Review by Josh Felty
Rating: ***
I've listened to most of--not all--of Godsmack's catalog of music since their debut album. Back then, it was almost novelty to think about the fact they took the best facets of Alice in Chains, mixed it up with some Metallica and Pantera, and spewed it forth with a sardonic twist. You could practically hear every member grinning, if that's possible.
And it seems, years later, the Godsmack machine is still churning out the same ol'. But interestingly, they seem to be getting better at their imitative nature. After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.
I would be bold-face lying if I said their new release, The Oracle, wasn't an aggressively hypnotic (if not downright blasphemous, to the Godsmack of course) addition to a cavalcade of bone-crushing riffage that has found its way into commercials for the Army and I'm sure several action reality TV shows. I could really burn the band and say they're far more easier to digest than say, Nickelback, also known as Clear Channel's modern Creedence Clearwater Revival.
But this review isn't about Nickelback, thank God, Jesus, and a cavalcade of angels.
What The Oracle doesn't lack in originality, it more than makes up for with some powerful riff action, starting off with the opening "Cryin' Like a Bitch", which very well ought to be a reality TV show theme in its own right. Or the theme to a soap opera. The wide range of guitar tones and vocal harmonies in "What If?" make it quite entertaining, The 'Smack ever prepared with part Eastern-part Native American sounding influences. Surprisingly, "What If?" also features Sully actually screaming (no, it's not looped this time). And with our modern struggles, The Oracle manages to bear no shortage of social-babble. There's religious commentary ("Saints and Sinners"), sex and relationship troubles ("Love-Hate-Sex-Pain") and foreign policy ("War and Peace"). "Devil's Swing" brings us a little rhythm change-up and a more staccato sort of singing style which found me asking, "Is he attempting to rap?" Surprisingly, "Devil's Swing" actually works in some ways, though I don't really know what it's aiming to say about Lucifer or swing.
I'm willing to give Godsmack the benefit of a doubt with regard to their sound. They have embraced their influences with open arms and managed to add enough twists and turns in there to keep faithful listeners coming back for more. Their technical instrumental abilities--especially on this album, with the instrumental "The Oracle"--seem to improve and expand with every record; and the vocals are always if not modestly engaging, then vibrant enough to tell it's Sully behind the mic. I like how he reflects some of what it is to be a frontman in "Shadow of a Soul" with the line "...too many faces pressed up against my face". Have The 'Smack really reached the point of no return that Pink Floyd reached by Animals?
I don't really see Sully spitting on a fan, just yet. If he does, then he's a bigger douche than his previous work has led us to believe.
But then again, with track titles "Cryin' Like a Bitch" and "Whiskey Hang-Over", we've gotta let some of that doucheyness slide-- --for now, anyways.