Godsmack (Album)
Occupation
- Vocals / Drums: Sully Erna * Guitar / Vocals: Tony Rombola
- Bass: Robbie Merrill
Godsmack is the debut album by the American rock band Godsmack. It was originally released in 1997 as domestic production under the name of All Wound Up. A year later Republic Records released the album under its present name. Godsmack reached number 22 in the U.S. album charts. Worldwide the album sold over four million copies and was awarded in the United States with quadruple platinum in Canada and gold. This makes it the best selling album of the band.
Formation
The album was recorded in 1997 within three days. Since the band at the time of the recordings had no permanent drummer singer Sully Erna had perforce import also the drums. The cost of the recordings amounted to $ 2,600. The money, the band borrowed from a friend. Shortly after the publication took the radio station WAAF in Boston, the song " Keep Away " into the rotation on. Also the later recorded the song " Whatever" was played regularly on WAAF. After of All Wound Up first few hundred copies were sold per week increased the sales in a very short time to thousands of albums sold. The band was taken from the management company PGE, which is headed by former Extreme drummer Paul Geary, under contract. Geary gave the band a contract with Republic Records, the album abmischten the new and re- released with a new cover. The album was produced by Sully Erna and Andrew Murdoch. For the singles " Whatever", " Keep Away " and " Voodoo" music videos were filmed.
Background
The song " Whatever" was, after Sully Erna separated from his old girlfriend. The majority of the texts Erna wrote after the end of that relationship. The song " Voodoo" was inspired by the movie The Serpent and the Rainbow.
About a year after the release of Godsmack Wal- Mart recorded the album briefly off the shelves. A man from Cleveland complained after he has heard the copy of his son, at Wal- Mart, where his son has bought the album on the offensive lyrics. After Republic Records have provided the album with a Parental Advisory sticker, Wal- Mart took the album back on in its tender.
"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. (...) You can not buy that kind of publicity. It's almost taunting kids to go out and get the record to see what we're saying on it. "
" Our album was more than a year without the" Parental Advisory "sticker, and this was the only complaint. (...) Sticker and texts are inherently subjective. ( ... ) This kind of publicity money can not buy. These stickers taunt the kids more, which albums to buy to see what we have to say. "
The U.S. media company Clear Channel Communications created immediately after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, a blacklist of 166 songs that should not be played by radio and television stations, according to Clear Channel after the attacks. Godsmack stand with the song " Bad Religion " on this list.
Reception
The album received average reviews from the trade press with an upward trend. Carsten Klein criticized by the German magazine Rock Hard, the resort most of the songs in a similar song structures and, therefore, " suffers from a lack of imagination " the album. Klein gave the album seven out of ten. Benjamin Colorful by online magazine Plattentests.de was a monotony, which "makes the album quickly become boring " and awarded six out of ten.
Godsmack reached number 22 in the U.S. album charts. Other chart positions could not reach the album. In the U.S., the album sold over four million units was awarded quadruple platinum. In Canada, the album received a gold record for 50,000 units sold.
Title list
The album All Wound Up contained instead of the song " Whatever" the song " Goin ' Down". " Goin ' Down" was used on the second studio album Awake. The song " Get Up, Get Out! " Was separated into the instrumental " Someone in London" and "Get Up, Get Out! ". The Hidden track on the album is called "Witch Hunt".
On the Japanese version of the album will also have the songs " Goin ' Down" at 12 and "Bad Magik " available in 13th place. "Voodoo" is track number 14