Godsmack - Faceless
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Free Music Notes for Faceless
Free Music Review: Return Of The 'Smack
Hit: 5 Stars
After two and a half years, the mighty riff-rockers Godsmack have released their third album, Faceless. How does it hold up? Pretty damn well, I say. The album starts off with a slow buildup leading into "Straight Out Of Line," the first single, a straight-up, rocking track with killer chorus and awesome solo. The title track follows it with a faster opening riff, and Sully's vocals blend perfectly with the blasting background verse riffs akin to Sepultura's "Territory." Another awesome chorus, another sweet solo. "Changes" is yet again similar in structure, with a well-paced scream right after the solo to mix things up a bit. The third time was a charm, but now, "Make Me Believe," song four, overdoes the repitition, resulting in a lackluster track with an average chorus and riffs. "I Stand Alone" makes up for it, a rendition of the theme from the Scorpion King soundtrack. I, personally, am glad that it was included(like "Goin' Down" on Awake from the Mi2 soundtrack), but fans might not like that an overplayed song from a year ago is on here. I like it. "Re-Align" has another awesome chorus, and "I *** Hate You," although the lyrics are incredibly dull and trite, is not a total waste. "Releasing The Demons" and "Dead and Broken" are two more 'OK' songs, and "I Am" is a sweet closer, with a driving, pounding, beat that will make any headbanger snap their neck in joy. The customary tribal closer, akin to "Voodoo," and "Spiral," is "Serenity." "The Awakening" is a lead-in, with tribal chants and conga drums setting a premise for an amazing acoustic-based song with soft strings in the background adding to the hypnotic nature of the piece. A beautiful closer to an awesome album.There are good things and bad things about this CD. I like the cover art, for one. It beats the previous two albums' by far. Production is different this time around. In stead of the team producing skills of Sully and Mudrock, Tool/Mudvayne producer David Botrill lends a hand here. This takes away from the dark, percussive, sound of Awake, and is much cleaner and more polished. The guitars buzz, rather than crunch or pound, and hearing nine songs of buzzing guitars would be okay, but the pounding, heavy nature of "I Stand Alone" stands alone(lol) and overshadows the other songs. This time around, the songs REALLY, REALLY, sound similar. On the s/t, the song styles told them apart, and on Awake, the song structures. But here, style and structure are generally the same, leading to a mundane, boring, feeling right before track five and track ten, where the styles suddenly switch. Tony's guitarwork is still great, with awesome wah-wah solos, and blips of feedback and harmonic lines scattered throughout the music(think "Trippin'" and "Immune") to keep things interesting. Robbie, surprisingly, takes a back seat here, with less pounding bass(like on "Awake" or "Greed"). Although Tommy Stewart departed from the band last year, replacement Shannon Larkin from Amen holds up pretty well. However, a lot of the cool stuff(like on "Spiral"), or the double bass(like in "Mistakes"), and the sweet fills("Bad Religion") aren't present, so that subtracts from the sound as well. Sully, of course, is still awesome. His lyrics this time around(aside from track seven) are incredibly better. There's no "Go Away!" retread here...
Godsmack have now established themselves, along with Mudvayne, SOAD, and Incubus, as the bands that survived nu-metal's collapse. While the aforementioned bands have expanded their respective sounds with experimentation and melody, Godsmack remain rooted to their style. Faceless is a step in the right direction, but it does not have the WOW! factor Awake had. Aside from "Serenity," there is little here that sounds like Alice In Chains, so those comparisons should be gong the way of the buffalo soon. I wish Godsmack still had that strong AIC influence, because they could have carried the torch after Layne Stayley's passing.
Faceless is not like previous efforts. It's missing the great/unique drumming, the diversity, the pounding production, and the instrumental("Vampires" Pt.2? "Somewhere In London" Pt.2?). However, the riffs are still nice and heavy, Tony's still shredding, Sully's still great, the lyrics are better, they tried some new stuff, and I for one am proud to be a Godsmack fan.
Take that, KoRn.
Free Music Review: A Musical Overview
Hit: 5 Stars
I am a big Godsmack fan, but I must admit that they sometimes get a bit musically boring. Almost every song is quite similar as far as the flatted 5th and always the minor 3rd and so forth. However, this CD has more variety than others and it's just freakin awesome. Overview:Straight Out of Line: 10/10 I love the introduction. It parrellels with "One" by Metallica off of "...And Justice For All." Great heavy song. Impressively complicated drumming and great guitar solo. One of my favs out of the group.
