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For the Alice in Chains song, see God Smack (song).
Godsmack

Godsmack is an American heavy metal band from Massachusetts formed in 1996. Led by founder, frontman, and songwriter Sully Erna, the band have released four studio albums, one EP, three DVDs, and are releasing a greatest hits collection on December 4, 2007.

Godsmack have sold nearly 10 million albums.[1] The band have had two #1 albums (Faceless and IV) on the Billboard 200. They have had thirteen top ten modern rock singles as well as four modern rock #1 singles, a debut album selling over five million copies in two years and have also been nominated for three Grammy Awards.

History

In February 1995, Sully Erna wanted to start a new band as the lead singer after playing the drums for more than 23 years, including over 2 years in the now defunct band Strip Mind.[2] Later that year, Erna called his friend Robbie Merrill, asking if he wanted to start writing music, and Merrill agreed.[3] His new band The Scam formed with Erna on vocals, Merrill on bass, local guitarist and friend Lee Richards on guitar, and Tommy Stewart on drums. The Scam quickly changed thier name to Godsmack, after recording one demo.[4] The newly formed band started playing small bars in their hometowns of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Salem, New Hampshire. Godsmack started out as an Alice in Chains cover band, but moved on quickly to write their own music.[5] Locally popular songs such as “Keep Away” and “Whatever” brought them quickly to the top of the hit charts in the Boston/New England area.[2]

The band’s name as stated in the home video DVD Smack This! by Merrill, “we stole it from Alice in Chains”, referring to the song “God Smack” from Alice in Chains' second studio album Dirt. However, Erna stated in a 1999 interview: “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”.[6]

File:Godsmacklogo.gif
The Godsmack logo.

Early works (1996–1997)

In 1996, Tony Rombola and Joe D'arco joined Godsmack as the guitarist and drummer, after Richards and Stewart left.[3] In the same year the band entered the studio for the first time, recording their first CD titled All Wound Up, with Erna playing drums and the rest of the band playing their respective positions.[3] The CD was recorded in just three days for 2,500 U.S. dollars.[2] For the next two years, the band played throughout the Boston area. Eventually their CD landed in the hands of “Rocko”, a DJ for Boston radio station WAAF (FM). The radio station put “Keep Away” into heavy rotation and the song rose to the #1 spot at the station very quickly.[2] 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 (FM).[2]

In an interview Erna stated, “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”.[7]

Self-titled album, success, and controversy (1998–1999)

In the summer of 1998, Universal/Republic Records signed the band onto their label. D'arco left the band for unknown reasons and was replaced by once former drummer Tommy Stewart.[3] The band’s first studio recording All Wound Up was re-mastered. The finished self-titled debut CD Godsmack was released to the public six weeks later, leading to the band’s first headlining tour, “The Voodoo Tour”.[2] After the CD’s release the band hit the road playing club shows as well as playing “Ozzfest”[8] and “Woodstock '99”.[9] Roxanne Blanford from the All Music Guide gave the album three out of five stars, stating, “Godsmack confidently brought metal into the technological age”.[10] The album was the band’s first to enter the Billboard 200 at number 22,[11] and would later be certified 5x platinum by the RIAA.[12]

The album caused controversy due to its “profane lyrics”, containing a substantial amount of swearing.[13] After listening to his son’s copy of the album, a father in the U.S. complained to Wal-Mart, who sold him the album, that the lyrics were offensive. Wal-Mart and Kmart took the album off the shelves, due to profane lyrics. The band and record label later added a Parental Advisory sticker to the album, and some stores ordered amended copies of the album. Erna commented on the situation to Rolling Stone magazine, stating, “Our record has been in the marketplace for more than a year now without a parental advisory sticker and this is the one and only complaint…. Stickers and lyrics are by nature subjective…. We have decided to put a sticker on the record”.[13] This controversy did not hurt album sales, but according to Erna helped, stating, “It’s almost taunting kids to go out and get the record to see what we're saying on it”.[13]

Awake (2000–2002)

In 2000 Godsmack returned to the studio after the multi-platinum success of Godsmack to start recording Awake. The album was released on October 31, 2000. In 2002, the band earned a Grammy nomination in Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the song “Vampires”.[14] The album debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified 2x platinum by the RIAA.[11] With the release of Awake they toured Europe supporting Limp Bizkit on tour.[15] Erna 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”.[16]

