1000hp (album)

In an interview with Billboard, Erna revealed that the writing process for 1000hp was collaborative, stating: "When it was time to start writing again, the guys brought in a batch of songs and I had a batch of songs I'd been working on and we laid them all on the table and started carving through them and seeing which ones we were gonna tighten up and which ones were not gonna make the cut." The result, according to Erna, is a characteristically hard-hitting affair that ranges from the blazing, autobiographical title track and first single to more experimental and stretched-out fare such as "Generation Day" and "Nothing Comes Easy."[5]

Prior to the interview, and during a live Facebook Q&A chat, the band was asked whether every member contributed to the album. Erna was the one to answer that question, insisting that, "[E]very one contributed to this album and brought something [t]o the table."[6]

1000hp was recorded in Godsmack's newly built 4,000-square-foot headquarters in Boston.[7] "We just built it this year," explained bassist Robbie Merrill. "We have been looking to have one big place for a long time. All our equipment has been stored in four or five different places and we wanted to get everything in one room. So we leased out a warehouse for at least five years. We went in there and put up some walls and made a studio and a lounger. We basically have all our stuff in storage at one end and at the other end we have the rehearsal space and we have our studio all set to record, as well as the lounge and a kitchen."[8]

"It was also great to do this album in our hometown," concluded Merrill. "We are all born and raised in the Boston area and it was good for all of us to just soak up the atmosphere of the town and let it influence our music."[8]

"We have everything there and we don't really need to go anywhere else now to either rehearse for tours or to record new music," said Erna who, in the first webisode of "The Making of 1000hp", took viewers on a guided tour of the band's new headquarters, showing how it looked when the band first leased it and how they transformed it into a recording, rehearsal and storage complex.[7]

1000hp was mixed and produced by Dave Fortman, who had worked with Godsmack on their previous studio album, The Oracle, as well as with other bands such as Superjoint Ritual, Mudvayne, Otep, Slipknot and Simple Plan, and on both of Evanescence's multi-platinum selling albums, The Open Door and Fallen.[5] "I love the studio," said Fortman. "I came back to get that unique sound for this new Godsmack record and we really nailed it and had a great time."[9] "It was great," said guitarist Tony Rombola in response to Guitar World's question regarding how it was like working with Fortman. "He has a lot of ideas and was a lot of fun to work with. He's also a guitar player and plays drums, so he was able to give us input and bounce ideas off of us."[10] The album was co-produced by Sully Erna.[5]

On July 1, Godsmack debuted the album cover for 1000hp online.[11] The album cover plays off the theme of the album's title as it features the signature Godsmack sun logo and a burst of flames from which a classic car emerges.

To promote 1000hp, Godsmack teamed up with iHeartRadio to create "The Making of 1000hp", a series of five webisodes which give fans a look at the process of making the album. Each webisode is filled with exclusive content, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and sneak peeks at the album's songs. The five webisodes premiered on July 9,[21] 16,[22] 23,[23] 30,[24] and August 6.[25]

In support of 1000hp, Godsmack is set to headline the Revolt on the Rio Grande, the Monster Energy Aftershock Festival, the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival and KISW 99.9 Pain In The Grass.[26][27][28][29] Furthermore, the band has announced a five-date Canadian tour that will see them perform in Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg.[30] "We're all pretty fired up at the moment, and that extends to taking our music overseas," said Sully Erna regarding the possibility of an international tour. "It's time to give some real focus to our touring activities outside of North America, and we think this new single will make our intentions clear. It's one for the fans, and that means our fans everywhere..."[31] Godsmack were announced on August 20, 2014, to be part of the Soundwave Festival in Australia. It has expanded to a 2-day festival for the first time, next year in February/March 2015.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
411mania.com	8.0/10[36]
AllMusic	[37]
About.com	[38]
ARTISTdirect	(favorable)[39]
Loudwire	(favorable)[40]
The Boston Globe	(favorable)[41]
Revolver	[42]

Reviews for the album have been mostly positive. Rick Florino of ARTISTdirect was the first to review the album, describing it as "a high watermark for the Boston group" and "the best hard rock record of the year."[39] Revolver's Richard Bienstock gave the album four out of five stars and praised its title track, which he felt was up there with 'Whatever' and 'Keep Away' in terms of tone and delivery, and commended the band for pushing their boundaries on several songs such as "Nothing Comes Easy" and "Something Different."[42] Bienstock concluded his review by saying, "With 1000hp, Godsmack offer up a few new sounds, while at the same time remaining firmly resolute in their musical mission."[42] Similarly, About.com music journalist Chad Bowar gave the album four out of five stars and praised the band for keeping things fresh while "never straying far from their signature style."[38]

Jeremy Thomas of 411mania.com gave the album an 8.0 out of 10 rating and praised the band for "adopting a few forays outside of their core sound without ever straying so far as to fall off the path." Thomas noted that, while 1000 hp "isn't an all-time great album," the band "delivers some great hooks on the album" and that "There isn't really a weak track amongst [the album's] ten songs."[36] At The Boston Globe, Maura Johnston gave the album a favorable review and described its sound as "leaner and meaner, and a bit nostalgic, too."[41] Another favorable review comes from Chad Childers of Loudwire who felt the album "succeeds in bringing the hard in heavy doses with just the perfect smattering of melody in just the right places."[40] AllMusic reviewer Gregory Heaney gave the album three out of five stars, stating that it's "Godsmack at their most focused, showing that they've finally found the path back to their roots that they'd been searching for."[37]

1000hp debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 58,000 copies. That made 1000hp the first Godsmack full-length studio album not to debut at number one in more than a decade following the release of 2000's Awake which debuted at number five, and therefore broke the band's streak of three number one albums in a row.[43] The album was initially forecasted to sell between 45,000 and 50,000 copies on its opening week.[44]

The following week, the album dropped to number eight with sales of 21,000 copies for a 63% sales decrease.[45] On its third week, the album dropped to number fifteen with sales of 12,400 copies for a 42% sales decrease.[46] On iTunes, 1000hp topped the Top Rock Albums Chart.[47] In Canada, the album debuted at number two with first-week sales of 6,200 copies.[48] Meanwhile, the album topped the HMV Canada CD sales chart for the week ending August 9.[49]

"1000hp" serves as both the title track and the first single to be released from the album. Upon its release, the single entered both Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and the Billboard Rock Songs. Digitally, the single debuted at number one on the U.S. iTunes Rock Chart.

"Something Different" is the second single from the album which was released in September 2014. The music video for the song was released in April 2015.[50]

The band selected the song as the third single and there was also a plan to make a video for the track, but it was later canceled for unknown reasons.[51]