Faceless: 10/10 The first time I heard this song, I noticed a definate parrellel to "I Stand Alone" as far as chord progressions. One thing I love about Godsmack is Tony's wah pedal sound. He shows it off in most songs, especially in his solos, but in this one he uses it for the main riff, which is simple, but really cool. This song is so heavy, it makes me just wanna scream. Really catchy.
Changes: 9/10 One thing I noticed about this song is that everybody seems to think that it's the best song on the album, at least all my friends say that. I disagree. The fist time I heard this song, I noticed that the intro sounded a lot like Trust Company (who I think is not a great band) The verses are the coolest part by a longshot. The main riff just doesn't do it for me. I do love the acoustic riff, though. Lastly, at the very end, I always kept expecting him to say "way" after "in my" cause that's what he does through the song, but it ends on "my" Wierd.
Make Me Beleive: 9/10 Catchy. Good drumming. Still simple, but again, so awesome. The bridge makes the song whole. Without it, I would't really like this song as much as I do. The solo is kinda short.
I Stand Alone: 10/10 By far their best song. some may say that it is overrated, but they are wrong. THIS SONG ROCKS! I love the drumming in the refrain. The lyrics are sweet.
Re-Align: 10/10 Another one of my favs. Great song that gets a lot of air time here in St. Louis. The singing really make this song.
I ----ing Hate You: 10/10 That is one awesome opening riff followed by another awesome riff. The singing is almost demon-like. Sweet. Wierd bridge that just repeats the opening riff (verse riff) with modified taking. Not one of the band's complicated songs, but who cares on this one?
Releasing the Demons: 10/10 The song starts off with whispering. The verses really sound demon-like. The chorus is typical Godsmack. The bridge is one repeated, palm-muted note in rythym, which is really cool.
Dead and Broken: 9/10 The opening riff kinda flows together, which is cool, but the verses have some great guitaring, which is the best part of the song. The first little solo is way too easy. The bridge is cool too. Then the second solo comes, which is some noise and a few quickly picked notes. Not so great of a solo, but still a great song.
I Am: 9/10 What a great name. Cool, but could be better. Great lyrics.
The Awakening: 1/10 Not really a song, and although it sure is a-typical and different from the rest, I hate it. It's one and a half minutes of some Indian dude singing really bad along to a beat played on what sounds like primitive percussion instruments. I suppose that's Shannon on the percussion, and he's a really good drummer, but this song was a bad mistake.
Serenity: 10/10 That hit the spot. Different from the rest. No distortion, and so awesome. Great singing.
Great CD, but it could be better and it's definately not the best metal CD I own.
Free Music Review: It Might Sounds The Same, But It Still Kicks Ass!
Hit: 5 Stars
A lot of people complain that this CD sounds just like Godsmack's previous two. I agree, it does follow the same format and feature the same heavy riffs, harsh vocals and booming bass, but I don't mind hearing it again. This is still a great record. I've seen Godsmack live twice and once on their DVD, and they put on a pretty damn good show. Their pretty good musicians, but in the future it'd be interesting to see some longer songs from them, instead of just the common 3 to 4 minute rockers. Anyway, here's my opinion on each track:1. Straight Out of Line-5/5-This was the album's first single, and I didn't care for it much back last year when I first saw the video on MTV2, but it's grown on me. A heavy, hard-hitting rocker from beginning to end. Great lyrics. Should make the fans happy.
2. Faceless-5/5-Another heavy one, very guitar-driven. Extremely aggressive. Once again, this should make the fans happy.
3. Changes-5/5-It starts out loudly, like the last track, but has more melody in the riff, and I love the bass. There are quiet breaks here and there, but for the most part, it's a loud song.
4. Make Me Believe-4/5-This is yet another heavy one, but it has a lot of melody. Once again, great bass in the opening riff. The drumming's awesome. The only part that this song lacks in is the lyrics. But still, it's a good song.
5. I Stand Alone-4.5/5-As I'm sure you're aware of by now, this song was originally released on the "Scorpion King" soundtrack, which Sully produced. It's gotten kind of old, but I still find it to be a very powerful song. Great lyrics. One might even say it's inspirational. But this is probably one of their best when they play live.
6. Re-Align-5/5-You'll probably expect this to be a general Godsmack heavy track for the first 40 seconds or so, but it starts kicking ass when the melodic part kicks in. After that, the whole track is changed for the better. One of my favorites on this album.
7. I F*cking Hate You-3/5-As you can imagine, this is the album's heaviest. But it's really, really bland, and the lyrics are horrible ("For everything you do / I'd like to swallow you / And every day I'm gonna blame you"). This is definetly not the album's best, but you might think differently.
8. Releasing the Demons-5/5-A great comeback from the last track. It's heavy for the most part, yes, but it's also very catchy. The verses are quiet, and I like the lyrics. One of the best on the album.
