Godsmack |
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Godsmack are an American Grammy-nominated hard rock/heavy metal band from Massachusetts formed in 1996. They have sold over 10 million albums in the US alone and sold over 11 million worldwide. They have also had two #1 albums ("Faceless" and "IV"). Along with major-American success in their albums. They have had thirteen top ten modern rock singles as well as four modern rock #1 singles, a debut album selling over 5 million copies in 2 years and have also 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 2-3 years.[1] In 1996, his new band Godsmack started playing small bars in their hometowns of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Salem, New Hampshire. Hit songs such as "Keep Away" and "Whatever" brought them quickly to the top of the hit charts in the local Boston / New England area. The band began to really hit big as their live shows captivated audiences. The band was heavily influenced in their style from rock monsters Metallica and Alice in Chains.
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.[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.[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."[3]
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". [4] 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 250,000. 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". [5] 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."[6]
Faceless
With Shannon Larkin (ex Ugly Kid Joe, Souls At Zero) replacing Tommy Stewart[7], 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 [8] 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".
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[9], 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, [10] 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]
Greatest Hits and Hiatus
To celebrate ten years as a band Godsmack will be releasing a greatest hits album entitled Good Times, Bad Times.... 10 Years of Godsmack on December 5, 2007. It will include a cover of the Led Zeppelin classic Good Times, Bad Times, as well as the groups acoustic performance in Las Vegas.
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.
In an interview regarding rumors of an "indefinite hiatus", the band's singer, Sully 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." [11]
Band name
There has been much debate to how the band obtained their name. It has been believed that Godsmack took their name from the Alice in Chains song "God Smack" from the album Dirt. However, Erna has claimed 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".[12] 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. 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 The Hellion, Electric Eye, Victim of Changes and Hell Bent for Leather.
Band members
Current members
- Sully Erna - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, drums, keyboards (1996-present)
- Tony Rombola - lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1997-present)
- Robbie Merrill - bass, backing vocals (1996-present)
- Shannon Larkin - drums, percussion (2002-present)
Former members
- Tommy Stewart - drums (1997-2002)
- Lee Richards - lead & rhythm guitars (1996-1997)
- Joe D'arco - drums (1996-1997)
Discography
Studio albums
Release Date | Title | Label | U.S. Billboard peak | RIAA certification |
July 28, 1997 | All Wound Up | EK | - | - |
August 25, 1998 | Godsmack | Columbia | #22 | 5x Platinum |
October 31, 2000 | Awake | Columbia | #5 | 2x Platinum |
April 8, 2003 | Faceless | Columbia | #1 | Platinum |
April 25, 2006 | IV | Columbia | #1 | Gold [citation needed] |
References
- ^ "Godsmack - Bio". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "Godsmack - Bio". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "SMACKFANS.COM - GODSMACK FANSITE". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "Godsmack - Bio". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "Rock On The Net: 44th Annual Grammy Awards - 2002". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "Godsmack - Home". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "Godsmack - Bio". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "Godsmack: 'IV' Hit Charts At Number I". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
{{cite web}}
: Text "News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com" ignored (help) - ^ "Ex-Godsmack Guitarist Finds Second Act - News Story". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
{{cite web}}
: Text "MTV News" ignored (help); Text "Music, Celebrity, Artist News" ignored (help) - ^ "Metallica.com". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - GODSMACK Looking Back At 'Good Times, Bad Times' In November". Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "Sully Erna of Godsmack on Karma, Christians and the Law of Three (NY Rock)". Retrieved 2007-10-10.