Shinedown Albums (3)
'The Sound of Madness'
Release Date 6/24/2008
Tracks 12
Label Atlantic/WEA
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
On Shinedown's third album, The Sound of Madness, the Jacksonville-based band hits every post-grunge expectation: winding up the guitar riffs with thin, flattened distortion; pumping up rhythms with steroids; punctuating melodies with familiar fills; and writing vaguely inspirational lyrics that come close to confirming the group's rumored Christian rock origins. Their precision is accentuated by producer Rob Cavallo's pristine production, digitally designed to push Shinedown over into the big leagues where they can have the occasional adult rock power ballad hit without losing their testosterone-fueled audience. Nothing is left to chance, and that's the way Shinedown's fans like it. Some of those fans -- the ones who like to see the band on the WWE, where "Devour," the first song on The Sound of Madness and its first single, is 2008's Night of Champions theme song -- may carp slightly about that slight increase in gloss and almost imperceptible uptick in power ballads, but most won't notice these subtle shifts as Shinedown serve up what they always have: active modern rock embodying the sound of post-grunge in the new millennium. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Shinedown's 2003 single "Fly from the Inside" blended atmospheric Alice in Chains references with a lumbering post-grunge sound similar to Nickelback. The debut LP Leave a Whisper offered more of the same - a satisfactory sound as rock radio filler, but ultimately pretty calculated. But it became a hit, certainly due in part to radio support, but mostly because of the Jacksonville, Florida-based band's reputation as a great live act. The quartet played something like 400 shows over the course of 2003 and '04, and that gelling process is unquestionably a factor in the more realized hard rock sound of 2005's Us and Them. Shinedown frontman Brent Smith channels Chris Cornell (or at least Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy) on opener "Dream," but the song's grunge theft is forgiven by its airtight groove. This band has been road tested, and they prove it again on "Trade Yourself In" and "Yer Majesty." Shinedown still relies a little too much on formula on Whisper. "Save Me" and "Beyond the Sun" are direct descendants of Three Doors Down, for example, and at other times the band sounds like they're aiming for power ballad crossover success. However, Shinedown's sophomore effort is definitely a step forward. They have a rewarding hard rock album in them somewhere. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Shinedown is the latest rock combo to be signed out of Florida (in this case, Jacksonville) since the popular explosion of Creed and, to a point, Limp Bizkit. Shinedown has much more in common with the former on its Atlantic debut, Leave a Whisper -- in fact, there's little on the album that doesn't have something in common with another group that listeners have heard before. The layered harmonies of Alice in Chains dominate the set, which musically is cousin to post-grunge types like Saliva and Puddle of Mudd. Brent Smith's vocals fall somewhere between Glenn Danzig and Layne Staley. He also channels Aaron Lewis for a little of that heavy band balladry on "Better Version" (sample lyrics: "...Caught a glimpse, but the reflection's only mine"; "It's almost like I'm paralyzed"). Elsewhere, chunky guitar riffs establish Shinedown as a capable hard rock band. "Left Out" and "In Memory"'s thundering power chords fade to chorus-channel dynamics in the verse, making room for more blustery lyricisms about personal pain, relationship woes, and other "boy, is life sucky" stuff -- essentially, the same set of issues that seemingly all of these post-grunge rockers rant about. Coupled with a two-dimensional sound (sound number one: heavy! Sound number two: brooding!) which varies little from song to song, let alone from the sound of its peers, Shinedown's debut offers some hope that heavy music will right itself from the nasty stumble of its last few years. [The album's bonus track edition featured acoustic and multimedia material.] ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
