SHINEDOWN DEVOUR THE REST OF THE PACK WITH THE SOUND OF MADNESS
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 3:05pm by Vince Neilstein
If you’re br00taler than br00tal, stop reading this review right now. If you only care to listen to the heaviest shit possible and can’t be bothered by hard rock, stop reading. But if you can keep your cool-o-meter in check and want to know about an awesome record, then keep going. That record is The Sound of Madness by Shinedown, and it’s easily the best hard rock record of 2008, eons ahead of the pack of the ho-hum radio rock bands with which they’re usually lumped in
What makes Shinedown so much better than the Breaking Benjamins and Seethers of the world? I’m not really sure, but in so many ways Shinedown is just infinitely better than any band you’re likely to hear on your local active rock radio station. Maybe it’s the dynamic songwriting or endless guitar and vocal hooks. Maybe it’s Brent Smith’s astonishing pipes. Maybe it’s this band’s desire to just ROCK without worrying about “cred.”
Whatever it is, it’s working; The Sound of Madness is a return to form for a band who kind of went off the deep end with their sophomore release Us and Them; while 2002’s debut Leave a Whisper was heavy and epic, Us and Them explored a much more raw, southern and toned down version of the band’s driving hard rock sound that left a lot of fans wondering why the bottom dropped out. With The Sound of Madness the band has returned to their heavier roots, thanks in no small part to the huge production of studio vet Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Butthole Surfers, Kid Rock).
But the best part of The Sound of Madness is without a doubt the songs. Shinedown goes back and forth between heavy riff-rockers and ballads with ease; every single song has a catchy, but never cheesy hook. Lead single “Devour,” “Sin With a Grin” and “Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide” rock, drive and roll with larger-than-life guitar riffs that steamroll ahead, while “Second Chance” and “If You Only Knew” are absolutely undeniable modern power ballad classics. The only misfire here is the Nickelback-esque “Breaking Inside,” but this dud hardly detracts from the overall quality of the record.
The Sound of Madness is truly an album’s album; every song is unbelievably solid. Anyone looking for a great hard rock record with absolutely zero pretention should buy this record right away.
-VN
(four and a half out of five horns)
I couldn’t agree with you more!! Great albums that you can listen to front to back are rare these days. The Sound of Madness is a welcome departure from the usual status quo of a bands releasing an album with only one or two solid tracks. The band took more time to create this album than they did Us and Them and the extra works shows through in a big way.
Not to mention that the band is a very humble and very cool group of guys. I got the chance to see them in Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago where they teamed up with one of our local radio stations to play a completely FREE show. Thats right, completely free. Not a dollar was spent on tickets by even one fan. How many bands can we point to who would take part in something like that?
“Devour” is a terrible song. I do like “Heroes” however, even though it sounds like an audioslave ripoff.
While I agree with you on Shinedown, I think Breaking Benjamin was a bad example to use, because like Shinedown, I think they have also distinguished themselves apart from all the generic radio friendly active rock bands.
You should have said “… Nickelbacks and Seethers of the world”.
i was with Shinedown for a second with their single “Fly From The Inside” — not a great song, but it had some great moments. then that turgid Skynrd or whatever cover made me retch. so it’s nice to hear of them doing good shit.
also, is that last Stone Sour another front-to-back hard rock gem? Scott Ian said so but can he be trusted?
@Troy: You’re right: “Devour” is a terrible song. Had it been released right after Bush was inaugurated for the first time, at the start of the war, my opinion might be different. But now, it sounds silly, on the account of way better political screeds available for listening pleasure.
I’m interested to hear this new album. I think Brent Smith’s vocals and lyrics really distinguish the band from the “I’m so fucked up, and you’re my equally fucked-up bitch” post-grunge morons out there who feel the need to ape Eddie Vedder by singing in the back of their throat. (Breaking Benjamin certainly included.)
Wow, I’d completely forgotten that it came out. I’ll have to check it out.
@amy:
The last Stone Sour was a damn good album (more focused than the first), but it takes a little warming up to.
No Vince, fuck that cockshit.
You’re bashing a variety of bands and you put this shit on here? This shit of which I’ve had people give me their albums(and thus I own this one) just because they too were panhandled by someone else wanting to get rid of it? This boring post-grunge generic radio rock WWE-using-their-songs you give four and a half horns to? I appreciate the balls it takes, but no, fuck that cockshit.
Fuck it to a degree of which fuck transcends any recognizable fuck and forms into Roseanne, Howard Stern, Ted Nugent, Simon Cowell, and Rush Limbaugh, to form Fuck Voltron, with massive fuck lasers, fuck missiles, and the legendy Fucksword, to rape the hell out of this horrifyingly dull, bland, post grunge radio rock band.
