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Godsmack

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Godsmack

Godsmack is an American grammy-nominated heavy metal band from Massachusetts formed in 1996. They have sold over 9 million albums in the US alone, have had two #1 albums ("Faceless" and "IV"), and have had eleven top ten singles as well as four #1 singles. The band also have been nominated for three Grammys.

History

In February 1995, Sully Erna decided to start a new band as a lead singer after being behind the drums in his previous band for 23 years.[10] In 1996, his new band Godsmack started playing small bars in their hometowns of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Salem, Massachusetts.

File:Godsmacklogo.gif
The Godsmack logo.

Early works

Robbie Merrill and Tony Rombola soon joined Godsmack and entered the studio, recording their first CD titled All Wound Up. The CD was recorded in just three days for $2,500.[citation needed] For the next two years, the band played throughout the Boston area with drummer Joe D'arco and earned a strong reputation and following. Eventually their CD landed in the hands of "Rocko", a DJ for Boston radio station WAAF. WAAF put Keep Away into heavy rotation and it quickly soared to the #1 spot at the station.[11] Newbury Comics, a New England record store chain, agreed to sell the CD on consignment. Shortly after the success of Keep Away, Godsmack went back into the studio and recorded a single titled Whatever, which became the new local favorite on WAAF.[citation needed]

Said Sully, "We had been selling maybe 50 copies a month at the time WAAF picked up the album. All of a sudden we started moving over a thousand records a week. It was insane. Even crazier, I was doing all this from my bedroom. After years of grinding away, things finally started taking off."[12]

Godsmack

In the summer of 1998, Republic/Universal Records signed the band. D'arco was replaced by Tommy Stewart, and All Wound Up was re-mastered. The finished self-titled debut CD Godsmack hit the shelves six weeks later, leading to the band's first headlining tour, "The Voodoo Tour". [13] After the CD's release the band hit the road playing club shows as well as playing Ozzfest and Woodstock '99 before a crowd of 100,000. They then supported Black Sabbath.

Awake

In 2000 Godsmack returned to the studio after the huge success of Godsmack to start recording Awake. The CD was a big success but not nearly as big as Godsmack, with the single, Awake. In 2002, Godsmack earned a Grammy nomination in Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the song "Vampires". [14]

With the release of Awake they toured Europe supporting Limp Bizkit

Sully said at the time "We've been touring nonstop since August of 1998, So most of Awake was written on tour while we were ping-ponging between America and Europe, building up the band. Ozzfest was actually the only big tour where we rode under someone else's wings; we did a lot of work on our own."[15]

Faceless

With Shannon Larkin (ex Ugly Kid Joe, Souls At Zero) replacing Tommy Stewart[16], Godsmack went back into the studio yet again to record a new album that was released in 2003 . Faceless debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 selling 211,000 copies [17] and later the CD would go on to sell over 1 million copies in the United States alone.

The lead single "Straight Out Of Line" received a Grammy nomination for "Best Hard Rock Performance".

Cover of The Other Side

The Other Side EP

On March 16, 2004 The Other Side an acoustic low priced EP was released. It includes several previously released songs re-recorded as acoustic versions, as well as three new acoustic tracks: "Running Blind", "Touché" which featured Godsmack's first guitar player Lee Richards and John Kosco who where in the band Dropbox who are the first band signed by Sully's Realign Records/Universal label[18], and "Voices". The song "Asleep" is actually the acoustic version of "Awake" off the band's second album of the same name. [citation needed]

In 2004, they were opening for Metallica's Madly in Anger with the World Tour, [19] while headlining with Dropbox in the summer. Then they did acoustic shows for their newly released album The Other Side in the fall of 2004, while still opening for Metallica.

IV

Their first release from the album IV, "Speak" was released on February 14, 2006, and their album IV was released April 25, 2006. The band will continue performing on their IV tour in May and June 2007. IV debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 211,000 copies in its first week. IV has since gone platinum.[citation needed]

Box Set

Later this year to celebrate 10 years as a band, Godsmack plan to release a box set with the 10-year celebration of their first album they plan to included their four studio albums, as well the acoustic EP "The Other Side" and a DVD featuring mini-documentaries about the making of each album. There will also be some live footage and they plan to add the group's 2004 acoustic performance in Las Vegas as well.

Speaking with billboard.com Shannon says "We're just gonna try to make it really special, Basically Universal, who we've been with since day one, said to us, 'You tell us what you need and we'll write the check. We want this to be special, too.' We wanted to make it a road case, but as we were doing some research we saw that Metallica made one of their box sets look like a road case, so that's out. If anyone has any suggestions, we're open..." He also went on to say they don't have much in the way of unreleased material but has been taping all of its concerts since 2004, so it may expand some of the albums with appropriate live material. [20]

Influences

Alice in Chains is believed to be the primary influence upon Godsmack and it is speculated that the band got their name from an Alice in Chains song of the same name. Tony was previously in the New Hampshire based cover band 'Crushed Tomatoes' which kept up on the latest music from bands of the early 90's such as Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, as well as classics from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Ozzy Osbourne.[2] In an interview with MTV upon the death of Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, Godsmack frontman Sully Erna stated that Staley "was single-handedly the guy that got me to start singing."[21] [citation needed] Other bands cited by Godsmack members as their primary influences typically include Aerosmith,The Doors,pearl jam, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Metallica, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath.[citation needed]

Comparisons to Alice in Chains

Godsmack has been frequently compared to Alice in Chains throughout their history. Sully Erna's style of singing mirrors that of Layne Staley's and has cited Staley as his primary influence. [3] The overall sound of the band's first two albums sound incredibly similar to the sound of the Alice in Chains album, Dirt.[4] The logo of Godsmack is similar to the sun logo of Alice in Chains. Godsmack also released an album titled "Faceless" which is similar in name to Alice in Chains' first album Facelift. The band's name is identical to the title of an Alice in Chains song from the album Dirt, being God Smack. The band even transcended from their heavy sound to a more mellow acoustic sound on their album The Other Side in the same manner Alice in Chains did in Sap and Jar of Flies.[5] More recently, Godsmack have attempted to distance themselves from the Alice in Chains comparison with Erna stating in an interview with Matt Ashare, "I've just never really heard that in our music."

Band name

There has been much debate to how the band obtained their name. It is believed that Godsmack obtained their name from the Alice in Chains song God Smack from the album Dirt. However, Sully Erna, the lead singer for Godsmack, has stated otherwise: "That's where we picked the name from. I was making fun of somebody who had a cold sore on his lip and the next day I had one myself and somebody said, 'It's a godsmack.' The name stuck. We were aware of the Alice in Chains song but didn't really think much about it. It's a cool song and the name had meaning for us".[22] However, many believe that this was part of Godsmack's attempt to distinguish themselves from the band that they have been compared to most frequently.[23]. Robbie Merril, the bassist for Godsmack, in the home video DVD "Smack This" stated "we stole it from Alice in Chains".

VH1 Rock Honors

On May 25, 2006, Judas Priest (along with KISS, Queen and Def Leppard ) was inducted into the "VH1 Rock Honors." Televised on May 31, their presentation was preceded by Godsmack (whose album "IV" debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart), performing a medley of the Priest classics Electric Eye, Victim of Changes and Hell Bent for Leather.

Band members

Current members

Former members

  • Tommy Stewart - drums (1997-2002)
  • Lee Richards - lead & rhythm guitars (1996-1997)
  • Joe D'arco - drums (1996-1997)

Discography

See: "Godsmack discography"

References