Awake (Godsmack album)

Last updated

Awake
Godsmack Awake.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 31, 2000
Recorded1999–2000
StudioRiver's Edge Productions Inc. (Haverhill, Massachusetts)
Genre
Length45:29
Label Republic/Universal
Producer Mudrock
Godsmack chronology
Godsmack
(1998)
Awake
(2000)
Faceless
(2003)
Singles from Awake
  1. "Awake"
    Released: June 20, 2000
  2. "Bad Magick"
    Released: February 22, 2001
  3. "Greed"
    Released: May 22, 2001
  4. "Sick of Life"
    Released: August 9, 2001
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Entertainment Weekly (C−) [5]
Robert Christgau Rating-Christgau-dud.svg [6]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg
(6/01, p.106)

Awake is the second studio album by American rock band Godsmack, released on October 31, 2000. It features the song "Goin' Down", which first appeared on the band's first studio recording, All Wound Up . It is the final Godsmack album to fully include drummer Tommy Stewart, who would be replaced by current drummer Shannon Larkin afterwards [a] .

Contents

During the 2000s, the songs "Sick of Life" and "Awake" were used for the United States Navy's "Accelerate Your Life" recruiting advertisements. [8]

Recording

The band opted to convert a warehouse in Haverhill, Massachusetts into a makeshift studio, rather than use a more traditional studio setting. According to Sully Erna, the band just did not 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. [9]

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." [9]

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 "Vampires" also date back to the same period. [9]

Release

Awake debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 256,000 copies in its first week, [10] and the album would go on to sell at least 2,000,000 copies in the United States. [11]

Since its release, the album's title track dominated rock radio and broke chart records throughout 2000 and 2001. The album's spoken word track "Vampires" earned the band its first Grammy nomination. [12] In 2001, Awake won the Boston Music Award for Album of the Year. [13] "Greed" earned the band Boston Music Awards nominations for single and video of the year. [14]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Sully Erna, except where noted

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Sick of Life"Erna3:53
2."Awake"Erna5:05
3."Greed"Erna3:30
4."Bad Magick"Erna4:18
5."Goin' Down"3:24
6."Mistakes"
  • Erna
  • Rombola
5:58
7."Trippin'"
  • Erna
  • Rombola
4:57
8."Forgive Me"Erna4:18
9."Vampires" (instrumental, contains dialogue from the television show Mysterious Forces Beyond)
  • Erna
  • Merrill
3:48
10."The Journey" (instrumental)
  • Erna
  • Rombola
0:50
11."Spiral"
  • Erna
  • Rombola
5:38
Total length:45:30
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Why"Erna3:15
13."Sweet Leaf" (Black Sabbath cover)4:55
Total length:53:40

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [24] Platinum100,000^
United States (RIAA) [25] 2× Platinum2,500,000 [26]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

CountryDateLabel
United StatesOctober 31, 2000 Uptown/Universal
JapanMarch 23, 2001Universal International

Notes

  1. Stewart's final work with the band was on the “I Stand Alone” single. The remaining songs on Faceless were done by Larkin

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