Netwavz Radio Artist Spotlight- Godsmack
Godsmack is an American rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band comprises founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its formation, Godsmack has released four studio albums, one EP, four DVDs, and one greatest hits collection.
The band has sold over 14 million records in the United States according to the RIAA.
In February 1995, Sully Erna decided to start a new band as the lead singer after playing the drums for more than 23 years, including over two years in the now-defunct band Strip Mind.
The band's name, according to Merrill in the Smack This! DVD, was taken from the Alice in Chains' song "God Smack". However, Erna stated in a 1999 interview that "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".
In 1996, Tony Rombola and Joe D'arco joined Godsmack as the guitarist and drummer, after Richards left after finding out he had a six-year-old child and Stewart left due to personal differences.
For the next two years, the band played throughout the Boston area. Eventually Godsmack's CD landed in the hands of "Susan", a DJ for Boston radio station WAAF (FM). The radio station put "Keep Away" into heavy rotation and the song rose to the number one spot at the station very quickly.biography
In an interview Sully 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".
Godsmack (1998–1999)
In the summer of 1998, Universal/Republic Records signed the band onto their label. Joe D'arco left the band for unknown reasons and was replaced by once former drummer Tommy Stewart, who came back after longing to be in the band again.
After the CD's release the band hit the road playing club shows as well as playing the Ozzfest and Woodstock '99".Followed by a Tour of Europe supporting Black Sabbath.biography
The album caused controversy due to its profane lyrics, containing a substantial amount of swearing.
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. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, and has been certified 2x platinum by the RIAA.
With the release of Awake, Godsmack toured Europe supporting Limp Bizkit.
tour where we rode under someone else's wings; we did a lot of work on our own".
Two of the songs on the album were used in United States 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".
Faceless (2002-2003)
In 2002, Erna was asked to write and perform a song for the soundtrack to The Scorpion King. The motion picture was the third in the Mummy saga, and was 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. It was also used in the game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.
Shannon Larkin replaced Tommy Stewart as the drummer of Godsmack in 2003.
With Shannon Larkin (ex Ugly Kid Joe, Souls at Zero, Wrathchild America, MF Pitbulls) replacing Tommy Stewart, who left due to personal differences for the second time,biography
The lead single "Straight Out of Line" received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Hard Rock Performance." The award went to Evanescence's single, "Bring Me to Life".
The album got its name after a pool incident, retold 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".
However in a later interview Merrill stated otherwise, making it unclear of how the album's 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".
The Other Side (2004–2005)
On March 16, 2004 The Other Side, an acoustic EP, was released. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200; this is a relatively high position for an acoustic EP.
Godsmack shifted from its "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, one of many similarities to Alice in Chains for which the band has been criticized.
In 2004, Godsmack opened for Metallica's "Madly in Anger with the World tour",
IV (2006)
On April 25, 2006 Godsmack released its fourth studio album simply titled IV, followed by a tour that would continue until August 2007, titled "The IV tour".
IV has since been certified gold. 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".
The album's minimalist name "IV" derives not only from its being the band's fourth studio album, but also from a running piece of backstage humor, as related by Larkin and Erna:
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Ten Years of Godsmack and upcoming album (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. The album debuted at number thirty-five on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in the first week of release.
In early November of 2008, Larkin dismissed the rumors and announced the development of a new album, saying: "With all the time we took off and various other projects each of us have been doing, we hope that all of you realize how important Smack is to us, and anyone thinking that the band was going through a rough spot or even thinking about breaking up can be strongly reassured that this band is in the best form we have EVER been in, both consciously and physically, and getting along like a band should, i.e. like the brothers that we are. And also know that we have a definite focus on the new material, and we know where our roots are and exactly where we came from, so expect a pure Godsmack record because it is brewing within us BIGTIME!"
According to Erna, in an early March 2009 interview with Rockerrazzi.com, the album will be released in the first quarter of 2010.
Currently, Godsmack is part of the lineup for Motley Crue's Crüe Fest 2 tour, which includes Theory of a Deadman, Drowning Pool, and new act Charm City Devils.[27]
Godsmack released a new single titled "Whiskey Hangover" on June 9th, which is already in heavy rotation on radio stations across the country. Godsmack wanted to release a new single before they kicked off their summer Crue Fest 2 tour.
Erna's solo album (2009)
On March 4, 2009, Blabbermouth.net reported that Erna had "completed work on his first solo album, although he has yet to reveal a title or release date for the disc." Erna described the album as being "a very different kind of sounding record," and "a huge departure from anything I've ever done."
Three days later, Rockerrazzi.com posted an interview with Erna in which he said that the record "should be out in the next two months."with the RR
Influences and style
Singer Sully Erna has cited Alice in Chains' former vocalist, Layne Staley as his primary influence on singing.
The band's primary influences include Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Judas Priest, Slayer, Metallica and Rush according to Erna, Larkin, and Rombola.with Larkin
Rolling Stone Magazine describes the band as "hard as nails and cranked to eleven," while Alternative Press praised the band for its "churning, riff-driven hybrid of all that is heavy, past and present."
The band's music is often compared to Alice in Chains, which the band cites as an influence.
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".
Band members
Sully Erna: lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion, harmonica (1995–present)
Tony Rombola: lead guitar, backing vocals (1997–present)
Robbie Merrill: bass guitar, backing vocals (1996–present)
Shannon Larkin: drums, percussion (2002–present)
Note: Erna performed drums on the band's debut album, Godsmack, and occasionally plays drums at live shows, alongside Larkin.
