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1. "Straight Out of Line" (5). Song begins silently, then quickly builds with percussion and base. (The same technique was used on the first song on the second album.) The song uses a mix of aggressive percussion, base and guitar with Sully's unique voice. Good guitar solo.
2. "Faceless" (4.5). Strong guitar beginning followed by aggressive vocals.
3. "Changes" (3.5). Again, strong guitar begins this song followed by aggressive vocals. Stylistically too similar to the previous song.
4. "Make Me Believe" (2). A less aggressive song with very whiney vocals. By far, the worst song on the album.
5. "I Stand Alone" (5+). A very good song taken from the "Scorpion King" soundtrack.
6. "Re-Align" (3). Intense guitar and strong vocals, but not a particularly engaging song.
7. "I F****** Hate You" (3.5). Unusual changes in harmony highlight this song with aggressive guitar, base and percussion.
8. "Release of the Demons" (3). Changes in pitch highlight this relatively aggressive song.
9. "Dead and Broken" (3.5). Aggressive guitar and base accompany Sully's aggressive vocals.
10. "I Am" (4.5). Slow, but aggressive. A better song than the previous two tracks.
11. "The Awakening" (3). A short tribal, African-sounding chant accompanied by conga drums. Probably an introduction to the last song.
12. "Serenity" (4.5). Another unique song on the album, which is a ballad. The conga drums are again used as in the previous track, but the inclusion of the other instruments creates a feeling of India, not Africa. Had Indian string instruments been used, the song's depth would have been enhanced. The song itself is somewhat monotonic like a chant.

Godsmack's third album "Faceless" will probably be a disappointment to many fans that hoped to hear something new and different from the band. Being barely distinguishable from the previous two albums, I can only rate the album with 3 out of 5 stars overall.


Brilliant Album From Newly Reenergized More Mature Godsmack!   April 10, 2003
 15 out of 18 found this review helpful

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.


Their strongest, most solid album yet!   April 9, 2003
 12 out of 14 found this review helpful

Godsmack's newest release gives what you got with "Awake", and builds on that. When you heard "I Stand Alone" off of "The Scorpion King" soundtrack, it gave you a taste of what was to come from the Boston-based hard rock/metal band. Heavier riffs, stronger lyrics, and an overall sense of evolution for them. Just from the opening track, the first single, "Straight Out Of Line", you can even tell that the once not-too-memorable solos have gotten greatly better. Godsmack's talent has grown into an even more powerful force than before.

Also, their new drummer, Shannon Larkin (formerly of Amen), proves his worth here with great & energetic pounding drum tracks. Sully's vocals are as great as ever as he tears the lyrics from the depths of his being. Anger, frustration, a building rage, and an overall intensity define his vocal stylings. Tony Rombola's guitar & Robbie Merrill's bass both bring a powerful, headbanging groove to the album.

Overall, I say this is Godsmack's best album yet. It's as heavy as "Awake", but even more polished & solid. I listened to the entire album, track-by-track, and I didn't have the urge to switch off one single song. It's a rare thing for that to happen, and I applaud these Boston bad @$$es for crafting such a strong, unified album. With two and a half years between the releases of "Awake" and "Faceless", they had the time to mold these 12 tracks into one helluva an awesome album!



I would suggest getting the "Explicit" version or else you'll miss out on the full-on bad @$$-ity that is "I F'ing Hate You". Though, both the "explicit" and the "clean" versions are enhanced CDs that will take you to a special page on VooDooTribe.com to access the album lyrics (not included in the booklet), some live tracks, the fan club, and more.


Return Of The 'Smack   April 10, 2003
 9 out of 15 found this review helpful

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.


Shameless (0 Stars in my book)   October 10, 2003
 8 out of 15 found this review helpful

Godsmack represent everything that is wrong with the Rock scene today. What's scary is that this band is completely leeching their identity and musical direction from Alice In Chains and NO ONE is complaining. It is time for those that have a clue to call all the radio stations and tell the dj's to stop playing this uninspired, unimaginative, boring, and stunningly LAME music. Oh yeah...Godsmack wasn't obvioius enough to have album called "Faceless" so now they are going to fool all you suckers with an acoustic album in the vein of Jar of Flies. In fact, the singer even praises himself for having written songs that are similar to Jerry Cantrell's. PLEASE....let us rise against this vacant band.