Review: When I first heard Godsmack, I thought, "they sound good, but they sound like Alice In Chains rip offs." I still think that holds true for their first cd (which I feel is good, but unoriginal). Listening to their second cd Awake, Godsmack has come into their own. The band is tighter and heavier. Vocalist Sully Erna truely shines. His vocals are more aggressive than on their first effort. He also uses some interesting effects on his vocals (Forgive Me comes to mind). The guitar playing is simple, yet effective. It's refreshing to hear a guitarist (Tony Rombola) that uses palm-muting (a technique where the guitarist rests his palm on the bridge of the guitar to muffle the strings--ie, "crunch!"). Some highlights on this disc include: Mistakes (a Black Sabbath-esque tune), Forgive Me (a punishing no-frills song with great vocals), Spiral (a departure from their heavier material; it has an Egytian flavor), and Awake (their first single--once you're familiar with this song, it will be implanted in your head). Also, another song worth noting, is the instrumental Vampires. There's a voice over that speaks of the lust and violence lore of Vampires (I thought this was an original idea). The only downside to this cd is that Tony Rombola uses too much wah-wah (aka, crybaby). With Godsmack, I didn't expect flashy solos, but I felt that Tony could've used some different effects to keep his playing fresh (rather than safe and predictable). Not withstanding, the postives outweight the negatives. Awake is Godsmack's best material to date.     

Fav. Cuts :  Forgive Me, Awake, Spiral and Mistakes