The Lost Children

The last word before the lengthy silence

An indefinite hiatus is a horrid wording that may easily mean developments most undesirable for listeners. Alas, this was how Disturbed described their prospects. What could that be: a writer’s block, an inner conflict or just a natural intention to trade rock and roll life for calmer family existence? Most pessimistically tuned individuals would name the simple intermission between studio works and gig tours as the least possible reason. But it could be so that after the first ten years of hard committed work, great laborers of extreme music would like to take a pause and gain new strength before returning to business. Whatever the cause might be, Disturbed are preparing the public for their silence, but before it arrives, they decided to relieve the pain slightly with a release of one more record, The Lost Children. It is obvious that the year that separates now from the release of the awesome album The Asylum would never be enough for the musicians to pen new material, and we are offered nothing more than a compilation. This is not a sugary best-of selection, but a collection of rare and previously unreleased songs. So you are not going to be bored.

The Lost Children will help you track down Disturbed evolvement

Disturbed have always taken the making of records most seriously, and there have never been lazy or hollow efforts. The Lost Children compilation is executed flawlessly, and this perfection casts its look at you from the amazing and terrifying cover of the CD. These lost kids are going to haunt you in your dreams, and once they get you, they will bring you to the scary guy standing behind them and reminding of musclemen decorating CDs by another prominent band, Manowar. Still, the music must be of a greater interest to us. That’s tough to disagree that The Lost Children appears Disturbed only record that will give you a consistent picture of how this ensemble’s unique style formed and developed. However, the tracks are not placed chronologically, likely, to demonstrate how various the Chicago band’s music has been and still is, despite recent accusations of self-copying. The collection is opened by classic burners Hell, and A Welcome Burden; and as soon as you listen to them, you wonder how they got past studio albums.

Disturbed do not have bad tracks

Those particularly familiar with Disturbed music will recognize in each track off The Lost Children a certain period in the band’s history. These songs are nor weird experiments, neither any kind of jokes; but each one is a substantial work by an ensemble that extremely rarely makes a wrong step. Of all the sixteen tracks on the CD, only three do stand out. This is Mine, with a key intro, which goes beyond traditional sound of Disturbed. And the two others are covers coming at the end of the album. Disturbed paid their tribute to progressive rock legends Faith No More with a remake of Midlife Crisis; and bowed down before heavy metal kings Judas Priest by playing Living After Midnight. This is a stylish and original way for the Chicago outfit to celebrate ten years in heavy music. With contemporary digital technological, this is just a matter of ten minutes for any listener to compile a list of favorite songs. What is much more interesting is to get a collection of rarities. But The Lost Children is not a filter stuffed with wastes of music production. Stingy, dynamic and explosive, this music will delight all those who prefer extreme genres. After all, even those Disturbed songs that do not get to albums are in most cases better than material by the majority of other performers.