Shinedown - The Sound of Madness [album]

Atlantic

July 19, 2009, 11:21 PM

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Shinedown are everything I ask for with my music. Their raw, rock sound; their inspired lyrics; their general likeable front as a band…and their latest album The Sound of Madness is a perfectly poignant next step for the four Jacksonville native boys. Hearing this album inspired me to delve further into their back catalogue, and gave me one of my favourite all time albums to date, 2003’s Leave A Whisper.

Now, Shinedown are known for their thoughtful album covers, and none is more so than the image of five circling black crows on the front sleeve of The Sound of Madness. Representing each member of the band, the five crows had to be re-mastered down to four once guitarist, Nick Perri, upped sticks just as the record was ready to be released before Christmas 2008. When asked about the cover, drummer Barry Kerch told Altsounds earlier this year,

The Sound of Madness opens with lead single ‘Devour’, building with an inciting military intro and snarling guitar pick up from lead guitarist, Zach Myers. Not only was it a perfect lead single for the band to announce their return to the hard rock battle but the track is also a perfectly frenzied album opener.

Next up is a song twice as maddening as the previous, ‘The Sound of Madness’. This is my favourite track on the album, and that is all thanks to the first 14 seconds - the best intro to a rock song I’ve heard in quite some time. Lead singer, Brent Smith’s sarcastic lyrics “Yeah, I get it you’re an outcast, always coming in last…” are the perfect catalyst to convey the overall hysterical feel of the track…


Smith’s vocals can’t be faulted with the simplicity of second single, ‘Second Chance’, a peaceful ballad-type track now with an evocative video to accompany:


Kerch brings ‘Cry For Help’ up to the speed of the other tracks with a powerful drum fill, which is followed by slower alternative rock ballads ‘The Crow and the Butterfly’ and ‘If You Only Knew’. Both tracks are some of Smith’s best work as a songwriter, with lyrics such as “It’s 4:03 and I can’t sleep/Without you next to me, I toss and turn like the sea”.

‘Sin with a Grin’ moves the pace back up again, with a constant fast lick which suits the title perfectly. Shinedown have perfected the ability to move between hard, fast, almost-metal (‘Sin with a Grin’) and more user-friendly alt rock type tracks (‘What a Shame’). These intermittent slower songs give the album as a whole a definite maturity and has me convinced that Shinedown actually put a lot of thought and energy into making this an album that they will be proud of not just during the current promotion, but further down the long road of their career.

The only relative low point is ‘Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide’, where the ass completely falls out of the superb lyrics thus far, and become trite and a definite overkill for the mood of the album, “Hey hey, digging deeper/Than a six foot hole/She’s snorting cocaine, through a suicide note”.

Sticking with what Shinedown do best, reverting back to the use of more sincere lyrics, and a sufficiently solid riff to back up the song, ‘Breaking Inside’ uses both electric and acoustic guitar to form an interesting and unique alt-rock track.

The Sound of Madness’s producer, Rob Cavallo (Green Day, the Goo Goo Dolls, My Chemical Romance) is brought in to help complete the album, contributing on piano, for the bare and revealing track ‘Call Me’. This could have been a horrible mistake for Shinedown, ending on such a slow note, but the piano is just pensive enough, and Smith’s vocals convey just the right amount of huskiness that the track turns out to be the pleasant surprise ending I never imagined.

Shinedown are currently touring the world with the album (“Our plan is to tour for at least another year” -Kerch), and if we’re lucky, we might see them over here in the UK before Christmas!

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