Godsmack recorded its self-titled debut for 1,500 dollars and served up a triple-platinum helping of meaty, cleverly written, pure metal. The tribal "Voodoo" was one of 2000's best singles. The first three songs of the group's sophomore effort, Awake -- "Sick of Life," "Awake," and "Greed" -- blend together unanimously into a swirl of Tony Rambola's jackhammer guitar riffs. It's the deeper cuts that are the standout tracks. The dirgy, slow groove in "Mistakes" is hook laden. One common thread between Godsmack and Awake is lead singer Sully Erna's angst-ridden lyrics. "Oh God, I'm makin' the same mistakes," he cries in "Mistakes," as Rambola's guitars encircle him. Drummer Tommy Stewart, on "Trippin'," aptly pronounces Erna's anger in "Face down/I walk away/Every time I think I do the right thing/You turn your back on me." ~ Christina Fuoco, All Music Guide
Sully Erna (Producer), Katrina Chester (Vocals), I. Barrett (Photography), Mudrock (Mixing), Mudrock (Engineer), Ted Jensen (Mastering), Tony Rambola (Vocals), Clay Patrick McBridge (Photography), Tony Rambola (Guitar), Cameron Webb (Engineer), Andrew Murdock (Engineer), Cousin Mike (Director), Jay Baumgardner (Mixing), Tommy Stewart (Drums), Tommy Stewart (Vocals), Sully Erna (Vocals), Andrew Murdock (Mixing), Nate Dube (Engineer), Robbie Merrill (Vocals), Mudrock (Producer)
Awake is the second studio album by the metal band Godsmack. It was released on October 31, 2000. It features the song "Goin' Down", which first appeared on the band's first studio recording All Wound Up. This was the only Godsmack album to feature drummer Tommy Stewart.
Since the mid 2000s, the songs "Sick of Life" and "Awake" have been extensively used for the United States Navy's "Accelerate Your Life" commercials.[1]
The band opted to convert a warehouse in Haverhill into a makeshift studio, rather than use a more traditional studio setting. According to Sully Erna, the band just didn't want to move into any luxurious studio, because they wanted to keep the edge on for writing and "not get too far away from what we're all about". So they just stayed in the slums rather than moving into luxury.[2]
Erna says the results show in the music's "tougher" sound, however it has a very raw edge to it. It's not very polished," he says. "But it still has a lot of good grooves, and it still has a lot of power."[2]
The band also kept in touch with its roots by working some older unreleased material. The album includes older songs that just missed being on the debut. "Goin' Down" is a track from the original "Godsmack" album that was dropped in favor of "Whatever" for the major-label release. The songs "Bad Magick" and the instrumental "Vampires" also date back to the same period.[2]
Release
Awake debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 256,000 copies in its first week,[3] and the album would go on to sell over two million copies in the United States.[4]
Since its release, the album's title track dominated rock radio and broke chart records throughout 2000 and 2001. The album's instrumental track "Vampires" earned the band its first Grammy nomination.[5] And "Greed" earned the band Boston Music Awards nominations for single and video of the year.[6]
Awake was certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, signifying sales of more than 2,500,000 units in the United States alone making it the band second studio album to be certified Multi-Platinum.[7]