Two of the songs on the album were used in U.S. military commercials (“Sick of Life” and “Awake”) as background music. Erna stated, “Someone in the military is a fan, and they asked if they could use the music, and we accepted”.[17]

Faceless (2003)

In 2002, Erna was asked to write and perform a song for the soundtrack to the motion picture The Scorpion King, the third installment in the Mummy saga, it is a spin-off prequel of the Mummy series. The song Godsmack wrote and performed was titled “I Stand Alone” and became the number 1 single at Rock Radio and the most played Active Rock song in 2002 for 14 weeks straight.[18]

With Shannon Larkin (ex Ugly Kid Joe, Souls at Zero) replacing Tommy Stewart, who left due to personal differences for the second time,[2][19] Godsmack went back into the studio to record a new album that was released in 2003 . Faceless debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 selling 211,000 copies its first week[20] and later the CD would go on to sell over 1 million copies in the United States alone.[12] The lead single “Straight Out of Line” received a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Hard Rock Performance”, losing to the Evanescence' single “Bring Me to Life”.[21][22]

The album’s name came to be, as stated by Larkin, “Sully and I were standing up for one more jump, we're both there buck-naked, and I look over to the left and there’s some woman who had just opened the blinds standing there with her mouth wide open”. Erna added, “She was just waking up, we go, 'Sorry', and then boom, right into the pool. The next thing we know the cops are banging on the door, and that’s sort of the point of calling the record Faceless”.[23] However in a later interview Merrill stated otherwise, making it unclear of how the albums title came to be, “It came from the band’s feeling that, despite our radio and sales success, we still flew a bit under the radar”.[24]

The Other Side EP (2004–2005)

On March 16, 2004 The Other Side, an acoustic EP was released from the band. The album debuted at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, this is a high position for an acoustic EP.[11] It includes several previously released songs re-recorded as acoustic versions, as well as three new acoustic tracks. One new song, “Touché”, featured Godsmack’s first guitar player, Lee Richards, as well as John Kosco, who were at that time in the now defunct band Dropbox,[25] The other two new acoustic tracks were “Running Blind” and “Voices”.[26] The song “Asleep” is actually an acoustic version of “Awake” from the band’s second album Awake.[27]

In 2004, they were opening for Metallica’s “Madly in Anger with the World Tour”,[28] and headlining the tour along with Dropbox during the summer. Afterwards they did acoustic shows for their newly released EP The Other Side in the fall of 2004, while still opening for Metallica.[29]

The band transcended from their “heavy” sound to a more mellow acoustic sound on this EP in the same manner Alice in Chains did in the Sap and Jar of Flies EPs. This is one of the many comparisons to Alice in Chains that the band have been criticized for since their formation.[30]

IV (2006)

On April 25, 2006 Godsmack released their fourth studio album simply titled IV, followed by a tour that would go on through August 2007, titled “The IV tour”.[31] The album was produced by Erna and engineered by the well known producer and engineer Andy Johns, known for engineering Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin IV.[32] The first single from the album, “Speak” was released on February 14, 2006. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 211,000 copies in its first week.[5] IV has since been certified platinum.[12] The band had written over forty songs for the album, but the final track listing had eleven tracks, Larkin commented, “It’s Sully’s band and his vision. He sifted through all the music and picked the songs that he wanted on the album. We all said 'all right'. He’s always had the vision of everything Godsmack from the artwork to the production to the engineer to the studio to what TV shows we play. Everything. When it comes time to pick the songs it’s all Sully”.[33]

The name not only came to, from being the band’s fourth studio album, but also a comical story as stated by Larkin and Erna,

"Absolutely, man. We have this security guy, a big, tough guy named J.C. He’s another Boston guy. And in Boston it’s “fou.” They don’t really have the “R.” It’s not “four,” it’s “fou.” He’d be hanging around backstage and chicks would walk by and he would rate them from one to 10. But if it wasn’t a 10, there was no one, two, three, five, six. It was always you were a 10 or a fou. He just pulled the funniest things. Sometimes, he’d just hold up four fingers and wouldn’t have to say it anymore and we’d all just bust out laughing. And then the funniest one, this guy walked by with a chick on each arm and he goes, “Hey, bub, two fous don’t make an eight!” So when it came up, it’s our fourth full-length record, everybody was like, “Fou!” And we were like, “That’s it, man.” We’re not trying to break any records for originality here. I know that there’s Led Zeppelin IV, Foreigner IV, a million IVs. We just thought it’s fitting”.[1][34]

