Godsmack
| Godsmack | |
|---|---|
 Godsmack live 2015 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Boston , Massachusetts , USA |
| Genre (s) | Hard rock , heavy metal , post-grunge |
| founding | 1995 |
| Website | godsmack.com |
| Founding members | |
| Sully Erna | |
| Lee Richards (until 1995) | |
| Robby Merrill | |
| Tommy Stewart (1995, 1997-2002) | |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Sully Erna |
guitar |
Tony Rombola (since 1995) |
bass |
Robby Merrill |
Drums |
Shannon Larkin (since 2002) |
| former members | |
Drums |
Joe Darko (1995) |
Godsmack is an American hard rock band from Boston , Massachusetts . The band was formed in 1995 and is currently under contract with Sony BMG . Godsmack have released seven studio albums so far and have sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. The band reached the top position of the US album charts three times . The band has been nominated four times for a Grammy Award .
history
Early years and debut album (1995 to 1999)
In February 1995 Sully Erna decided to start a new band. Erna previously played drums for 23 years , this in bands like Strip Mind and Meliah Rage and wanted to appear in his new band as a singer . In addition to Erna, the first line-up included guitarist Lee Richards, bassist Robby Merrill and former Lillian-Ax drummer Tommy Stewart. At first the group called itself The Scam and played covers of bands like Alice in Chains . The Scam later started writing their own songs. After completing the first demo , the band changed the name to Godsmack.
Richards was replaced by Tony Rombola shortly afterwards, while Stewart had to vacate his position on drums for Joe Darko. After a short time Darko also left the band. Inevitably Erna played the drums herself when recording the debut album All Wound Up . The recordings took place over a weekend and cost $ 2,600 . The band borrowed the money from a friend. With countless concerts in the greater Boston area, Godsmack gained a larger audience.
All Wound Up was released in 1997 as a self-pressed version. The radio station WAAF put the song "Keep Away" in the rotation and the band sold over 1000 copies of the album per week. The song "Whatever" was also included in the heavy rotation of the station, which Paul Geary draws attention to the band. The former drummer of the band Extreme signed the band for his management company PGE. In the meantime, Tommy Stewart returned to the band as a drummer. Godsmack signed a record deal with Republic Records , who simply remixed the album and re-released it with a new cover artwork under the title Godsmack . The album reached number 22 on the US album charts .
Due to personal differences, Darko had to leave the band and was replaced by his predecessor Tommy Stewart. Godsmack first played a few concerts in clubs before they were invited to the Ozzfest tour and played at the Woodstock III festival. The band played their first concerts in Europe as the opening act for Black Sabbath . To date, the debut album has sold over four million times in the US alone and has been awarded four times platinum .
Awake and Faceless (2000 to 2003)
During the tours in 1999 and 2000 the band wrote new songs. The second album, Awake , was released in the fall of 2000 and entered the US charts at number five. The band made it into the charts for the first time in Germany and Austria. In the US, the album has sold around 2.5 million times and was awarded double platinum. For the song "Vampires" Godsmack was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance , but the award went to Jeff Beck . This was followed by a tour through North America with the Deftones as well as a European tour in the opening act for Limp Bizkit . Godsmack also performed at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals .
After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , the song "Bad Religion" landed on the 2001 Clear Channel Memorandum . This is a list from media company Clear Channel Communications of songs that the company believes are inappropriate for their radio stations. In the summer of 2002, the band separated amicably from Tommy Stewart. He was succeeded by Shannon Larkin , who previously played in bands such as Amen , Ugly Kid Joe and Wrathchild America . The US Navy used the songs "Sick of Life" and "Awake" as background music for their commercials . Also, the song "Why?" Was used on the soundtrack of the movie Every Fucking Sunday .
Also in 2002, Sully Erna received the offer to compile the soundtrack for the feature film The Scorpion King . His own band contributed the song " I Stand Alone ", which was the most played rock song of all US radio stations for 14 weeks. Godsmack rented a house in Miami to prepare their third studio album. Faceless was released in the spring of 2003 and sold 269,000 copies in the US in its first week. The album thus rose to number one on the US charts. In addition, “I Stand Alone” and “Straight Out of Line” were used as background music in the video game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within .
