The alt-metal, grunge-rock, hard-hitting heroes Godsmack didn’t waste anytime hitting #1 on the Billboard Charts in 2006 when IV came out. For the first time, this classic album is available on vinyl, and it comes with remastered audio at 45 RPMs.
The album leads with “Livin In Sin,” where background noise and talking segues into Shannon Larkin’s dense drums and Sully Erna’s distinct vocals that soar in the hard rock template. “Speak” follows with a busy and charged energy via Tony Rombola’s driving guitar, and “The Enemy” continues the intensity via a chugging approach that’s forceful and rumbling.
Side B offers us ambience and Erna’s harmonica, as “Shine Down” emits plenty of melody, while “Hollow” opens calmly, where warm acoustic guitar and intimate singing won’t go unnoticed. “No Rest For The Wicked” exits this portion with Robbie Merrill’s bass complementing and Erna’s talk box that populates the grungy rocker.
Side C brings us the best track, the swirling and animated “Bleeding Me,” which is a thick and precise version of alt-rock and metal that balances power and melody, though the rowdy yet meticulous song craft of “Temptation” is a close second. The record finishes with the dreamy versus abrasiveness of “One Rainy Day,” which leads into the hidden track “Safe And Sound,” that carries some bluesy spirit.
This is Godsmack’s fourth album and it sees the band spreading their wings much from roots set firmly in metal, undoubtedly due to engineer Andy Johns, who had previously worked with Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and Van Halen. It would produce three hit singles, and eventually hit Gold status, further cementing the outfit as leaders in modern metal while delivering their most honest songwriting at the time.
