Let me be clear: you don’t need a kindergartner to enjoy the
\nlatest Godsmack DVD,
\nChanges<\/i>. More on that later.<\/p>\n
Godsmack releases
\nChanges<\/i> on the heels of a successful tour with Metallica,
\nafter a successful headlining tour and three releases that have
\ngenerated plenty of radio success. Add a release of acoustic music
\nand you have a very busy band.
\nChanges<\/i> takes the viewer a step closer within the band’s
\ninner circle. Peppered with live performances, you get each band
\nmember telling their story. Bassist Robbie Merrill used to play in
\na funk band; guitarist Tony Rombola wonders how anyone can live in
\nNew York, as he describes the need for quiet to balance the loud on
\nstage. Drummer Shannon Larkin describes the bands he has been in
\nbefore summarizing his career by saying that luck has been able to
\nget him where he is today. Vocalist\/guitarist\/drummer Sully Erna
\nprovides the nucleus of the movie, commenting on each band member
\nand how they each fit into the Godsmack machine. We hear the story
\nof how he was making pasta one day on the bus and he looked at
\nLarkin. They both started pounding a Led Zeppelin drumbeat. Erna
\ntells us this story not to prove he has psychic powers, but to
\ndemonstrate that the band is a tight, cohesive unit. More about the
\nErna\/Larkin cohesion later.<\/p>\n
We see the band rehearsing for the Faceless tour. We hear from
\nthe lead soundman whose job is to give the band what they want. We
\nsee Erna doing meditation and “centering” himself, a ritual he
\ndescribes as the best part of his day.<\/p>\n
In concert, the band sounds absolutely amazing. All the radio
\nhits translate well into all-out rock anthems. The pyro explodes,
\nthe crowd sings loud, the guitar solos scorch, it looks like a
\ngreat time. The songs were recorded in Philadelphia. I saw the band
\nin Moline, IL, in August 2004. As a witness to seeing a date from
\nthe same tour as the concert in the DVD, I can say that if you
\nenjoy this DVD, you will enjoy the band live. There are 13 songs on
\nthis DVD; they played nine songs when I saw them in Moline.<\/p>\n
One of the highlights of the DVD is the drum solo, titled
\n“Batalla De Los Tambores.” Erna rides a drum platform to come face
\nto face with Larkin, reminescent of the classic drum battles Buddy
\nRich, Gene Krupa, and other jazz greats used to demonstrate their
\ntechnique. Erna and Larkin play a duet that breaks down into
\nsnippets of great “drum songs” like “YYZ,” “Walk this Way,” “Moby
\nDick,” and “Tom Sawyer.” The energy between both drummers is high
\nand the sweat drips from their bodies.<\/p>\n
From a personal standpoint, I enjoy watching this DVD because I
\ncan watch it with my 5 year-old son. We watch the band play the
\nsongs we’ve heard on the radio, like “Straight Out of Line” and
\n“Re-Align” and talk about what it is like at a concert. When I told
\nhim that I like to go up on the balcony so I can watch the drummer
\nand air drum with him\/her, my son replied that that made sense
\nbecause if I got tired on the floor and sat down, people would step
\non me and I wouldn’t be able to see. I think when the day comes
\nthat allows me to take him to a concert, he will beeline for the
\nbalcony. We have talked about body surfing and how if you do that
\nat a concert in my area (eastern Iowa), you get passed around to
\nthe front of the stage and then shown the door. We also talk about
\nhow Larkin looks like an octupus with the drumming visuals he uses
\nto play his parts.<\/p>\n
So, in a sense,
\nChanges<\/i> has provided a way for my son and I to bond. This is
\nnot a G-rated DVD, though: the F-word is used frequently when Erna
\ntalks to the camera. There are also a couple of “potty” words that
\nErna bellows from the stage so, in the spirit of full disclosure,
\nparents should watch the DVD and make their own decisions on what
\nis appropriate for their child. I’m merely commenting that, in my
\ncase, the performances provided an unexpected avenue for bonding
\nwith my son.<\/p>\n
The biggest question the DVD answers is whether Godsmack will be
\naround forever. The band doesn’t come across as being as crazy as
\nMotley Crue or KISS or Van Halen or any of the legendary bands that
\nlegends are told about. The band seems more centered on who they
\nare in the moment they are in, almost looking at their surroundings
\nwith a desire to make the ride they are on last forever. I think
\nthe band will be around for as long as they want to be. Erna
\ntestifies that the band gives 150% whether they are in front of 5
\nor 500 fans. He talks about how every night is as big as playing
\nChicago, New York, Boston, etc, stating the band doesn’t cater to
\nthe “big cities” for putting on a good performance.<\/p>\n
Already, with this DVD and the acoustic release, they are making
\nallowances to grow and expand their sound. From watching
\nChanges<\/i>, I think of the band as being more than a passing
\nhard rock band in the same category as Chavelle, Breaking Benjamin,
\nThree Days Grace, or Crossfade. That is not a slam on any of those
\nbands — I like them all. Instead, I think of Godsmack as being
\nmore in the vein of Collective Soul or Live — bands that will
\nconsistently rock the crowd, create great songs, and survive the
\nturmoils of the music industry.
\nChanges<\/i> is but a snapshot of the band’s career where it
\nstands today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":26947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6515],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38256","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-godsmack","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38256"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}