A month after its release, Faceless went platinum. "I Stand Alone" was nominated in 2003 for a Grammy in the categories of Best Rock Song and Best Hard Rock Performance . However, the prizes went to Bruce Springsteen and the Foo Fighters . Godsmack was invited by Ozzy Osbourne to support his European tour. The band turned down the offer and traveled to Hawaii in the summer of 2003 to prepare an acoustic album. In September 2003 Godsmack went on a headlining tour of North America with the band Adema . During this tour the DVD Changes was recorded, which will be released in November 2004 and which was awarded gold.
The Other Side and IV (2004 to 2006)
The acoustics - EP The Other Side was released in March 2004. In addition to three new songs, the EP contains rearranged versions of the songs "Keep Away", "Spiral" and "Asleep" (in the original "Awake"). The original guitarist Lee Richards can be heard on the song "Touché". The Other Side debuted at number five on the US album charts and was awarded a gold record for over 500,000 units sold . After the EP was released, they headlined North America with Ill Niño and Dropbox , before Godsmack supported Metallica in North America and Europe for the rest of 2004 .
The song "Straight Out of Line" was nominated for a Grammy in the category "Best Hard Rock Performance" in 2004, and the award went to Evanescence . On May 1, 2005, Godsmack played at the Rockin 'the Corps Festival in front of over 40,000 soldiers at Marine Corps Air Station in Oceanside . Kiss , Destiny's Child , Hootie and the Blowfish and Richie Sambora also played at the festival . The band also recorded the single "Bring it On" for the 2006 Madden NFL video game .
In October 2005, the band began recording their fourth studio album. For the first time, the band was able to prepare for a new album in peace and not have to write any songs during a tour. The album, simply titled IV , was released in April 2006 and, like its predecessor, entered the US charts at number one and sold about 211,000 times in the first week. The album went gold in the United States. IV reached number four in the Canadian and number 59 in the German album charts. Godsmack appeared on Jay Leno's television shows The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! on. In May 2006, the band played a medley on four Judas Priest songs as part of the TV show "VH1 Rock Honors" . After a co-headlining tour through North America with Rob Zombie , another tour with Breaking Benjamin followed .
Good Times, Bad Times ... and The Oracle (2007 to 2011)
During 2007 the band played individual concerts. Tony Rombola, Robbie Merill, Shannon Larkin released an album called Another Animal with former Godsmack guitarist Lee Richards and former Ugly Kid Joe singer Whitfield Crane and toured with Alter Bridge . Years later, Sully Erna explained that this side project caused disputes within the band that almost led to the breakup. In November 2007, Good Times, Bad Times ... 10 Years of Godsmack released a best-of album . With “Good Times, Bad Times” the album contains a cover version of Led Zeppelin . The album sold around 40,000 copies in the first week in the US and reached number 35 on the US album charts.
After the release of the best-of album, the band members took time for their own musical projects. Sully Erna went on a solo tour and released his solo album Avalon in 2010 . In the summer of 2009 Godsmack took part on the Crüe Fest II tour, in which, in addition to the headliner Mötley Crüe , the bands Theory of a Deadman , Drowning Pool and Charm City Devils also took part. During the tour there were disputes between Sully Erna and the Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx , in which it was about the treatment of Godsmack by the security of Mötley Crüe.
On June 9, 2009, the band released a new single called "Whiskey Hangover" as a preview of their fifth album, The Oracle , which was released on May 4, 2010. For the third time in a row, the band reached number one on the US album charts and also reached number two in Canada. Initially the album still had the production name Saints & Sinners , which was later changed to The Oracle , as Sully Erna found the previous name to be too religious. In addition, Whitesnake had already released an album with this title in 1982. In the summer of 2011, Godsmack played at the Mayhem Festival , where they headlined along with Disturbed and Megadeth .
