The band has three #1 albums (Faceless, IV, The Oracle) on the Billboard 200, four Grammy nominations, and eight #1 hits on Mainstream Rock Radio. Godsmack has sold over 19 million records worldwide.
Since its inception, Godsmack has toured on Ozzfest on more than one occasion, and have toured with many other large tours and festivals, including supporting its albums with its own arena tours. In the summer of 2009, Godsmack toured as support to Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest 2 tour.
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. His new band The Scam formed with Erna on vocals, Robbie Merrill on bass, local guitarist and friend Lee Richards on guitar, and Tommy Stewart on drums. The Scam quickly changed its name to Godsmack, after recording one demo. The newly formed band started playing small bars in their hometown of Boston, Mass.. Locally popular songs such as "Keep Away" and "Whatever" soon brought them to the top of the hit charts in the Boston/New England area.
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. In the same year the band entered the studio for the first time, recording its first CD titled "All Wound Up". The CD was recorded in just three days for $2,600.
For the next two years, the band played throughout the Boston area. Eventually Godsmack's CD landed in the hands of Rocko, the night-time 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. 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 (FM).
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 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."
Alice in Chains is believed to be the primary influence to Godsmack. Many believe Godsmack obtained their name from the Alice in Chains song "God Smack" off the album Dirt. In an interview with MTV upon the death of Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, Godsmack frontman Sully Erna stated that Staley "was single-handedly the guy that got me to start singing." Erna went on to later confirm that indeed "God Smack" is the inspiration for the bands name and the reason their sound sounds similar to that of Alice in Chains Other bands cited by Godsmack members as their primary influences typically include Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Black Sabbath, ² and White Zombie. More recently, Godsmack have attempted to distance themselves from the Alice in Chains comparison with Erna stating in an interview with Matt Ashare, "I've just never really heard that in our music." In that same interview, Erna offers an alternative explanation to the origin of their band name by stating, "It happened at rehearsal when our drummer came in with a big cold sore on his lip. I was making fun of him all day because we had a photo shoot coming up. And then the next day when I came in, I had a big cold sore on my lip. So my guitar player said, See, God just smacked you for making fun of him." Nevertheless, the comparison to Alice in Chains is well documented. Sully Erna's style of singing mirrors that of Layne Staley's while the overall sound of the band's first two albums sound incredibly similar to the sound of Dirt. The logo of Godsmack is similar to the sun logo of Alice in Chains. Godsmack also released an album titled "Faceless" which is similar in name to Alice in Chain's first album Facelift. The band even transcended from their heavy sound to a more mellow acoustic sound on their album "The Other Side" in the same manner Alice in Chains did in "Jar of Flies".
In 2002, Godsmack received a Grammy nomination in "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" for the song "Vampires" from the album Awake. In 2004, they opened for Metallica, while headlining with Dropbox in the summer. They did acoustic shows for their newly released album The Other Side in the fall of 2004, while still opening for Metallica. In September 2004, Godsmack issued a live DVD titled "Changes" which the band recorded earlier that year. That same month, the group also released "Batalla de los Tambores", a live cut available only via online services such as Apple's iTunes Music Store, Real and Napster. They released their latest album 'The Oracle' on May 3rd, 2010.
Some songs from the album "Faceless" are also in the video game soundtrack for "Prince of Persia: Warrior Within".
Current members
* Sully Erna - Vocals, Lyrics, Guitar and Percussion.
* Robbie Merrill - Bass and Backing Vocals
* Tony Rombola - Guitars and Backing Vocals
* Shannon Larkin - Drums/Percussion
Voices
Godsmack Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Listen to the rain fallin' day by day by day
Hey
I hear you calling, voices are here again
I hear you whisper, taking control of me
Watch the dancing shadows run away
All alone once again, afraid
All these faces, changing their shapes on me
I said laid it in my own world, will it ever be free?
Haunted figures around me, I want em' to stay
There always there to protect me, this is one thing you can't take away
Listen to the rain fallin' day by day
Listen to the rain fallin' day by day by day
Yeah!
I hear you calling, voices are here again
I hear you whisper in my own mind, will it ever change?
Voices
Voices
Voices
Voices
I hear you calling
The lyrics of Godsmack's song, Voices, portray the haunting presence of dark thoughts and inner demons within oneself. The rain is used as a metaphor for the constant lingering presence of these voices that cannot be silenced. The singer hears the voices calling out to him again and again, whispering and taking control of him. He is afraid and feels alone, haunted by their changing shapes and figures. However, the singer is not completely helpless, as he finds comfort in the protection that these voices offer him. The chorus reinforces the idea that no matter how hard the singer tries to escape, the voices will always be there, ever-present and unyielding.
The song is a poignant representation of mental illness and the struggles that come with it. The voices in the song represent the unrelenting nature of the inner turmoil that one may face, and how difficult it can be to overcome. The song's tone is fraught with tension, driven by heavy guitar riffs, and powerful vocals that emphasize the almost overwhelming feeling within the lyrics. The singer yearns for a sense of control and freedom from the voices, but ultimately realizes that they are a part of him that he must learn to coexist with.
Line by Line Meaning
Listen to the rain fallin' day by day
Take a moment to reflect on the passing of time and the steady, constant nature of change.
Listen to the rain fallin' day by day by day
Echoing the previous line, the repetition adds emphasis to the sentiment that change is ongoing and unstoppable.
Hey
A simple interjection, serving to engage the listener and signal a shift in focus.
I hear you calling, voices are here again
A metaphor for the persistent inner voice that can't be ignored or silenced, even when it causes distress.
I hear you whisper, taking control of me
The inner voice gains power and influence, becoming dominant and overriding the artist's own will.
Watch the dancing shadows run away
Imagery of shadows fleeing represents a fear of the unknown or unfamiliar, and a desire for safety and security.
All alone once again, afraid
Despite the presence of the voices, the singer feels isolated and vulnerable, experiencing fear and uncertainty.
All these faces, changing their shapes on me
The artist feels like people are unpredictable and inconsistent, and can't be trusted to remain stable or reliable.
I said laid it in my own world, will it ever be free?
A rhetorical question, asking if the artist's inner world of thoughts and feelings can ever be escaped or resolved.
Haunted figures around me, I want em' to stay
The artist finds comfort in the presence of imagined or remembered figures, even if they are potentially harmful or distressing.
There always there to protect me, this is one thing you can't take away
Despite the distress caused by the voices and inner turmoil, the singer finds solace in the idea that they provide some sort of protection or defense.
Voices
A simple repetition of the title word, serving as a reminder of the central theme of the song.
Lyrics © Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SALVATORE P. ERNA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind