Essential Godsmack Songs

I was going to start by saying, I thought this band was awesome in 1998... but now I am having a hard time believing that was over 20 years ago. Yet, it's true. Godsmack were among the kings of hard rock in the very late 90/s/early 2000's, during the last era when rock was king of the airwaves. They had songs featured on movie soundtracks, commercials, and even took part in some huge rock tours. Now... I saw some meme online the other day that says "Godsmack is a tribal tattoo that you can listen to." That's pretty dead on! I don't listen to them much at all anymore, but I can't deny there was a time in my life when I dug this band.

10. "Serenity" (Faceless)
Godsmack's third album was released in 2003, and although that year in music might not have set the world on fire, I do have some small attachment to it. Mostly because I had started working in radio that year and got quite a few CDs for free, and also listened to the radio while driving the station van around the area. I associate 2003 with Jane's Addiction's "Just Because", Black Label Society's "Still Born", and this song. They always take me back to driving around to various events for 99X.

9. "Keep Away" (Godsmack)
From their debut album, this was one of three key songs (along with "Whatever" and "Voodoo") that put Godsmack among the kings of that late 90's wave of metal.

8. "Touche" (The Other Side)
I think if I go back to anything Godsmack these days, this is the one I'm most likely to grab. They seemed to be a mix of Metallica and Alice In Chains when you dig into their style, and this shows off that side inspired by Alice In Chains. I've seen some term thrown around called "post-grunge" and to me, this is it ... because really, Godsmack doesn't seem to fall into what I would call "nu metal" (which makes me think of rap lyrics and rock bands with a DJ.)

This song featured some guys from a group called Dropbox, who were past members of Godsmack.

7. "Hollow" (IV)
One of Godsmack's signature songs is "Voodoo", so why not try to recreate that success? They followed up with "Serenity", "Voodoo Too", and this one, which sets itself apart by adding some female backing vocals to the mix. This one could've fit in well with that EP, The Other Side, too.

6. "Running Blind" (The Other Side)
Another one from their stripped-down, acoustic EP, which featured a few new songs mixed with reworked versions of previous hits. Supposedly this was a song Sully wrote but hadn't used on a previous Godsmack studio album.

5. "Re-Align" (Faceless)
Whenever I think of Godsmack, this is the crunching riff that instantly pops in my head.

4. "What If" (The Oracle)
This is about the point where I was losing interest in Godsmack. While the fourth album was good, it started to seem really familiar, especially going to the well with "Voodoo Too." It's like they'd run out of steam, or I was losing interest in radio rock and drifting more towards progressive stuff like Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree, or a mix of both reasons. I didn't have any hope for the fifth album when they released songs like "Whiskey Hangover" and "Cryin Like a Bitch; more like Godawful.

I acquired a promo copy....and discovered it had some cool stuff hidden amongst the tired, cliche rock. "Devil's Swing" was kinda cool, same with "Shadow of a Soul", and this song. It's still a little in the same vein as "Voodoo"/"Serenity" but was unique enough to hook me.

3. "Shine Down" (IV)
Not to be confused with the band Shinedown. Its kind of in the same vein as their other songs "Voodoo" and "Serenity", except it adds harmonica into the mix.

2. "Awake" (Awake)
I think this song was ingrained in my brain for the duration of my high school years. There was a segment on TV called "Channel One", which was like a brief news program for teenaged kids that our high school had every morning. Each and every day it seemed like those miltary PSAs were in ecah commercial break, with the tagline of "Accelerate your life" by deep-voiced actor Keith David, and the blasting Godsmack drums would pound along with the charging tanks. Maybe that's why my generation is so obsessed with the Call of Duty games; thanks Godsmack!

I don't think I've ever seen this music video before but Godsmack playing in a cage is either foreshadowing their appearances on WWF and MMA broadcasts or it's just that they crafted the perfect soundtrack for a steel cage match without realizing it.

1. "Voodoo" (Godsmack)
Maybe the song most associated with Godsmack, or at least the one my mom does. Whenever she hears Godsmack or a similar sounding artist, she'll ask, "Is this the "snake bite" song?"

Godsmack may not be on my radar these days, but I ain't denying this song. It's still pretty cool.