Awake (Godsmack album) explained

Awake
Type:studio
Artist:Godsmack
Cover:Godsmack Awake.jpg
Released:October 31, 2000
Recorded:1999–2000
Studio:River's Edge Productions Inc. (Haverhill, Massachusetts)
Genre:
Length:45:29
Label:Republic/Universal
Producer:Mudrock
Prev Title:Godsmack
Prev Year:1998
Next Title:Faceless
Next Year:2003

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.

During the 2000s, the songs "Sick of Life" and "Awake" were used for the United States Navy's "Accelerate Your Life" recruiting advertisements.[4]

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.[5]

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."[5]

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.[5]

Release

Awake debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 256,000 copies in its first week,[6] and the album would go on to sell at least 2,000,000 copies in the United States.[7]

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.[8] In 2001, Awake won the Boston Music Award for Album of the Year.[9] "Greed" earned the band Boston Music Awards nominations for single and video of the year.[10]

Personnel

Godsmack

Additional performances

Production

Charts

Singles

YearSongChartPeak
position
2000"Awake"Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks1
Alternative Songs[14] 12
2001"Bad Magick"Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks12
Alternative Songs28
"Greed"Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks3
Alternative Songs28

Release history

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

Notes and References

  1. Billboard - Vol. 112, No. 44 . 18 . . Garrity . Brian . 112 . . 2000. (October 28, 2000). Retrieved on September 23, 2015
  2. Web site: Godsmack Awake . . Greg Pratt . February 1, 2001.
  3. Web site: Godsmack Awake . . Christina Fuoco .
  4. Web site: Sully Erna Visits Showbiz Tonight. May 13, 2006. rockdirt.com. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120218125546/http://rockdirt.com/sully-erna-visits-showbiz-tonight/18209/. February 18, 2012.
  5. Godsmack Keeps Alt Metal 'Awake' . November 1, 2000 . Billboard.com.
  6. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=godsmack|chart=all}} Godsmack–Artist chart history ]. November 6, 2007 . Billboard.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20071202105302/ . December 2, 2007 . live .
  7. Web site: Godsmack Is 'Awake' At #5 . December 10, 2008 . November 9, 2000 . Yahoo! Music . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070815014939/http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/12026560 . August 15, 2007 .
  8. Web site: Ken Phillips Publicity Group - Godsmack . December 10, 2008 . July 11, 2006 . Ken Phillips Publicity Group . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080905143804/http://www.kenphillipsgroup.com/Phillips/godsmack.htm . September 5, 2008 .
  9. Web site: Boston Music Awards 2001.
  10. Godsmack Delivers 'Smack This!' DVD . March 28, 2002 . Billboard.com.
  11. Web site: Sully Erna: Drumming Roots to Godsmack Frontman . Yamaha. 2 June 2024.
  12. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20040906184459/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2000_2.html. September 6, 2004. Canada's Top 200 Albums of 2000. Jam!. March 29, 2022.
  13. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2001. Billboard. January 2, 2013. October 15, 2021.
  14. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=godsmack|chart=Alternative Songs}} Godsmack Alternative Songs Chart History]. Billboard.