"Are You Ready" is a song by American heavy metal band

Disturbed Disturbed may refer to: Books * ''Disturbed'', a 2011 novel by Kevin O'Brien (author) Film and TV * ''Disturbed'' (film), a 1990 film starring Malcolm McDowell * "Disturbed" (''Numb3rs''), a 2009 episode of ''Numb3rs'' * "The Disturbed", a 2 ...

. It was released on 16 August 2018, as the first single from their album ''

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''. The song topped the ''

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Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart in September 2018.

Background

In July 2018, upon the completion of recording the band's seventh studio album ''

'',

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

David Draiman David Michael Draiman ( he, דוד מיכאל דריימן; born March 13, 1973) is an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distorted, operatic, baritone voice and percussive singing style, he is best known as the lead vocalist of the h ...

polled fans as to whether they preferred the first single to be a heavy rock song, more akin to most of their back catalogue, or a more mellow ballad song, more comparable to their cover of

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

's " The Sound of Silence". Out of 80,000 respondents, over 83% chose "heavy" over "ballad". As a result, "Are You Ready" was released as the first single from the album on August 16, 2018. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was released on the same date. Guitarist

Dan Donegan Daniel Joseph Donegan (born August 1, 1968) is an American musician who serves as the guitarist and keyboardist for heavy metal band Disturbed. Donegan began playing guitar as a teenager and eventually formed a band called Vandal, which was a ...

noted that the song's origins trace back to 2004, as a musical idea he had written during the sessions for their ''

Ten Thousand Fists ''Ten Thousand Fists'' is the third studio album by American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Disturbed (band), Disturbed. It was released on September 20, 2005 and became Disturbed's second consecutive number 1 debut on the Billboard 200, ''B ...

'' album. He stated that he never finished the track in 2004, and it was pushed aside due to the band focusing on further-developed material instead, and was placed into the band's archives until 2018, when he presented it to Draiman, who instantly gravitated towards writing

scat vocals In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

for it.

Themes and composition

Due to its origins as a 2004 song idea, Donegan described the song as having an "old Disturbed sound". One publication alluded to it as a "heavy" song.

Reception

Heavy.com Heavy is a news aggregation platform based in New York City. It operates through its flagship website, Heavy.com, and Spanish-language platform, AhoraMismo.com. The website specializes in "5 Fast Facts" posts, which aggregate facts about trending ...

, in documenting fan reaction, noted that the song was generally positively received, with most noting its similarity to the band's earlier albums, which was cited as both a positive and negative trait by various commenters.

Metal Sucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

agreed with the notion. Despite its heavier nature,

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praised the song as one that would also appeal to an older generation of listeners that may have started to follow the band later in their career after the crossover success of their cover of "The Sound of Silence".

Track listing

Are You Ready - EP # Are You Ready # Uninvited Guest # This Venom # Are You Ready (Sam de Jong Remix)

Personnel

Disturbed *

– lead vocals *

– guitars, keyboards, programming *

John Moyer John Moyer (born November 30, 1973) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for the heavy metal band Disturbed. Taking over in 2004 after Steve "Fuzz" Kmak was fired, Moyer has played bass guitar with the group s ...

– bass *

Mike Wengren Michael Wengren (born September 3, 1971) is an American drummer, best known for his work with Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Disturbed (band), Disturbed. He is one of the founding members of the band, which was formed in 1994. Wengren is k ...

– drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Disturbed (band) songs Songs written by Kevin Churko