Sound Of Madness: Internal Changes?

This is a review for Shinedown's most recent studio album, released June 24th, 2008.

6/25/08

 

No doubt that a recurring theme in most music is change, but if you picked up Shinedown's third studio album, Sound Of Madness, which debuted yesterday, change was something you got in excess.

 

In case you didn't know before you bought the album, you saw, while perusing the sleeve, that the band has been overhauled. Brent Smith (vocals) and Barry Kerch (drums) are the only two remaining original members, with Jasin Todd and Brad Stewart both pursuing something different. The band now has five members, welcoming Eric Bass (who, ironically, plays bass), Nick Perri, and Zach Myers (both on guitars).

 

The band's roster isn't the only thing that's different, however. The sound has undergone what might be seen as quite a change itself. There's "If You Only Knew", a slow and definitive love song about yearning for that someone to come back. That's something I don't recall Shinedown ever having done before. The good news: it's amazing. Nothing lost in this change. The melodic ballad, "What A Shame", is also something refreshing and new as it almost tells a story. Shinedown's lyrics have always been a little more ambiguous than decisive, so this is variant from their "usual", but it's nice, just as "Save Me" was on their second album, Us And Them.

 

A trace of the Shinedown we all already know is not impossible with this album, though, as it can be found in many tracks of Sound Of Madness. "Sin With A Grin" (as well as the album's title track) is a blast of those old riffs (that can only be found with a band of SD's calibar these days), the grainy vocals of one Brent Smith, and the spiteful lyrics one might expect from the hard rock group out of Jacksonville, Florida.

 

"Cyanide Sweet Tooth" brings back memories of "Lacerated" (from the band's debut album) with mention of a perilous encounter with a femme fatale. With lyrics like, "Black lips, pale eyes... She's a killer; she's my cyanide sweet tooth suicide... She's a looker just like Anna Nicole. Oh no..." one can't help but imagine the beautiful "black widow", if you will, that lures the innocent to his death.

 

So, even with the small, inevitable changes that come with this third studio album, I suppose the lesson learned is that lyric-writing mastermind and vocalist Brent Smith knows how to relate to people. That's something that will keep me buying every subsequent Shinedown album until one of us meets her end.

KH

Author's Note

I haven't actuallyt written a review for something in over a year, but I miss it. Don't be too harsh on this, please. Just let me know of typos or misspellings. Thanks!

Reviews

[Kristin Brecoe]

Well, when I had gone through it, I didn't notice anything amiss. I was more concentrated on the band name, the voice you used, and what you were trying to get across. I thought it was a well written review. I got informed as well as entertained. Yay. Now all you need is persuasion in there, and you'd have a super review. >< I don't know what that was about. Sugar is in my system though, and I excited sorta for no reason, but my face and body show none of that excitement...

M anyway.

=]

-Kristin

[Adam Chambers]

Hey!! Very cool, Kristen. I enjoyed Shinedown's first alot, and will have to run out and buy this one now. You have sold me! Let me ask you something... Do you write these reviews professionally? If so, how would a person get involved in doing that as well... namely, moi? : )
--Adam