9. Dead & Broken-3/5-This is another track that doesn't really stand out for me. Generic music, lyrics and vocals. The band can do better than this.
10. I Am-5/5-HERE WE GO. Great, catchy ass opening riff with great guitar, bass and drums part. A lot of this is quiet, but heavy, but it gets loud here and there. Great lyrics.
11. The Awakening-No Rating-This is just a little intro to the next track. It has tribal beats and singing, that's about it.
12. Serenity-4/5-The quietest track on the album...it's acoustic. I think they tried to pull off another "Voodoo" but this doesn't quite cut it. It can be boring, but it's not horrible. They could have made a better ending, though.
So there you go. As you can tell, I think this is, for the most part, a great album. If you like hard rock, or metal, or just like Godsmack, definetly get this, and if you get the chance, see them live. They're ten times better then.
Free Music Review: Awesome
Hit: 5 Stars
Heres the rundown:
1.) Straight out of Line: 10/10 Has one of the coolest guitar solos I've heard, but the opening war sounds don't do much for me - just get to the music already.
2.) Faceless: 10/10 Excellent song, great guitar work.
3.) Changes: 9/10 I like this song a lot, but the chorus sounds too much like faceless. Cool, but it could have been more original.
4.) Make me Believe: 8/10 Formulaic Godsmack, i.e. hard-rocking guitars and vocals.
5.) I Stand Alone: 10/10 The opening guitar riff sounds different from all of the other tracks, so it definitely stands out as a good song.
6.) Re-Align: 10/10 I listen to this one a lot because it reminds me of Awake. The solo blows me away.
7.) I F****** Hate You: 8/10 I actually like this song. The cursing doesn't phase me at all, in fact its kinda funny when you listen to it over and over, especially when he says, "even though you justify every f***ing bulls*** lie". Still, the song is cool as hell.
8.)Releasing the Demons: 10/10 Damn, here's a song I can sink my teeth into. The lyrics are deliciously dark and only Sully Erna could make it sound so demonic. But remember kids, no devil worshipping!
9.) Dead and Broken: 7/10 Good solid song, but it doesn't excel in anything. Typical Godsmack guitar work.
10.) I Am: 10/10 Either my 1st or 2nd favorite song on the cd. The slow but powerful guitars are amazing. I want to fight somebody after I listen to it, its got so much energy. Especially when Erna says, "Can I guarantee you life? I don't think I can."
11.) The Awakening: 0/10 Yeah, why would you need to add an extra 90 seconds of meaningless chanting onto this cd? Maybe they put it in by accident.
12.) Serenity: 9/10 Nice acoustic song to end it. It kind of brings you down off the adrenaline rush you get from listening to the previous 10 (excluding the Awakening) songs. Seriously, its almost hypnotic.
Overall, I give the cd a 9.8 out of 10. Solid effort by Godsmack, go buy it.
Free Music Review: Great 3rd Effort
Hit: 5 Stars
I just bought this CD yesterday, and I haven't stopped listening to it. the hooks are much better than Awake, and the guitar solo's are the best Godsmack guitarist Tony Rombola has come up with. below is a chart of the quality of songs on the album."Straight out of Line": 10/10 this is their first single from faceless, and definately a good one to pick. David Bottril's (the producer of Tool) mark has been made on this song.
"Faceless": 9/10 Title track, not a bad song, although it takes some getting used to. chorus sounds like "I stand alone", other than that, good song.
"Changes": 9/10 awesome opening riff. a very slow song, with dark, heavy verses. fans will be pleased.
"Make Me Believe": 8/10 another slow song. progressive verses, and a screaming chorus makes this song a good follow-up to changes.
"I Stand Alone": 9/10 Song from "the Scorpion King". Great opening riff. other than radio overplayed this song WAY too much, great song.
"Re-align": 10/10 My favorite song. sounds like a blend of their two first albums, with a great chorus that sticks with you.
"I F**king Hate you": 10/10 The heaviest song on the album. also one of the best. ...
"Releasing the Demons": 8/10 another song that is slow and melodic. good solo.
"Dead and Broken": 9/10 Good from start to finish, although it gets pretty repetative towards the end. awesome opening riff.
"I am": 9/10 Good follow up to dead and broken. very slow, but goes with the lyrics. good ending.
"The Awakening": 7/10 about a minute of tribal drums and chanting. other than it dosent go with the rest of the cd AT ALL, its pretty cool.
"Serenity": 9/10 The soft effort that would be the equal of Voodoo. its very slow and calm, but the lyrics are very harsh. good end to the cd, but not great.
All in all, this is definately worth owning. definately goes with playing halo on xbox.