISTURBED SUCCESS DISTURBING TO SOME

Disturbed’s Dan Donegan talked about the band’s unheralded album sales success, and remains eternally grateful to fans.

While the experts might not want you to know it, Disturbed has been one of the most successful heavy rock bands of this generation. The band’s latest album, Indestructible, debuted at Number One upon its release earlier this year, and David Draiman and company have now sold nearly 10 million albums worldwide.

Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan talked about the feat.

“It’s kind of overwhelming. It’s kind of hard to soak in and think that we’ve gotten that far with it, that that many people have bought the material and connected with it. Especially, this day and age with downloading and how it’s affected the whole industry and every band that’s in it, we’re still going strong and we still have that fanbase that wants to be a part of this. We’re dedicated to them, and they are to us. They allow us to do what we love to do, and we’ve never forgotten that. We do the best we can to deliver and give them what it is they’re looking for out of it too. That’s… bringing the live show that’s the biggest passion throughout the whole thing is connecting with them live, coming out and giving 110 percent and seeing them and hearing them sing every lyric is what energizes us. There’s no bigger and better high in life for us, and that’s kind of why we keep doing it.”

Donegan also credited some of the band’s leaked tracks to Indestructible’s success.

“Some of the music got leaked out about a week before release, which we figured it probably would anyways. It’s kind of hard to keep things under wraps the whole entire time. A week before release it got leaked out a bit and if anything that just built up more excitement for us. It got the diehard fans talking about it and let them get an early taste of it. It’s been a great reaction. Our fans have always been very patient in waiting for the new stuff, and they’ve shown over and over again that the second we release it they’re going to run out and get it. For us to have a third Number One debut in a row, it’s satisfying knowing that the fans are just watching and awaiting our every move, and they know we’re going to give 110 percent and deliver the best we can.”

Meanwhile, the band’s single “Inside The Fire” continues to be a staple at both Alternative and Active Rock radio after setting an airplay record for the latter format a few weeks ago.