The Scorpion King, Faceless and The Other Side (2002–2004)
In 2002, Erna was asked to write and perform a song for the soundtrack to The Scorpion King. The song Godsmack wrote and performed was titled "I Stand Alone" and the song became the number 1 single at Rock Radio and the most played Active Rock song in 2002 for 14 weeks straight. It was also used in the game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.
With Shannon Larkin (ex Ugly Kid Joe, Souls at Zero, Wrathchild America, MF Pitbulls) replacing Tommy Stewart, who left due to personal differences for the second time, Godsmack went back into the studio later that year to record a new album that was released in 2003. Faceless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 269,000 copies in its first week, and the album would go on to sell over one million copies in the United States. Faceless also debuted at number nine on the Top Canadian Albums and at number one on the Top Internet Albums and remained at that position for two weeks. A massive Tour of America and Europe supporting Metallica followed.
The lead single "Straight Out of Line" received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Hard Rock Performance". The award went to Evanescence's single "Bring Me to Life". The album got its name after a swimming-pool incident. However, in a later interview Merrill stated otherwise, making it unclear of how the album's title came to be, "It came from the band's feeling that, despite our radio and sales success, we still flew a bit under the radar".
On March 16, 2004 The Other Side, an acoustic EP, was released. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, a relatively high position for an acoustic EP. It included several previously released songs re-recorded as acoustic versions, as well as three new acoustic tracks. One new song, "Touché", featured Godsmack's first guitar player, Lee Richards, as well as John Kosco, who were at that time in the now defunct band Dropbox, The other two new acoustic tracks were "Running Blind" and "Voices". The song "Asleep" is actually an acoustic version of "Awake" from the band's second album Awake. Godsmack shifted from its "heavy" sound to a more mellow acoustic sound on this EP in the same manner Alice in Chains did in the Sap and Jar of Flies EPs, one of many similarities to Alice in Chains for which the band has been criticized.
In 2004, Godsmack opened for Metallica's "Madly in Anger with the World tour", and headlined the tour along with Dropbox. Afterwards, in autumn 2004, the band played several acoustic shows to promote The Other Side, while at the same time continuing to open for Metallica.
