The Sickness is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on March 7, 2000, by Giant and Reprise Records. The album peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard 200, and spent a total of 106 weeks on the chart. It was Disturbed's only album to not hit number one on the US Billboard 200 until their seventh album Evolution debuted at number 4 in 2018. In 2018, The Sickness was certified five times platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over five million copies in the US, making it the band's most successful album.
However, as the late 1990s brought a shift in focus in the rock industry toward a heavier sound, the band secured a record deal with Giant Records and Disturbed got their big break. Prior to the album's recording, the band sought to refine its sound. Lead guitarist Dan Donegan took a different approach than usual and adopted a style that did not incorporate guitar solos: "In the beginning, before we were even signed, I'd solo all over the place and it didn't really work, so I pretty much cut out the solos altogether until the last album or two. That's the way it's worked with us. Over time we've pushed each other to become better musicians," Donegan said in a 2011 interview with Guitar World.
According to Draiman, it was challenging for him to become comfortable with writing about the personal themes contained throughout the album's lyrics, saying, "It's very frightening. Because here you go, you've decided to be open and bare a part of your soul to these people, and lay it out on a platter for them to observe. So until you know that the listeners are getting any part of what you're saying, it's incredibly frightening."
With Draiman on vocals and Donegan on guitar, the two were joined by Mike Wengren on drums and Steve "Fuzz" Kmak on bass. Seeking help with the album's production process, the band turned to producer Johnny K, who had gone to high school with Donegan's brother. By the time work on the album had started, a bond had already formed and Johnny K had begun working with the band as the producer for their album. In an interview with Guitar Edge, Johnny K spoke about the process, saying, "They fought hard to get me to do their record. They didn't want to go to L.A. and make a record that wouldn't be any better than their demos. I felt that with a budget and time, I could make a record everyone would really like [...] I pushed them as hard as I could, and we felt successful before it sold one copy. All of that hard work, and the fact that they are such a good band, made it easy for me to get other jobs. People liked it and would say, 'Who did the Disturbed album? Let's get him.'"
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| rev3 = Kerrang!
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| rev4 = Metal Hammer
| rev4score = 9/10
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| rev6 = Spin
| rev6Score = 5/10
| rev7 = Sputnikmusic
| rev7score = 3.0/5
The album received positive reviews upon release. Steve Huey from AllMusic commented "But even if it has a few less-than-compelling moments, The Sickness overall comes off as the work of a band who really doesn't have far to go to achieve total control of its sound and compositional skills, and that makes it a terrific debut album." In 2020, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 2000 by Metal Hammer magazine. In 2021, the album was put on the list of the Revolver magazine "20 Essential Nu-Metal Albums". In 2025, Rae Lemeshow-Barooshian of Loudwire included the album in her list of "the top 50 nu-metal albums of all time", ranking it tenth.
Reissues
10th anniversary
On March 23, 2010, a reissue of the album was released that was remastered, slightly remixed and includes B-sides, new artwork, and exclusive online content. This reissue celebrates the tenth anniversary of the release of the album and is available for the first time in Standard Black vinyl format.
Disturbed's guitarist, Dan Donegan, commented on the reissue: "[...] it's the album that put us on the map and launched our career. So we went back into the studio and we remixed it, we're having it remastered, we're gonna put a couple of bonus tracks on there and touch up some of the packaging and the artwork. Just a little collector's item, a little tribute to that album for the fans".
The two songs included in the reissue, "God of the Mind" and "A Welcome Burden", are also included in a B-side compilation called The Lost Children.
20th anniversary
In January 2020, Disturbed announced that they were going on tour for The Sickness 20th Anniversary Tour with Staind and Bad Wolves. The tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sickness was re-released to mark the album's 20th anniversary. It includes all of the original songs remastered and live versions of the songs. The Sickness 20th Anniversary Tour was rescheduled for July and September 2021 but was once again canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions.
25th anniversary
On March 7, 2025, the 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the album was released with bonus tracks including B-sides, demos, rarities, and live tracks recorded between 2000 and 2001. Among the new tracks included is a new mix of "Glass Shatters"
| 100
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! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 102
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!scope="row"| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)
| 9
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! scope="col"| Chart (2008)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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! scope="col"| Chart (2010)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)
| 5
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! scope="col"| Chart (2017)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
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{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! scope="col"| Chart (2025)
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|-
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!scope="row"| UK Album Sales (OCC)
| 46
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Year-end chart performance to The Sickness
! scope="col"| Chart (2000)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 133
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2001)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 200
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 70
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2002)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 89
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
|41
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Decade-end chart performance for The Sickness
!Chart (2000–2009)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|197
|}
Singles
{|class="wikitable"
!Year
!Song
!Chart
!Peak<br />position
|-
|rowspan="2"|2000
|rowspan="2"|"Stupify"
|Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks
|align="center"|12
|-
|Alternative Songs
|align="center"|10
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|rowspan="2"|2001
|rowspan="3"|"Down with the Sickness"
|Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks