"Whiskey Hangover" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Godsmack Godsmack is an American rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sully Erna, bassist Robbie Merrill, lead guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its forma ...

. Released as a promotional single in 2009, it marked the band's first in the almost two years since the release of "

Good Times, Bad Times "Good Times Bad Times" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured as the opening track on their 1969 debut album ''Led Zeppelin''. The song was Led Zeppelin's first single released in the US, where it reached the ''Billboard'' ...

." The song became a live staple in Godsmack's shows during

Crüe Fest 2 Crüe Fest 2 was the second year of the Crüe Fest touring festival, created and headlined by Mötley Crüe. The tour took place over the summer of 2009, and was in the same vein as the first Crüe Fest. Line up On March 16, 2009, the line up for ...

and was released in promotion of their appearance on the tour. "Whiskey Hangover" reached number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart.

Writing

The writing process, according to

Shannon Larkin James Shannon Larkin (born April 24, 1967) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of Rock music, rock band Godsmack. He replaced the previous drummer Tommy Stewart in June 2002. Prior to Godsmack, he was a member of Amen (American ba ...

, was collaborative, stating that all four members of the band wrote the song and Sully came up with the lyrics: "All four of us were in the room and we wrote that song in like 3 hours. But it took Sully weeks to come up with the lyrics, and he wasn’t even happy with it ‘cause we had to rush it, ‘cause we needed something for this

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tour. The 3 of us loved it, but Sully was kind of irritated with it ‘cause he knows it could have been better".

Sound

Shannon Larkin described the single as a prime example of Godsmack original sound, stating that "Whiskey Hangover is good clue of what the band is going for, it's more simplistic than the last record - less bluesy, more heavy", and a "return to the original sound of the Godsmack and what made the band happen in the first place".

Release

"Whiskey Hangover" was released on June 9. It was released to promote the band appearance on Crüe Fest 2.

Track listing

Digital download

The single became available through

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and

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on June 30.

Reception

Critical

''411Mania.com'' reviewer Mark Ingoldsby gave the song three stars out of five, stating that the single "is a return to the band's well-established sound, this time not veering far from their proven hard rock hit-making formula that was somewhat missing from their last and least-successful album. Powerful, driving guitars rock full blast during the track's intro and chorus, and then take the usual back seat as singer Sully Erna invokes his trademark Vedder-meets- Staley vocal stylings in the verses". Yet he criticized the single for being unoriginal and "There's nothing new and exciting revealed musically in it." And "it's a bit too familiar and predictable to be anything more than just adequate rock station filler".

Commercial

Due to its heavy rotation on radio stations across the country, "Whiskey Hangover" became Godsmack's fifth number one hit on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, in September 2009. It is also their second non-album single to reach number one on that chart since the release of " I Stand Alone" in 2002. "Whiskey Hangover" also reigns as a record-breaking 17th top-ten single for Godsmack, extending their ownership of the most top-ten hits in active rock history. The band also has had 12 songs reach the top five. It is also the band's first single to top twenty hit on the Billboard Heatseekers Songs chart, peaking at #16. The song also peaked at #7 on the Billboard Rock Songs chart.

Chart positions

Personnel

* Sully Erna -

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, Producer *

Tony Rombola Tony Rombola (born November 24, 1964) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the Boston-based rock band Godsmack since the mid-1990s. Rombola has been cited as "an extraodinaire" in the guitar world by ...

Lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Robbie Merrill Robbie or Robby is a surname. It is usually encountered as a nickname or a shortened form of Robert, Rob or Robin. The name experienced a significant rise in popularity in Northern Ireland in 2003. People Given name Robbie * Robbie Amell (born 1 ...

- Bass *

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

John Kurzweg John Kurzweg (born September 5, 1960) is an American record producer and musician who first became known for his work with successful post-grunge bands Creed and Puddle of Mudd in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Other artists he has worked with ...

- Producer/Engineer/Mixer

References

External links

The Official Community of Godsmack

Godsmack "Whiskey Hangover"- New Music - AOL Radio Blog
{{Authority control 2009 songs 2009 singles Godsmack songs Songs written by Sully Erna Songs about alcohol Universal Republic Records singles