Alright? Fuck that, having heard each of their albums and been lulled into a coma most Nickelback fans treasure, this shit doesn’t belong here in any way shape or form.
Ha, shows how much I know. I didn’t even know there was an album between Leave a Whisper and The Sound of Madness.
I’m not too huge on Devour. It’s one of those songs that pisses you off because it’s catchy, and will stick in your head most of the day, but not because it’s a good song. I am pretty happy with most of the rest of the album though. Shinedown has easily left a foot print in the radio rock world without a doubt. That’s not very easy to do nowadays if you don’t sound like 3 Days Grace, Nickelback, or another Alice In Chains/Nirvana remake i.e. Fuel, Puddle Of Mudd etc.
@amy
Hell yes Stone Sour was a good front to back album. Everything sounds completely natural and flows perfectly. It’s nice to get through an album and not once think “why the fuck did they do that?”.
I thought Devour kicked ass, and the first five songs were incredibly strong, although it faded off a little after that.
Are you kidding me?? I really enjoy their 2003 album “Leave a Whisper” but there last two release have been boring junk. I gave “Sound of Madness” a 2.5/5 :P
Haven’t heard the newest yet. I’m with you guys and the rest of the world that Us and Them sucked, but their first was fucking awesome. Any metalhead who doesn’t get how fucking metal the acoustic version of “45″ is is not fucking metal!
It’s really more of a Brent Smith solo record with mostly a new band that he’s calling Shinedown, but Smith can fucking sing, and dude knows how to write good, hard rocking music. This album actually has a metal edge to it and some very decent solos.
Us and Them was somewhat of a letdown, going the Jacksonville Southern Rock route, but this is a great remedy for the sophomore slump. Even the piano/voice ballad kicks ass. Vince, I’m surprised and pleased to see you give this a 4.5.
This is easily one of my favorite albums of the year!
I don’t agree but I must admit I have mixed feelings about this band. There’s far too many naff power ballads on this album for a start. Exactly like I feared there would be. It sounds too calculated with one eye on the charts. Although the special edition has three straight rock tracks to balance it out more. I just wish their were more songs of the title track’s calibre – although Devour sucked in a Disturbed style.
Brent Smith is obviously the selling point – his voice is fantastic. But he’s not enough to carry it for me – it sounds like a one man show. The whole issue of whether this is a ‘band’ at all has been thrown into question since they sacked Jasin and re-recorded all his guitar parts. I know he didn’t write much at all but that still seemed wrong to me and I think the guitars sound pretty over-produced and lacking personality. And the lack of solos just underlines that for me. The actual music has very little soul and feeling: it screams major label investment.
Had to insert a jab at Disturbed, Devour sounded nothing like any Disturbed song, why even bring them into it?
I have to disagree with everyone here about this singer, he just, has nothing special, his pipes aren’t as powerful as most rock(which they are) singers, his actual voice doesn’t sound different, he relies heavily on repeating methods, which works for say, Ozzy, but with such an unmemorable voice, you need to spice things up.
@ Revrant
It wasn’t a ‘jab’ at Disturbed for the sake of it. It’s because I think the verses of Devour sound like Disturbed in a nonsense growly gibbon style – that’s why I brought them into it. Sorry and all that.
@ jesse
@ eric
cheers! fresh music saturday at my place this week will be Shinedown and Stone Sour :)
(first time a MetalSuckser has replied to me without telling me to eat a cock or whatever.)
@amy: Totally untrue. You have received kudos from me on more than one occasion. And some of us, believe it or not, can engage in heated disagreement without wishing a cock into your mouth.
you review this piece of sellout bullshit corporate radio rock yet you criticize metallica?
at least metallica is trying to keep shit brutal
you guys….not so much
“I have to disagree with everyone here about this singer, he just, has nothing special, his pipes aren’t as powerful as most rock(which they are) singers, his actual voice doesn’t sound different, he relies heavily on repeating methods, which works for say, Ozzy, but with such an unmemorable voice, you need to spice things up.”
You’re wrong on two points…
1. Most rock singers rely heavily on sound manipulation and microphones to even be heard at all. I’m being very serious.
2. Brent Smith has a far superior voice to David Draiman’s. I know, Revrant, because I’m required to be critical of vocal technique. In fact, Brent Smith has a far superior voice to most “current” vocalists today (”today” being the key word here).
Also, Ozzy has a terrible voice. He consistently stays in the top of his register and strains out high notes with nasally, flat tone. I like the old Black Sabbath, but Ozzy has never been that great.
