In honor of the Metallica/Godsmack tour that begins in March...and the fact that I'm going (April 26th at the Norfolk Scope :D) I'm going to review the three studio albums released by the opening act, Godsmack. Too many people in my opinion have been quick to dismiss them as 'nu metal' and as garbage. Do they appeal to the mainstream a bit? Yeah, I'll give them that...but they are severely underrated in my opinion. Today's review is their s/t, re-released in 1998 (it had previously been their first independant recording, All Wound Up)
Godsmack is:
Sully Erna (Vocals)
Tommy Stewart (Drums)
Tony Rambola (Guitar)
Robbie Merrill (Bass)
The Tracks:
Moon Baby (4:23)
One of my favorite tracks. Opens with some dialogue that deals with the moon, such as Neil Armstrong's first landing. Rips right into the heavy main riff. It's pretty simple, but effective. Sully's vocals are pretty unique...and are either hated, or loved, by audiences, as he's got this moody, sort of...well, I can't describe it, other than saying it's haunting. Typical verse/chorus structure, which repeats itself...bridge section is a breakdown, which is pretty nice. Tony establishes his use of combining wah with distortion to create creepy sounding lead lines in this one, I love it. This breakdown repeats itself a couple of times before ending with some interesting feedback.
Whatever (3:26)
Ah, the angry "f
uck you all!" song. It's not one of my favorites...lyrics are quite cliche. It's somewhat heavy, but not really...the lead line interchanges from heavy to higher range, and it's decent, but not spectacular. Quite possibly, the only Godsmack song without a solo of any kind.
Keep Away (4:50)
More anger? Well alright. This track does it much better than Whatever did. Main riff is basis for the song, and while it does get repetitive, it is one that can clearly be head-banged to. I love the way Sully sounds on this one...vocals are dark, melodic...which is a staple of the Godsmack sound, but meh. Chorus has a bassline that is not only different from the guitar, but can actually be heard. Whoo for that. Repeat verse/chorus structure...break into the bridge section...with...a bass solo?!? So it's not something out of Wooten's playbook, but it's still nice to hear. After this...we get a guitar solo? Wow, two for one here. Guitar is full of wah and gain...probably one of the easier guitar solos, but still sounds cool. Another verse, and a chorus that repeats once or twice before we end on a sustained D.
Time Bomb (3:59)
Opens on an interesting note...synth work....then rips right into the verse, which entails Sully screaming for all he's worth, almost constantly. There wasn't really a chorus after the first verse, goes right into another verse. Now we get what I think is a chorus...back to the synth work...more screaming...extended synth section followed by a bridge and more synth work...riffs speed up a little bit towards the end...ok, so this one didn't have a guitar solo either, but they did try different stuff.
Bad Religion (3:13)
Sully's shot at Christians...main riff is kinda heavy, but not earsplitting...Chorus is short, but sweet, I suppose. Repeat the cycle. Bridge section, with a different riff, over some sustained Sully in the background. There are a few nice drum fills in the background here. Repeat the main riff. End on this note. I've heard a longer version of this song that opens with some evangelist talking about Christ...and ending with the same thing. Slightly humorous, but the album doesn't have that. I like this song despite being pretty simple.
Immune (4:50)
Opens with just bass...with some slight overdrive/distortion on...very cool sounding...some dialogue behind it, with some odd percussive bell-thing going on...guitar comes in and sustains a few times before it breaks into the verse. Guitar is full of wah, and higher end with the bass keeping it going under it all. Guitar joins bass for chorus riff...Sully's vocals on this one remind me of Dave Draiman in "Forsaken" a bit...repeat the cycle...another chorus, but the riff is slowed down a bit. Guitar solo which is alot of sustained notes more than anything, but it's kinda cool sounding. Another verse...a bridge section with a "true" guitar solo, I guess...lots of wah, lots of held notes...very eerie sounding...another chorus or so with more solo-ish guitar work...ends on a high, vibrated guitar note. My new favorite Godsmack song.
Someone In London (2:03)
This is an odd filler track...opens with sounds of the subway, and then guitar comes in...it's not a bad riff, but...it's pretty much repeated with all sorts of weird sounds/dialogue behind it...drums are kinda cool, but not too spectacular...it does however bleed into
Get Up, Get Out! (3:29)
Opens up with a fast-paced riff, and verse riff is a whole lot more wah, delay, whatever, from Tony...I love it. Sully screams alot of the chorus, and he's got some sort of reverb on. They abruptly stop before the next verse...another verse/chorus...bridge section right before 2 minute mark...with guitar solo...trademark Tony sound with lots of wah and bends and whatnot. Whoo. Another verse/chorus section...with a few more chorus than are probably necessary...ends with alot of wah from the guitar...not quite a solo but different, before ending. Very cool song
Now or Never (5:06)
Some weird sample...followed by a cool drumline and bass...guitar comes in...plays with his wah...breaks into main riff. Repeat the intro pattern...main riff is palm muted, and goes along nicely with the drums. This song is very percussive-based, which I like...Sully does some weird channel-switching thing with his vocals for a few seconds before we get another verse/chorus section....seems to be an extended chorus almost....back to the intro feel of things...bridge section with, you guessed it, guitar solo. How does it sound? You guessed it, lots of wah, lots of bends, some minor shredding...good stuff...another extended chorus...ends with volume swell down.
Stress (5:03)
Opens with what could be mistaken for a punk riff...Sully vomits before the song kicks into full gear...ok, maybe not, but it sounded like it. The song is based off of this harder-edged punk riff...even the chorus incorporates this punk riff. They do some heavy, punkish palm muting too, before moving on into another verse/chorus section. Repeat the muting/main section a few times...bridge section at about 3:30 or so...just a ride cymble, Sully, and some bass with odd samples behind it all...this goes on till about 4:40 or so...main section repeats a few times before it ends. Interesting song to say the least.
Situation (5:47)
Opens with odd sampling..opens up about :20 mark...somewhat heavy, somewhat not. Verse starts with just drums...rest of band joins in...no real chorus...this just repeats itself a few times though...riff is changed up about halfway through...slightly harder...guitar solo at about 3:40 or so...trademark style...goes on for almost a minute...repeat main section till about 5:10 with a second guitar solo...some minor shredding going on...evil sounding. Ends with just bass and Sully.
Voodoo (9:03)
The song that probably made them famous. It's not really 9 minutes long, but I'll get to that. This song is a few steps down from everything else they've done. Prominant bassline, middle-eastern style drumming, etc. It's a moody sort of piece. Some love it, others hate it. I like it, but not in mass quantities as was done by most radio stations. Song actually ends about 4:40...some hidden track begins about 6:40...just percussion...some samples come in later, but it's mainly just drums.
Likes:
Riffs that are decently heavy, but simple
Guitar solos in majority of songs
Basslines that aren't always simple root-riding
Sully's vocal styles
Decently intense drumming
Dislike:
Repetition
Overall: 3.5/5
I want to rate this higher, but I don't think so. This is a good first album from them, despite it's quasi-mainstream influence. Some songs are longer than they should be, with all the repetition...but the guitar solos help save some of them...I love Tony's guitar solos, because while they sound similar, they are always different
Coming soon...Awake, and Faceless. Probably at least a week apart, or something. :wave:
