by Andrew Z
After a rather long wait for their next LP, Godsmack finally unleash 1000hp, 4 years after 2010’s, The Oracle. As a band that were going through some rough waters not too long ago and were close to splitting at one point, you wouldn’t know it by listening to this album. It’s everything and then some of what you’d expect from Godsmack at this point. You have the typical Godsmack ballads but sprinkled throughout the album, you have some experimenting with different styles, something we haven’t really seen from Godsmack since IV.The album kicks off with the big lead single, “1000hp”, your typical Godsmack “pump-up” track with an anthem chorus that will definitely get live crowds going. Nothing out of the ordinary for Godsmack. It then heads into “FML” which has a pretty catchy riff to carry the song, but again follows the same Godsmack structure. Godsmack first shows it’s experimental side with “Something Different”, an ironic song title I’d say. The verses of this song are very different compared to anything else Godsmack has ever done and Sully’s vocal phrasing is completely new to Godsmack. “What’s Next” is another stereotypical Godsmack tune, “Generation Day” is a bouncy song and I love it. The instrumental bridge to this song may just be the highlight of the album for me. “Locked & Loaded” serves as the sequel to “Cryin’ Like A B****”, it’s about Nikki Sixx and the well-documented feud he and Sully Erna had during Cruefest a few years back, decent song, but this battle of inflated egos needs to end, time to get over it and move on. “Livin’ In The Gray” is another one of the better songs on the album. “I Don’t Belong” is also a really good song and contains some of the better riffs on the album. “Nothing Comes Easy” I guess you could say is another experimental song, the main riff reminds me of a certain Smashing Pumpkins song… the album concludes with “Turning To Stone”, a very strong closer with some tribal drumming we haven’t heard a lot from Godsmack in recent years.
The downsides of the album are the lack of solos from Tony. He’s not my favorite guitarist by means, he’s right out of the Kirk Hammett school of solos, pentatonic scale with wah and there is every solo he’s ever written, but the fact he only put solos in on less than half the songs on the album, it feels like the album is lacking that final touch that previous Godsmack songs have had. The other downside is the guitar riff writing, again, Godsmack never really had truly great riffs, but 1000hp contains a lot of similar riffs throughout and that makes the album drag along a little bit when you’re listening to it from start to finish.
Overall, if you’re a fan of Godsmack, you’ll like the album. Even if you’re indifferent to Godsmack, there’s a few songs on this album that are different enough that you could like it. The best songs are “Generation Day”, “Livin’ In The Gray”, “Turning To Stone”, and “FML”. Not really any weak songs on the album, just songs that are fairly cut-and-paste Godsmack and don’t really pop out much to me. I give it a 7.5/10, roughly 4 out of 5 stars.
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