Blackthorned: Mmm, try listening to their last three albums, something I’ve asked of just about everyone here who wrote them off with the first.
Specifically “Remember” might dissuade you from using the analogy again, allow me to link you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MxYhZLsVwY
36: 1. He does, he uses harmonizing among a variety of other techniques, and it’s nothing special, ironically the above link fully disproves 2, David Draiman is a vastly superior full-on singer to Brent Smith, barring grunts and all recent uses of vocalizations in music, I find it laughable that you would claim that.
Keep in mind I own all albums by both bands, and I can directly compare them, Brent is better than most, but please, don’t compare the two, the above aforementioned link is more than enough proof.
As for Ozzy, no, again laughable, the younger Ozzy had more octaves than arguably any big metal act, even to this day, many cannot match his younger voice, and I find it laughable, again, that you would insult his while praising a boring voice that lacks the volume, control, and melodic potential of other sings.
“2, David Draiman is a vastly superior full-on singer to Brent Smith, barring grunts and all recent uses of vocalizations in music, I find it laughable that you would claim that.”
How do you figure? Have you heard each singer by himself without manipulation?
“As for Ozzy, no, again laughable, the younger Ozzy had more octaves than arguably any big metal act, even to this day, many cannot match his younger voice, and I find it laughable, again, that you would insult his while praising a boring voice that lacks the volume, control, and melodic potential of other sings.”
I find it laughable that you’re so cocky about something so out of your league. You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, so you parade your favorite bands as vanguards of good taste, just like the people you criticize. Range does not make a good singer. Even then, I question your claim that Ozzy’s range is necessarily larger. In fact, why don’t you do me a favor and map it out for me?
Oh, and about youtube links…Try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRbPWcLode0. Notice how Ozzy is consistently flat on “I’m going off the rails”, even with the vocal effects on his mike.
But I will give you this. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNf2ibB216Y.) Brent Smith’s range wasn’t nearly as impressive as I thought, probably due to smoking.
Well you have me there, I haven’t heard Brent Smith live and I can only judge him from his recorded voice, but I have heard the other two multiple times.
David’s voice can be a wild card live, he’s improved a lot after the various health problems he’s had, but his various health related surgeries seem to have changed his voice a bit. Since he had to cut down on drinking and everything else sinful he’s been a lot more stable, when I saw him live last he was quite good.
Not sure how it could be “out of my league”, Ozzy’s range is obviously larger than most metal singers, but using a live show from his drug-ridden days probably isn’t a good way to go, Ozzy was notorious for failing to perform during that time. His voice was damaged with the ATV accident, so anything after that is of no use, you’d probably have to find him performing(sober if you could believe it) with Sabbath or the Blizzard of Ozz.
He matches the song without fail I think, he has great control of what he does, but just as a singer I don’t find him impressive versus other bands, there’s nothing stand out aside from his given talent. I might add his voice did crack a couple of times during the performance, though that’s to forgivable. I admit to liking Zakk Wylde’s singing just for the crooning, I’m not being condescending to anyone who likes them, but given all the mocking of Disturbed, I do find it quite contradictory that Vince slobbers all over what are a somewhat generic post grunge band.
revrant, please stop trying to confirm your bias for disturbed with absurd accusations of shinedown’s music. they are superior band in every way and your forum tantrums do not change that. shinedown is band that shows signs of progression, passion, and honesty, all qualities i realize you can’t appreciate. i also realize that you’ll probably keep antagonizing the readers of metalsucks, no matter what arguments are brought against you. to be honest i dont mind disturbed all that much, but had they not recieved MASSIVE airplay, they would be a sound quickly forgotten in my mind. shinedown’s vocals separate them far from any of their peers. their willingness to try new things sets them leaps and bounds ahead of any other “Radio rock” band. try to be less closeminded in your future endevors.
also this review is very, very late.
heg: Just called a generic, boring post-grunge radio rock band, experimental, honest, passionate, progressive, and damned near unique while calling me bias.
Please try to be less absurd in your future endeavors.
this album is fucking killer, but their first album is still their best.
awgh you guys suck shinedown kicks ass ok, devour is an awsome song, sound of madness is the best album out of all the rest….hell it beats Metallica.
everything he wrote about , made a hell of alot of sense…aparently you dont listen to the words, but hear the song….fucking bitchy queers..
SHINEDOWN ROCKS!!!!! \m/
yo , you guys are the shit . i mean the first time i listened to all of you’lls song , i was like this is the band thats getting reped !!!! the first was (45). The best song that you song to me is save me and burning bright . well i will let youll go but get at me. i am aaron, the one on ur myspace. get at me
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