Godsmack are a band that I tracked down after their excellent tribute to Judas Priest on the VH1 Rock Honours a couple of years ago. They also did a great cover of Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf” on a tribute album some years ago. Sometimes there is always a problem that the band might have too much to live up to when you have heard them pull of classic covers. This may well be a case in point.
Overall the album is good enough. It isn’t special, and won’t make any “Great Albums Of All Time” lists, but the heart is there. The most noticeable thing is that most of the songs are very similar. Both the music and the vocals seem to retain the same tone throughout the album. Trying to listen to an album that is so similar in structure eventually will bore the living daylights out of you.
To me, Godsmack appear to be somewhat of a combination of the sound of bands like Therapy? and Pearl Jam, but without the angst and emotion in the vocals that both those bands have with their vocalists, and certainly not the intensity in the music that I believe Therapy? have. Perhaps they were trying a little hard to be someone else rather than being their own band. That might be a harsh call, but that’s what it sounds like to me on constant listens.
There’s no doubt the lyrics are trying to evoke an emotional response. I just don’t think that, on this occasion, it works for them.
Rating: Despite the effort, they miss the mark. 2.5/5
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