Shinedown
Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of his previous band, Dreve. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original lineup of Jasin Todd as guitarist, Brad Stewart on bass, and Barry Kerch on drums. Consistent for the first two album cycles, several lineup changes followed in the late 2000s, eventually stabilizing with Smith and Kerch alongside Zach Myers on guitar and Eric Bass on bass. The group has released seven studio albums: Leave a Whisper (2003), Us and Them (2005), The Sound of Madness (2008), Amaryllis (2012), Threat to Survival (2015), Attention Attention (2018), and Planet Zero (2022).
Shinedown
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
2001–present
- Brent Smith
- Barry Kerch
- Zach Myers
- Eric Bass
- Nick Perri
- Jasin Todd
- Brad Stewart
Shinedown has the most number one singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts with 19, and all of their released singles have reached the top 5 on the chart. Additionally, on June 3, 2021, Shinedown was ranked #1 by Billboard on the Greatest of All Time Mainstreams Rock Artists chart released to celebrate the Mainstream Rock Chart's 40th Anniversary.[1] To date, the band has sold more than 10 million records worldwide.[2][3]
History[edit]
2000–2004: Formation and Leave a Whisper[edit]
The band's origins trace back to frontman Brent Smith's prior band, Dreve, which had signed a record deal with Atlantic Records in 2000.[4][5] The record label, unhappy with Dreve as a whole, dropped the band prior to releasing an album, but retained Smith, who they felt was worth developing separately as an artist.[6] Atlantic signed Smith to a development deal where record representatives helped him with his song writing ability, and helped him recruit members for a new band, which would become Shinedown.[6][7][8] Smith moved to Jacksonville, Florida and began work on the project in 2001.[9] The first member he recruited was bassist Brad Stewart, through local Jacksonville music producer Pete Thornton.[9] Smith and Stewart began recording demos together in a small local studio, whose owner recommended they meet with her fiancé, guitarist Jasin Todd, who Smith brought in as the third member.[9] The original lineup was rounded out by drummer Barry Kerch, who was the seventh drummer the band had auditioned for the spot.[9] The four worked together on creating demos, and submitted their work-in-progress material to Atlantic, who approved of the material and green-lighted a full-length album.[9]
The resulting work was the band's debut album, Leave a Whisper, which was released May 27, 2003.[10] While not an immediate success, through the extensive touring and successful singles, eventually certified platinum by the RIAA in the United States, indicating sales of over 1 million.[11] Four singles were released from the album: "Fly from the Inside", "45", a cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Simple Man", and "Burning Bright".[12][10] All four singles charted in the top five of the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, peaking at fifth, third, fifth, and second, respectively.[13] The band toured extensively in support of the album, playing over 400 live shows over the course of 2003 and 2004.[14] The band ended up touring for 24 months straight, doing various tours with Van Halen, Seether, and Three Doors Down.[15] The band later released a live DVD titled Live from the Inside that documented the live shows of the touring cycle.[16]
2005–2006: Us and Them[edit]
The band did not start work on a follow-up album until 2005, with the band finding the touring lifestyle too hectic to start writing or recording material.[17] This, however, left the band with limited time to record new music, with their record label pressuring the band to get the album out in a six-month time period.[18] Despite the time restrictions, the label did not pressure the band on the album's musical direction after the commercial success of Leave a Whisper.[19] The band worked with music producer Tony Battaglia, and chose to go in a more "mature" and "stripped down" direction for the album's sound, Kerch describing it as just "pure rock."[18][19] During the same time, the band was also approached by Hollywood Records to record a song for a tribute album for the band Queen, something the band agreed to out of their respect for the band.[18] They recorded a cover of the track "Tie Your Mother Down," which was released on Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen (2005).[20]
The band released their second studio album, Us and Them, on October 4, 2005.[21] The album debuted higher than Leave a Whisper on the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 23 versus Leave a Whisper's number 53 peak, but the album ultimately sold less than its predecessor.[22] Despite this, the band's three singles from the album, "Save Me", "I Dare You", and "Heroes" ended up being more successful than their prior album's singles.[23][24] The lead single, "Save Me" was the band's first to reach the number one spot on the Mainstream Rock Charts, and held the position for twelve weeks in a row.[13][23] The second single, "I Dare You", also peaked at number 2 on the same chart.[13] Notably, both songs were also the band's first to have crossover success on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, hitting 72 and 88 respectively.[25]
