Awake (Godsmack album)

Awake
Studio album by Godsmack
Released	October 31, 2000
Recorded	1999–2000
Studio	River's Edge Productions Inc. (Haverhill, Massachusetts)
Genre	Alternative metal[1] nu metal[2] heavy metal[3]
Length	45:29
Label	Republic/Universal
Producer	Mudrock
Godsmack chronology
Godsmack (1998) Awake (2000) Faceless (2003)
Singles from Awake
"Awake" Released: June 20, 2000 "Bad Magick" Released: February 22, 2001 "Greed" Released: May 22, 2001 "Sick of Life" Released: August 9, 2001

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	(C−)[5]
Robert Christgau	[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Q	(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].

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.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Sick of Life"	Erna	3:53
2.	"Awake"	Erna	5:05
3.	"Greed"	Erna	3:30
4.	"Bad Magick"	Erna	4:18
5.	"Goin' Down"	Erna Tony Rombola Robbie Merrill	3:24
6.	"Mistakes"	Erna Rombola	5:58
7.	"Trippin'"	Erna Rombola	4:57
8.	"Forgive Me"	Erna	4:18
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.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Why"	Erna	3:15
13.	"Sweet Leaf" (Black Sabbath cover)	Tony Iommi Ozzy Osbourne Geezer Butler Bill Ward	4:55
Total length:			53:40

Personnel

Godsmack Sully Erna – vocals, rhythm guitar, drums[15] Tony Rombola – lead guitar, backing vocals Robbie Merrill – bass Tommy Stewart – drums Additional performances Katrina Chester – vocals on "The Journey" and "Spiral"

Production Produced by Sully Erna and Murdock Engineered by Mudrock, except "Vampires", recorded by Cameron Webb Additional engineering by Nate Dube Mixed by Mudrock, except "Mistakes" and "Goin' Down" (mixed by Mudrock and Jay Baumgardner), and "Vampires" and "Bad Magick" (mixed by Jay Baumgardner) Mastered by Ted Jensen Photography by Clay Patrick McBride and Ian Barrett

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2000) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 26 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[17] 9 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 59 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 38 US Billboard 200[20] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2000) Position Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[21] 198 Chart (2001) Position US Billboard 200[22] 55 Singles Year Song Chart Peak position 2000 "Awake" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 1 Alternative Songs[23] 12 2001 "Bad Magick" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 12 Alternative Songs[23] 28 "Greed" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 3 Alternative Songs[23] 28

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[24]	Platinum	100,000^^
United States (RIAA)[26]	2× Platinum	2,500,000[25]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country	Date	Label
United States	October 31, 2000	Uptown/Universal
Japan	March 23, 2001	Universal 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

References

1. Garrity, Brian (2000). "Billboard - Vol. 112, No. 44". Billboard. Vol. 112. Nielsen Business Media. p. 18. (October 28, 2000). Retrieved on September 23, 2015
2. Greg Pratt (February 1, 2001). "Godsmack Awake". Exclaim.ca.
3. Christina Fuoco. "Godsmack Awake". allmusic.com.
4. "Awake - Godsmack". AllMusic.
5. Hermes, Will (November 3, 2000). "Awake Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
6. "CG: godsmack". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
7. Kot, Greg (November 9, 2000). "Godsmack: Awake : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 2, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
8. "Sully Erna Visits Showbiz Tonight". rockdirt.com. May 13, 2006. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012.
9. "Godsmack Keeps Alt Metal 'Awake'". Billboard.com. November 1, 2000.^{[dead link‍]}
10. "Godsmack–Artist chart history". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
11. "Godsmack Is 'Awake' At #5". Yahoo! Music. November 9, 2000. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
12. "Ken Phillips Publicity Group - Godsmack". Ken Phillips Publicity Group. July 11, 2006. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
13. "Boston Music Awards 2001".
14. "Godsmack Delivers 'Smack This!' DVD". Billboard.com. March 28, 2002.
15. "Sully Erna: Drumming Roots to Godsmack Frontman". Yamaha. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
16. "Austriancharts.at – Godsmack – Awake" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
17. "Godsmack Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Godsmack – Awake" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
19. "Charts.nz – Godsmack – Awake". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
20. "Godsmack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
21. "Canada's Top 200 Albums of 2000". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
22. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2001". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
23. "Godsmack Alternative Songs Chart History". Billboard.
24. "Canadian album certifications – Godsmack – Awake". Music Canada.
25. "Universal Republic Community | Biography". universalrepublic.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
26. "American album certifications – Godsmack – Awake". Recording Industry Association of America.