With greater emphases on melodic dynamics, it also demonstrates a broadening in the band's musical range compared to their 2000 debut The Sickness.

[4] The band entered K's Groovemaster Studios in mid March 2002 to begin recording with producer Johnny K, the man behind their debut album.

In an interview with MTV, Draiman elaborated how the reevaluating of his own Jewish heritage and compromises of life as a musician affected his writing.

These were inspired by various experiences such as the September 11 attacks and the recent death of Draiman's Orthodox Jewish grandfather: Lyrically, the album deals with various other topics as well.

In an interview, he noted, "I've had various experiences with women over the past two-and-a-half years that have made me have several chips on my shoulder - not in an angry way necessarily, but almost in a pleading way.

"[6] In keeping with the lyrical themes, the album cover features symbols of major religions, including the Jewish Star of David, the Islamic crescent, the Wiccan pentacle, and the Christian cross.

Draiman explained the meaning of the symbol on stage during the Music as a Weapon II Tour: Believe boasted three singles which gained substantial radio and video airplay.

He also states that "it is not a function of the agitation of the tempo and percussion-based riffing of the past; guitarist Dan Donegan has made great strides in expanding its sound to include more varied guitar work all around.

"[15] Greg Cot from Rolling Stone called the record "a skillful, if calculated, variation on the melodrama-meets-mayhem formula that has been driving the most commercially successful new metal in recent years," praising Andy Wallace's mixing of Wengren's drumming for having "a John Bonham-like prominence" and Donegan's guitar work for having the feel of "a percussive hammer.

"[9] Ben Mitchell of Blender gave credit to the band for doing away any idiosyncratic vocal work and rap metal flourishes from their debut effort for more political topics and highlighted both Donegan's guitar line as well as Draiman's melodic delivery, saying that "Musically, Believe is as solid as this kind of generic support-slot-on-Ozzfest stuff gets and — thank Christ — at least there’s no DJ."

He concluded that "Overwhelmingly, though, Disturbed have yet to come to terms with just how average they really are — seldom unlistenable, never inspirational, but consistently merely OK."[16] Culturedose.net cited Believe as "one of the best rock albums of 2002".