Greatest hits and hiatus (2007–present)

To celebrate ten years as a band, Godsmack released a greatest hits album entitled Good Times, Bad Times... Ten Years of Godsmack on December 4, 2007. It includes a cover of the Led Zeppelin song “Good Times, Bad Times”, as well as a DVD of Godsmack’s acoustic performance in Las Vegas at House of Blues. The album was originally intended to be a boxed set, but the band scrapped the plans so they could release a best of album. Godsmack will be following the release of the album with an acoustic tour.[35]

In an interview regarding rumors of an “indefinite hiatus”, Erna, is quoted as saying, “We're not going away, we are just gonna take a break and enjoy our 10th year anniversary and kind of recharge our batteries. And then Godsmack will be back, and we will come back bigger and badder than ever”.[35] Godsmack says they will be back in 09 with a new album and huge tour.

Influences

The band’s primary influences include Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Judas Priest, Rush, and Alice in Chains according to Erna, Larkin, and Rombola.[32][36][37] Erna’s style of singing mirrors that of Layne Staley’s the singer of a '90s heavy metal band Alice in Chains, and Erna has cited Staley as his primary influence.[38] The overall sound of the band’s first two albums sound similar to the sound of the Alice in Chains album, Dirt, according to Subvulture.com.[39] 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”.[40]

Style

The band’s music is often compared to Alice in Chains, which the band cites as an influence.[41][42][43] Adrien Begrand of Popmatters states, “Erna perfectly mimics the late Layne Staley’s low, guttural, sinister singing and snarly, metal-inspired growls”-Erna's vocals also seem to be reminiscent of Metallica's James Hetfield-and, “The band’s music is a faithful retread of Jerry Cantrell’s churning, tuned-down hard rock”.[41] Katherine Turman of Amazon.com states the band has, “dark, swirling, commanding music”. She also commented on the band’s third album Faceless, “mixes arena rock in the vein of an Alice in Chains” and, “riff-heavy, layered tunes and sharp, confident bridge-burning lyrics”.[43]

Erna’s singing style has been stated as “the snarl of James Hetfield”, and, “is composed of dark harmony that sounds a lot like Alice in Chains”.[44] Merrill’s bass style has been described as “bulldozer bottom with occasional slap-bass reverb”.[45] Larkin’s drumming is thought to “worship at the twin altars of Neil Peart and John Bonham”.[19] And Rombola’s guitar playing style has been praised as, “guitars that sound like percussion instruments”.[45]

Band members

Current members

Former members

  • Lee Richards: Guitars (1996–1997)
  • Joe D'arco: Drums (1996–1997)
  • Tommy Stewart: Drums (1997–2002)

Discography

Main article: Godsmack discography

Main albums

Release Date Title Label Billboard 200 peak RIAA certification
August 25, 1998 Godsmack Universal/Republic #22[11] 5x Platinum[46]
October 31, 2000 Awake Universal/Republic #5[11] 2x Platinum[47]
April 8, 2003 Faceless Universal/Republic #1[11] Platinum[12]
March 16, 2004 The Other Side Universal/Republic #5[11] Gold[12]
April 25, 2006 IV Universal/Republic #1[11] Platinum[12]
December 4, 2007[12] Good Times, Bad Times... Ten Years of Godsmack Universal/Republic - -

