Godsmack Album: “Faceless [PA]”

To keep it short, this album is simply brilliant. The album retains the masterful, driving energy of its predecessors while at the same time revealing, growing lyrical depth and maturity in their song writing. New drummer Shannon Larkin brings new energy and excellent drumming skills to the table. While Godsmack's drummers have never been less than great, Shannon seems to be the best so far. Personally I'd like to see Sully take the drums, but Shannon is great.

Immediately one will notice that the songs seem more upbeat. From the getgo, the album opens with gunfire reminiscent of Metallica's One. The drum salvo comes in with force, a common theme in the album, the drums are right there powering the songs. Godsmack, gone soft? Heck no! There as heavy as ever, except this time around they've got a middle eastern track on there, serenity that has some sweet string work by underrated guitarist Tony Rombola. Speaking of which, hes back, better than ever...he even abandons his wah pedal a couple of times on the album, like on one of the strongest offerings of the album, "Realign", in which he delivers a superb solo worthy of praise.

The songs are all masterfully crafted, drawing on Godsmacks strengths; its strong powerful lyrics and mesa-boogie amps and Gibson Les Paul guitars. Many of the songs hit you like a train with there drop C powered riffs. Every solo on the album is great, it is evident that Tony Rombola spent much more time on these solos, (a tribute to there long lockdown in a house isolated from outside musical influences in which they wrote this album.) Every song feels fresh and the album flows quite well. The riffs are more complex than before and the vocal melodies are better than ever, with Sully testing his range on such tracks as "Changes", "Make Me Believe", and "Realign" among others. Its admirable to see him moving to new levels with his trademark voice. He has also moved away from his typical bitter, even hateful lyrics, offering more inciteful reflective lyrics this time around although he clearly doesn't abandon his roots as is shown in the track, "I *** hate you."

Although the album is a bit short for my tastes, clocking in at just over 47 minutes, every minute is great. Much more care has been taken in song construction and the songs now have some lead and more diverse structures even some clean portions! The casual metal fan will enjoy this album greatly and the Godsmack fan will love it, in my opinion it is there strongest album to date.

1. Straight out of line - Great song, nice solo, solid riff, excellent drumming

2. Faceless - Wah driven song, (think Whatever), great solo, very powerful

3. Changes - Catchy nice chorus, great solo, good lyrics, solid riffing, excellent drumming

4. Make Me Believe - Sully testing his range here, GREAT riff all around (look for the guitar part before chorus...heck yeah!), nice little solo as always, Good Bridge (More Sully experimentation, meaningful, almost sad lyrics

5. I Stand Alone - Great solid song, nice chorus, great verse riff, superb drums (credit to Tommy Stewart there), pure Godsmack here

6. Re-Align - perhaps the strongest offering here, a little reminiscent of awake on chorus riff, solid vocal melody, KILLER wah-less SOLO!

7. I *** Hate you - Powerful Grinding riff that sucks you in, good lyrics for a hate song, typical godsmack song, but more energy and GREAT RIFF

8. Releasing the Demons - very cool verses, nice guitar work, cool little syncopated bridge grind, classic "awake" like, but different at the same time.

9. Dead and Broken - Great lyrically a little reminiscent of the style of "mistakes" in intro, nice verse riff, some cool tremolo pick classic Godsmack lead

10. I Am - a little reminiscent in into of "trippin", GREAT LYRICS, "Death will come when I'm good and ready!", nice bridge classic ozzy/creed/metallica like bridge, nice background lead

11. The Awakening - Think "The Journey" from awake, a congo drum solo intro thing to next track very cool, Shannons got skills baby

12. Serenity - The "bands answer to voodoo", sweet acoustic stuff and other strings, great, reflective lyrics, and a cool middle eastern feel, songs like this show Godsmacks great talents and diverse influenses, effectively closes album, great track

This album is pure "energy rock", as Sully stated. It takes all of Godsmacks strengths, adds more mature and reflective lyrics, some freaking awesome solos, better riffs, and an amazing drummer to the mix with great success. This is one of the best albums in my collection which is wide and diverse if I do say so myself. Buy this album, even if you don't get it for $9 during the first week it is out, it is worth every penny of whatever its price. Buy it now and treat yourself to great music from one of the greatest bands of modern times.