The band again toured heavily in support of the album, including the 2006 iteration of the SnoCore Tour with Seether, Flyleaf, and Halestorm,[26] and later opening for Godsmack and Rob Zombie co-headlining tour of North America.[27] Promotional support came from other areas as well; then-American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry performed "I Dare You" live on the show, helping its crossover appeal,[28] and was used as a theme song for WrestleMania 22.[29] The success of the singles helped propel sales of the album in the long run, ultimately being certified platinum by the RIAA on March 19, 2018, signifying 1 million album sales.[30]
2007–2010: The Sound of Madness[edit]
Work on a third studio album began in early 2007. While the record label requested an album to be created in six months, Smith declined, stating that he was not happy with the results of working under the time restraints on the last album, and wished to take his time on the album.[31] The label agreed to this, ultimately allowing Smith to take eighteen months to prep the album.[31] Part of the long development time was due to internal issues within band members; during this time, Smith fired both Stewart and Todd from the band.[32] Smith let Stewart go due to disagreements with the direction of the band, feeling that Stewart was no longer happy or committed to the band.[31] Todd was fired due to major disagreements with Smith, and personal problems that were getting in the way of the band.[31][33] Then-touring guitarist, Zach Myers, later recounted that both Smith and Todd were going through significant substance abuse issues at the time with drugs and alcohol, which lead to much infighting between the two.[32] The band almost broke up during the period, but Smith firing Todd and stopping his drug use helped eliminate the internal issues, and helped the band move forward.[32][33]
Smith spent much of 2007 writing new material with Rick Beato of Black Dog Sound Recording Studios in Stone Mountain, GA, for the third album.[33] Sessions were prolific, with Smith writing over 60 songs during the period, though that he now lacked a guitarist and bassist was a constant concern.[31] Smith recruited a number of studio musicians for its recording sessions; Dave Barrett contributed most of the album's guitars, Tim Pierce contributed some additional guitar, and Chris Chaney contributed most of the album's bass guitar.[33] The rough demos were sent from the record label to music producer Rob Cavallo, who, upon hearing them, told Smith he wanted to produce the album.[33]
Musical style and influences[edit]
Shinedown's music has most commonly been described as hard rock, alternative metal, post-grunge, alternative rock, pop rock, grunge, arena rock, and nu metal, with pop and Southern rock influences.[a] In August 2013, Kerch disagreed with more specialized genre ascribed to the band, stating that "We're just a rock 'n' roll band" while conceding that each album did have a markedly different rock sound to them by design.[131] The nu metal label has been applied to the band's earlier work by journalists on occasion,[117] though the band disputes that term as well.[19] The band's first album, Leave a Whisper, largely stayed away from having any guitar solos, something then-guitarist Todd felt was undesirable due to the popularity of nu metal at the time of recording album, though he felt the band was never particularly part of the genre's movement.[19] With nu metal falling out of popularity by the mid-2000s, they began adding guitar solos more prominently to their music, starting with their next album, Us and Them.[19] Us and Them has also been described as less "grungy" than its predecessor with "more twisted, progressive song structures".[132]
The Sound of Madness went in different musical and lyrical directions as compared to the band's previous two albums.[133][134] Barry Kerch noted that lineup changes and volatility in the band members' lives produced a darker and angrier sound.[133][134] The album's lead single, "Devour", is an anti-war anthem, but The Sound of Madness also contains "If You Only Knew", the band's first love ballad.[133][134] Amaryllis has been noted to have a more positive, "anthemic" bent.[135] Writing for Loudwire, Anne Erickson described the album's sound as "aggressive-yet-cathartic."[136] Their fifth studio album, Threat to Survival, was described as the band's most "pop-oriented" album, with the single "State of My Head" being referred to as "a slick amalgam of electro-pop and vintage alt-rock with a catchy as hell though extremely well-worn chorus."[137] The 2018 follow-up, Attention Attention, is a concept album that begins with the narrator in a "dark, negative place" and gradually emerging from that over the course of the track listing.[138] Both Threat to Survival and Attention Attention have been described as having more of a pop rock sound but have also been described as hard rock.[139][140][141][127]
The band has cited Stone Temple Pilots, Otis Redding, Pink Floyd, and Iron Maiden as influences.[142] Primary songwriter, Brent Smith, has also cited Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, The Doors, Soundgarden, and Metallica as some of his influences.[143]
Brent Smith
Zach Myers
Eric Bass
Barry Kerch
Studio albums
