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Track Listing: Cryin' Like A Bitch Saints and Sinners War and Peace Love-Hate-Sex-Pain What If? Devil's Swing Good Day To Die Forever Shamed Shadow Of A Soul The Oracle

The newest release from Godsmack, entitled "The Oracle" is the band's 5th studio album since 1998. It follows the same sound, method, and formula of their first 4 albums. Godsmack have always been known for writing entertaining, hard-rock masterpieces, but this is not the case with "The Oracle."

The opening track/single "Cryin' Like a Bitch" opens like any Godsmack song, following the same standard formula Godsmack have always used. This song's only saving grace are Sully Erna's vocals. Everything on this song is incredibly stock. Honestly, this song just feels like it drones on with no soul or any kind of method. The lyrics for this song are incredibly weak too. A small excerpt from this track: "I'm tougher than nails, I can promise you that, step out of line and you'll get bitch-slapped back." The musicianship is good, but lacks in variety. In all honesty, it's like one big game of follow the leader with guitars and drums.

The next song, Saints and Sinners is no exception to the Godsmack rule, except this song opens with a pretty cool bass intro, but goes into the same basic jumpy formula Godsmack have become known for, and then transitions into a softer more emotional sound. For the most part, nothing changes. Once again, the musicianship is good, but again, it all just goes around in circles. Nothing spectacular. All the instruments follow the same patterns, there's no riff variations, and the drums follow a simple beat.

The ending and title track, "The Oracle" opens a bit differently than all the others, interesting guitar work, with a quiet drum march that gains speed and goes into a heavier bit. This song is different than most on the album. It sort of breaks the chain of repetition. This song features a lot of various samples that sound like they're from various news outlets/movies. This song features a few solos backed by a chugging rhythm guitar. At the 4:10 mark, it goes into a fast paced heavy epic, with some more really good solos and thrashing drums. This song features no vocal work aside from the samples. Definitely the best track on the entire album.

Before you think I'm just sitting here badmouthing Godsmack, I want you to know, I'm not. I've been a fan of theirs for a long time, since I first heard their self-titled album. But, since that time, music has grown up and evolved , but Godsmack have still remained the same. I do give them props for sticking to their sound, but a change of pace is desperately needed in their case. From a fan's perspective, this album could have been a lot better, but instead, they stayed in their comfort zone. I don't blame them. They've built an empire on their sound, but a little variation would be nice.

I give this album a 4.5/10. It could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse too.