Godsmack have become household names in the rock world, thanks to two multi-million selling albums that put Godsmack on the map. After the double platinum AWAKE, where was Godsmack to turn? Nowhere, except up. FACELESS is a pummeling assault on the ears, the most metal album they have done, maybe even more so than their self-titled album (another version of ALL WOUND UP). Here, with new drummer Shannon Larkin, Godsmack turn up the volume and the crunch is even more prominent, with Tony Rambola's vicious, teething guitar a back drop for Sully's anguished, punishing vocals...even Robbie on bass provides a nice thick bottom to compliment Shannon's nifty drumwork.

"Straight Out Of Line" was meant for radio, but more so it's a blistering assault on the ears. Likewise, "Re-Align" and the fierce and nasty "I F***ing Hate You" are both venomous yet catchy and downright crunchy. The title track is also a rollicking affair, and the inclusion of the classic "I Stand Alone" keeps the album's intensity genuine. But most surprising is the similarity of ending the album with the swirling, brooding "Serenity" which certainly lives up to its name with its dreamy acoustic guitars and congas. It seems like a cousin to "Voodoo", but "Serenity" has its own voice...a very soothing one at that. Make no mistake, though...most of FACELESS is meant to please the headbangers and metal fans who like the harder side of Godsmack. It certainly does possess the best assets of Godsmack...fierce, crunchy alterna-metal that will seep into your brain upon hearing it first listen.

FACELESS represents the brutal beauty of Godsmack, their scars beared for all to see. Containing some of the most heavy songs written, and even two atmospheric tracks that compliment the end of the album nicely, FACELESS is another solid affair from the Boston area boys.

I rated Awake and gave it 4 stars, so i figured id give this album a try. Godsmack kinda sends out the same message everytime, but i like it. I'd say the most noticable things on this album are positive ones. Except for I F***ing Hate You, Sully cuts down tremendously on the profanity. I F***king Hate you is still a good song, by the way.

Also, Sully's songwriting has improved tremendously from the first album, where all he said was Go Away, I hate you. This album has better songwriting.

The first three songs have the same type of structure, with guitar solos in the middle. Guitar solos are what set Godsmack apart from other nu-metal bands. The fourth and fifth tracks start out heavy, with a pause and a melodic middle, which is cool. Sully follows his structure a lot and I like it.

The standout tracks on this CD are Straight out of Line (great chorus), I Stand Alone(cool buzzing sound), Re-align(unbelievable guitar solo), I F***ing Hate You (total bad a** song), I Am(the chorus has some really cool high part), and Serenity (slower song like Voodoo and Spiral, both of which i liked).

Other notable songs are Faceless, Changes, Make Me Believe, and the instrumental The Awakening, which leads into Serenity.

Overall, i rate this album 4 stars, becaue like Awake, the songs begin to sound a tad bit alike. But also like Awake, the radio hits are fantastic, the riffs are heavy, the slow song tradition still works, and the electric guitar solos are good. I would probably recomend this over Awake because it has better lyrics, but i would also recommend Awake cuz it is good too.

who gives a flying flip whether or not it's repitive?...can you think of anything better to say about this album?...cuz if you can't, then you have no sense of musicality, and I praise those who like this band, ;cuz this album is spectacular at best. I loved "Awake" and I Still do...now, this album and the "Changes" DVD kick so much rear, it isn't even funny..

great music, wonderful singing by Sully Erna, great-as-heck drumming by Shannon Larkin (one of my prime reasons for this album...great music...listen to it and decide for yourself, but for me?...i love it, so give it try...i'm sure glad I did

and for those that say bands like "Mushroomhead", "In flames", and (***om my god***)...(***commence tossing cookies***) NAPALM DEATH!!...are better...go shove yur face in a litter box, cuz they are just noise...just meaningless, musicless noise...and that...pretty much sums it up...

Every single album by them is amazing, his voice is really good, the guitars are heavy and the rythem is amazing, you people who think that godsmack sucks must be high. Recommend all of the albums by them. They are amazing, quit being haters and really listen to them.