References

  1. ^ a b "'Livin in Sin' with Godsmack's Shannon Larkin". Live-Metal.Net. 2006-05-06. Retrieved 2007-11-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Godsmack – Bio". Godsmack.com. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  3. ^ a b c d "Godsmack biography". Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  4. ^ Scaggs, Austin (2003-05-06). "Sully Awakes". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ a b "Ugo – Bands on demand – Godsmack". Ugo. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  6. ^ "Sully Erna of Godsmack on Karma, Christians and the Law of Three (NY Rock)". 1999-10-01. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Smackfans.com – Godsmack fan site". © 2000-2006 Smackfans.com. All rights reserved. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  8. ^ "Ozzfest – History/2001 – Copyright – 2007 Live Nation". Ozzfest.com. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  9. ^ "Godsmack at Woodstock '99 – Yottamusic". Yottamusic.com. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  10. ^ Blanford, Roxanne. "Godsmack – self-titled review". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2007-11-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h "Godsmack – Artist chart history". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g "Godsmack – News". Godsmack.com. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  13. ^ a b c Schwalboski, Ann M. "Godsmack Lyrics and Biography". Musician guide. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  14. ^ "Rock On The Net: 44th Annual Grammy Awards – 2002". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  15. ^ "Godsmack – Tour 2001". Godsmack.com. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  16. ^ "Godsmack – Home". Godsmack.com. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  17. ^ "Godsmack Frontman Gets Defensive Over Band's Alleged 'Pro-Military' Stance". Arthur Magazine. 2006-05-04. Retrieved 2007-11-10. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Godsmack". QuasimodoBell Music Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  19. ^ a b Farinella, David John. "Shannon Larkin". Modern drummer.com. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  20. ^ "Godsmack: 'IV' Hit Charts At Number I". Ultimate Guitar. 2006-05-04. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com" ignored (help)
  21. ^ "List of Grammy nominations – Desert News (Salt Lake City)". Associated Press. 2004-02-09. Retrieved 2007-11-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Grammy Award Winners". Grammy.com. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  23. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon. "Godsmack: Unpolished, Uncompromised". MTV. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  24. ^ "Metal Edge Magazine – "First great band of the millennium" – Hit the road with vengeance". Metal Edge. 2003-04-03. Retrieved 2007-11-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (2004-06-03). "Ex-Godsmack Guitarist Finds Second Act – News Story". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "Music, Celebrity, Artist News" ignored (help)
  26. ^ "Discography – The Other Side". Godsmack – Discography. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  27. ^ ""Asleep" is an acoustic version of "Awake" from the album of the same name". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  28. ^ "Metallica.com". Metallica.com. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  29. ^ "Godsmack.com – Metallica tour". Godsmack – Tour. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  30. ^ ""Ultimate Guitar – Godsmack's acoustic album"". MTV.com. 2003-10-13. Retrieved 2007-11-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ "Godsmack tour '07". Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  32. ^ a b Fuoco, Christina (2006-06-23). "Interview: Shannon Larkin of Godsmack". Entertainment News. Retrieved 2007-11-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ Bowar, Chad. "A Conversation with Drummer Shannon Larkin". Heavy metal about. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  34. ^ Jenny, Feniak. "The music and magic of Godsmack". Edmunton sun. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  35. ^ a b "Blabbermouth.net – Godsmack Looking Back at 'Good Times, Bad Times' In November". Blabbermouth.net. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. ^ Sharken, Lisa (2000-11-20). "Exclusive: Tony Rombola of Godsmack". Gibson.com. Retrieved 2007-11-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  37. ^ "New Hampshire People – Sully Erna/Godsmack". New Hampshire People.com. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  38. ^ D'Angelo; Vineyard; Wiederhorn, Joe; Jennifer; Jon (2002-04-22). "MTV.com – "'He Got Me To Start Singing': Artists Remember Layne Staley"". MTV.com. Retrieved 2007-11-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  39. ^ "Subvulture.com – Godsmack". Subvulture.com. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  40. ^ ""Bassmasta – about Godsmack"". Bass Masta. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  41. ^ a b Begrand, Adrien (2006-03-16). "Godsmack – The Other Side". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2007-11-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  42. ^ "Artistfacts – Godsmack". Artistfacts.com. Retrieved 2007-11-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  43. ^ a b Turman, Katherine. "Editorial Reviews". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2007-11-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  44. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (2003-10-08). "Godsmack Travel To The Other Side For New EP". MTV. Retrieved 2007-11-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  45. ^ a b Kot, Greg (2000-11-09). "Godsmack Awake Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-11-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  46. ^ McClellan, Jennifer. ""EdgeFest 2007 features heavy-hitters Godsmack, Sevendust and many more."". Night Flying. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  47. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Godsmack overview". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
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