Live and Inspired and 1000hp (2012 to 2017)
In 2012 there was an extensive tour with Staind and Halestorm . The live album called Live and Inspired was released on May 25, 2012. A concert in Detroit was recorded for this. In addition, the album contains a second CD with cover versions of Joe Walsh , the Beatles , Pink Floyd and Metallica. The European tour was later canceled completely due to the singer's voice problems. After the band had largely paused in 2013, the musicians began preparing for a new studio album in November 2013. The 1000hp (English 1000 horsepower ) titled work was released on August 5, 2014 and reached number three on the US album charts. In the US, the album sold around 58,000 times in the first week after its release. In Europe, the album was released on the Finnish record label Spinefarm Records .
As part of the release of the album, there were disputes with Republic Records about the first single. The band wanted to use Something Different at first , but the label persuaded the band to pull out the theme song instead. In retrospect, Sully Erna described this decision as a mistake. Godsmack headlined the Uproar Festivals in 2014 . A year later the band played at the Soundwave Festivals in Australia , a European tour and a North American tour with Sevendust . In October 2015, Godsmack released the song "Inside Yourself" for free download. A year later, the band announced the separation from their record label Republic Records and signed a new contract with Sony BMG.
When Legends Rise (since 2017)
For the next studio album, the producer Eric Ron was engaged. When Legends Rise was recorded at the band's Godsmack Head Quater in Derry and was released on April 27, 2018. The album reached number eight in the US, number twelve in the Austrian and number 21 in the German album charts. In the summer of 2018 Godsmack went on a co-headlining tour through North America with Shinedown, where the bands Like a Storm and Red Sun Rising appeared as the opening act. The European tour planned for autumn 2018 had to be postponed because the 34-year-old son of guitarist Tony Rombola died unexpectedly.
At the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards , Godsmack was nominated for Rock Artist of the Year and Bullet Proof was nominated for Rock Song of the Year , but the awards went to Three Days Grace and Greta Van Fleet, respectively . In April and May 2019, Godsmack played a North American tour with Volbeat and appeared in the summer at the Heavy MONTRÉAL , Graspop Metal Meeting , Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals . At the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2020, Godsmack received a nomination in the Rock Artist of the Year category .
Style and Influences
Godsmack's music is a mixture of riff-oriented , hard rock and metal . The main influences of the band include loud Erna, Larkin and Rombola grunge bands like Alice in Chains, metal bands such as Metallica , Judas Priest and Pantera , hard rock bands like Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin and progressive rock -Bands as Rush . For Sully Erna, the late Alice-in-Chains singer Layne Staley is his main influence as a singer. Sully Erna's lyrics deal with personal experiences. In an interview he stated that the lyrics of "Voodoo" and "I Stand Alone" are the only ones that were not written from his personal point of view.
The trade press classifies Godsmack into musical genres such as hard rock , heavy metal , post-grunge , nu metal , and alternative metal . Singer Sully Erna described his band as a "modern" hard rock band. Over the years his band had struggled with the fact that after they signed their first record deal they were wrongly classified in the Nu Metal category. At that time "all the Korns and Limp Bizkits would have grown up". Godsmack would never have been a metal band and therefore tried to always go on tours with hard rock bands.
The band name
The song "God Smack" by the band Alice in Chains is often cited as the origin of Godsmack's band name. This version was denied by Sully Erna and cites an internal discussion about fever blisters as the source of the band name.
