Disturbed released The Lost Children in the United States on November 8, 2011, through Reprise Records. The 16-track compilation gathered bonus tracks, soundtrack material and the previously unreleased “Mine” as the band stepped away from touring. It gave listeners a single release for songs whose earlier appearances had been scattered across special editions and other projects.
Guitarist Dan Donegan put a personal explanation behind the title. He told The Pulse of Radio that Disturbed thought of their songs as children and found choosing favorites difficult. That attachment also shaped practical decisions about releasing them. In an October 2011 interview with Noisecreep, he recalled a label representative pushing for an unnamed song to become a single, while the band wanted to leave it off the album and use it as a B-side. Disturbed sometimes reserved material for soundtracks, sports or other opportunities. Donegan’s account makes the distinction clear: withholding a recording could reflect a separate plan for it, rather than dissatisfaction with the song.
“Hell” made that approach tangible. It had appeared as a bonus track on the U.K. tour edition of Ten Thousand Fists before becoming the opening song and radio single for The Lost Children. A recording associated with the band’s 2005 album was getting another promotional push six years later. The compilation reached further back, too: “God of the Mind” and “A Welcome Burden” had appeared on the 2010 reissue of The Sickness. Other selections had been divided by format and territory. “Run” had featured on a limited edition of Indestructible, while “Parasite” appeared on its Japanese edition. Gathering those recordings meant listeners could hear them together without finding each separate edition.
There was a different reason for including “3.” Disturbed had sold the song through their website in April 2011, with proceeds benefiting the Damien Echols Defense Fund in support of the West Memphis Three. Its place on the compilation followed that fundraising release. “Mine,” meanwhile, offered previously unreleased material within a collection largely devoted to recordings that already had a release history.
The timing added uncertainty. Disturbed had completed the touring cycle for Asylum and begun an open-ended hiatus. In the Noisecreep interview, Donegan described leaving the road without deciding what would happen afterward. He wanted the chance to attend concerts from the audience and recover the urge to perform himself. He also distinguished taking a break from deliberately leaving to pursue other projects: other work could follow because the musicians had free time. The Lost Children arrived with the band’s next move undecided, turning attention toward recordings from the years they had already spent together.
Donegan returned to those songs in a 2018 interview with The Rockpit. He said several tracks on The Lost Children could have been singles and that he had favorites among them. His regret concerned how little they appeared onstage: “I wish we played them more to be honest with you.”
