Disturbed scored four straight Billboard 200 No. 1s by 2010, with Asylum cementing the band’s run and standing tall in a pop-heavy era 15 years ago this week. Disturbed backstage at Not So Silent Night. during Live 105’s “Not So Silent Night” Concert 2002 – Backstage at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, United States. (Photo by J. Shearer/WireImage)
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Rock band Disturbed may be gearing up to deliver another album, as the group returned earlier in 2025 with its new single “I Will Not Break.” That tune quickly became a hit on several of Billboard’s rock-focused rankings, which the outfit is used to commanding at this point. As fans wait to hear more, one of the group’s most successful albums celebrates a special milestone.
Asylum Debuted at No. 1 in September 2010
15 years ago, Disturbed topped the Billboard 200 with the album Asylum. The full-length launched in first place with 179,000 copies sold on the chart dated September 18, 2010. The group’s fifth album became its fourth No. 1 on the Billboard 200, which at the time only looked at pure sales as streaming platforms had not yet taken over the industry.
A decade after emerging as one of the most exciting names in hard rock and metal with The Sickness, Disturbed had sent all of its subsequent projects — Believe, Ten Thousand Fists, Indestructible, and then Asylum — to No. 1 on the tally.
Rock’s Big Year on the Billboard 200
Hard rock was in the middle of an exciting moment of popularity back in 2010, even as the Billboard 200 was becoming increasingly competitive with pop, rap, and country all taking turns dominating. Asylum was one of several projects from rock groups to rule the chart in 2010, joining Godsmack’s The Oracle, Avenged Sevenfold’s Nightmare, and just two weeks later, Linkin Park’s A Thousand Suns.
While 2010 was a big year for metal on the Billboard 200, Asylum was sandwiched between two decidedly pop projects. It pushed Katy Perry’s genre-defining Teenage Dream off the throne and was quickly replaced by Sara Bareilles, who opened Kaleidoscope Heart at No. 1.
Asylum Preceded a Hiatus for Disturbed
Asylum was a special release for Disturbed as it marked the band’s last project before taking a hiatus. The members pursued solo ventures, instead of delivering another full-length two or three years later, as had always been the case throughout the group’s first decade. Disturbed didn’t return until half a decade later, with Immortalized.
That project, another No. 1 on the Billboard 200, produced Disturbed’s biggest single, “The Sound of Silence,” a cover of the Simon & Garfunkel classic. That tune still regularly appears on Billboard charts to this day. The singles from Asylum, including “Another Way to Die” and “The Animal,” both of which hit No. 1 on some Billboard tallies, didn’t enjoy the same longevity.
Asylum Cemented Disturbed’s Staying Power
Asylum was another feather in Disturbed’s cap and proof the group was not a flash in the pan, as some metal-leaning acts from that era turned out to be. The band’s fan base stuck with it even during a multi-year break, and even as tastes shifted and more hip-hop and pop acts invaded the Billboard rankings.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2025/09/18/disturbeds-pre-hiatus-album-reached-the-top-of-the-charts-15-years-ago/
