Best National New Artist

Godsmack

These Boston scene veterans (vocalist Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombolo, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Tommy Stewart) used their home-state advantage to fend off stiff competition from top-selling acts like Everlast and Fastball. The band take their name from an Alice in Chains song, and it's no coincidence that the groups play similar styles (Erna even shares some vocal tics with Layne Staley). But with the Chain gang currently MIA, Godsmack have taken the opportunity to carry the torch of polished hard rock.

Though the band seem to have sprung up from nowhere, in fact, they toiled for years before finding an audience. They originally released All Wound Up, in 1997; and, hoping to make back the $2500 recording cost, the band peddled the disc to Newbury Comics, the only outlet that would carry it. But WAAF DJ Rocko began playing the song "Keep Away." And listener reaction was huge: the disc shot up to #2 on the Newbury Comics charts and the major labels soon came a knockin'. The band signed with Universal/Republic and re-released All Wound Up as Godsmack in 1998 with a handful of new tunes. The move paid off: the video for "Whatever" (with its chorus of "I'm doing the best I ever did/I'm doing the best that I can" that will have you singing along) is in heavy rotation and deemed MTV "Buzzworthy." Godsmack have just passed the half-million mark for sales and are climbing the charts every week.

Hopefully, any band who win Best New Artist will stick around, even in an age of fleeting listener loyalty. But the future looks good for Godsmack. They recently picked up a Boston Music Award for Best Debut Album of the Year to place on the mantel next to the Worcester Phoenix BMP award.

You can check them out this summer performing at Woodstock '99 and at the OzzFest alongside such metal luminaries as Rob Zombie and the Deftones. If this really is the best that Godsmack can do, we're satisfied.

-- Joe Gagne