Disclaimer is the debut studio album by the South African rock band Seether. The album was released on 20 August 2002. It features three successful singles which would remain some of the band's most well-known songs. It is their first release under their current name after changing it from Saron Gas in 2002 to avoid confusion with the deadly nerve agent sarin gas.
A great deal of pre-production took place in South Africa with supervision from a Wind-up representative. It continued in New York City before the album recording sessions began in Los Angeles. Veteran session drummer Josh Freese filled the role in the studio before an audition took place at Leads Rehearsal Studio. Among sixteen others, Nick Oshiro auditioned and joined the band in 2001. Seether would also enlist guitarist Patrick Callahan in the fall of that year after performing alongside his then-current band in Philadelphia.
Disclaimer was released with ten different cover variations. These feature images from the "Fine Again" music video with people holding signs depicting a negative outlook or a poor situation in life. The concept to implement it through the album cover was headed by the video's director, Paul Feeder. According to bassist Dale Stewart:
In regards to recording and single output, the band allegedly faced a considerable deal of label pressure compared to future albums. According to a reflective Shaun Morgan in 2005:
According to Morgan, "the producer <nowiki>[</nowiki>Jay Baumgardner<nowiki>]</nowiki> was shit, so recording the album was a long process. The producer would come into the studio on Monday morning, after we worked for the entire week and say, 'nope, do it again'", partially because Baumgardner owned the studio and made a profit from them. As a result, the recording process for the album took three months, unlike later albums, which took around two weeks.
Seven of the tracks that appeared on their previous album Fragile appeared re-recorded on Disclaimer. They were "Gasoline", "69 Tea," "Fine Again," "Driven Under," "Pride," "Your Bore," and "Pig". "Gasoline" had originally been a bonus track on Fragile. Eventually, it became a single along with "Fine Again" and "Driven Under", which had preceded it.
"69 Tea" was the first song that Shaun Morgan remembers writing. He has said:
He also explained the song's meaning:
At the age of 23, Morgan experienced heartbreak, which inspired the song "Broken". Morgan's wife did not follow him from their homeland of South Africa to the United States, and chose to live in South Africa with their daughter. Morgan thus felt he lost his best chance to have the family experience he always wanted. He explained:
Morgan wrote the song "Gasoline" in five minutes during soundcheck, and the lyrics came out automatically. According to him, the song is about "MTV girls" and their fakeness.
One of Morgan's earliest memories is his mother waving a gun in his father's face, while he and his brother were locked in the bathroom. Later, his mother gave him a loaded .45 caliber gun in case of danger. "Driven Under" was inspired by these memories.
Asked about "Fade Away", he explained:
Disclaimer gained comparison to grunge acts such as Nirvana. According to AllMusic's Jason D. Taylor, the album "follows the path that bands such as Staind and Cold have capitalized on in the 21st century". He also states that the band's "moody rock edge borders on the formerly prominent grunge style once championed by another trio, Nirvana".
Beginning with "Fine Again" in late 2002, a total of three singles were released from Disclaimer. The lead single was followed by "Driven Under" in March 2003 and "Gasoline" in August. Each song was accompanied by a music video.
All tracks written by Shaun Morgan and Dale Stewart, except where noted
Seether
Production