- Sully Erna
|
- Free translation
|
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 US
|
 CA
|
|||
| 1998 |
Godsmack Republic Records |
- | - | - |
US22nd  × 4
(92 weeks)US |
- |
First published: August 25, 1998
Sales: + 4,000,000 |
| 2000 |
Awake Republic Records |
DE59 (14 weeks) DE |
AT26 (9 weeks) AT |
- |
US5 × 2
(52 weeks)US |
CA9 (1 week)CA |
First published: October 31, 2000
Sales: + 2,100,000 |
| 2003 |
Faceless Republic Records |
DE70 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - |
US1 (57 weeks)US |
CA9  (1 week)CA |
First published: April 8, 2003
Sales: + 1,050,000 |
| 2006 |
IV Republic Records |
DE56 (1 week) DE |
AT65 (1 week) AT |
CH100 (1 week) CH |
US1 (27 weeks)US |
CA4 (2 weeks) CA |
First published: April 25, 2006
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 2010 |
The Oracle Universal Records |
DE72 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
US1 (30 weeks)US |
CA2 (6 weeks) CA |
First published: May 4th, 2010
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 2014 |
1000hp Spinefarm Records |
DE66 (1 week) DE |
AT62 (1 week) AT |
CH94 (1 week) CH |
US3 (15 weeks) US |
CA2 (5 weeks) CA |
First published: August 5, 2014
|
| 2018 |
When Legends Rise BMG Rights Management |
DE21 (5 weeks) DE |
AT12 (2 weeks) AT |
CH28 (2 weeks) CH |
US8 (7 weeks) US |
CA6 (4 weeks) CA |
First published: April 27, 2018
|
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Godsmack at laut.de
Individual evidence
- ^ John Serba: Godsmack Q&A: 'We're not anything fancy, and we wear that on our sleeve'. MLive, accessed February 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Jenny Eslisco: Sully Erna of Godsmack. Rolling Stone , accessed February 10, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d e f The band. Archived from the original ; accessed on February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Gold & Platinum. RIAA , accessed February 10, 2017 .
- ^ When: Godsmack Singer Defends Military Ad Music. Contact Music, accessed February 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Godsmack Takes 'Faceless' Straight To No. 1. Billboard , accessed February 10, 2017 .
- ↑ KISS And GODSMACK: 'Rockin' The Corps' Live Video Clips Posted Online. Blabbermouth.net , accessed April 3, 2018 .
- ↑ Godsmack Earns Second No. 1 with 'IV'. Billboard, accessed February 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Chad Childers: Godsmack's Sully Erna Reveals Tension Over Another Animal Project. Loudwire , accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ GODSMACK: 'Good Times Bad Times' First-Week Sales Revealed. Blabbermouth.net, accessed April 13, 2018 .
- ^ Mary Ouellette: Godsmack's Shannon Larkin Explains Sully Erna's Feud With Nikki Sixx. Loudwire, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ deathbringer: Rockstar Mayhem Festival 2011 Initial Lineup and Tour Dates Revealed. Metal Underground, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ GODSMACK Cancels Remaining Dates On European Tour. Blabbermouth.net, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ GODSMACK's '1000hp' Lands At No. 3 On BILLBOARD Chart. Blabbermouth.net, accessed February 13, 2017 .
- ↑ GODSMACK Splits With Longtime Label REPUBLIC / UNIVERSAL, Signs With BMG. Blabbermouth.net, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ GODSMACK To Release 'When Legends Rise' Album In April; 'Bulletproof' Single Available. Blabbermouth.net, accessed March 1, 2018 .
- ↑ GODSMACK's 2018 European Tour Postponed As Guitarist TONY ROMBOLA Mourns Death Of Son.Blabbermouth.net , accessed on October 17, 2018 (English).
- ↑ Taylor Fields: 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards: See The Full List of Nominees. iHeartRadio , accessed January 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Taylor Fields: 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards Nominees Revealed: See the Full List. iHeartRadio, accessed February 19, 2020 .
- ↑ Joe Dangelo, 'He Got Me To Start Singing': Artists Remember Layne Staley. MTV , accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Michael Edele: "When I pray, I speak to the universe ..." laut.de , accessed on February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Rolling Stone Review: Godsmack - IV ( Memento of March 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Jakob Kranz : Godsmack - The Oracle. Metal Hammer . Retrieved April 13, 2018 .
- ↑ Carsten Kleine: Godsmack - Godsmack. Rock Hard , accessed October 21, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Jason Ankeny: Godsmack. Allmusic , accessed on February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Marcel Anders: Godsmack - Awake. EMP Merchandising , accessed April 13, 2018 .
- ↑ Godsmack. Metal Storm, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Conny Schiffbauer: Fight for the Rock! . In: Rock Hard, June 2003, p.104
- ↑ SULLY ERNA Says GODSMACK Was Unfairly Lumped Into 'Nu Metal' Category. Blabbermouth.net, accessed October 19, 2019 .
- ↑ smackfans.com: Rockers Godsmack Make An Impact ( Memento from February 16, 2005 in the Internet Archive )