An American rock band, Shinedown hails from Jacksonville, Florida. The band was formed by lead vocalist Brent Smith in 2001. After a bit of trial and error, the band settled in with members Smith, Barry Kerch on drums, Zach Myers on guitar, and Eric Bass, as luck would have it, on bass. Smith and Kerch are original members, as were Jasin Todd and Brad Stewart, although they’re no longer with the band.
Shinedown’s music, according to themselves is “rock ‘n’ roll”, but they’ve also been described as hard rock, alternative metal/rock, and post grunge. The band admits that each album has subtle differences in sound, but that it’s intentional and that it’s all in the name of rock. The band has sold more than ten million records around the world and has had eleven singles reigning in at number one. In fact, they are third on the list of most number one singles for a band, behind the legendary Van Halen and Three Days Grace.
If you’re watching for their next release, May 4, 2018 is the date. Shinedown’s sixth album, entitled Attention Attention, is already available for pre-order. The fourteen track album is said to be the band’s most personal and raw ever, following an individual’s journey through life’s highs and lows, mentally, emotionally, and physically. The story unfolds with the album’s progression, offering a look into the powerful and enduring resolve of human nature to overcome obstacles while learning the important things in life, such as giving others respect and leaning on one another in times of need.
Shinedown will also be going on the road soon, beginning March 23 in South Dakota, so look for them at a venue near you. They’re bringing Godsmack with them, so it’s bound to be a kick*ss concert, most definitely one of the summer’s hottest rock ‘n’ roll tours. Don’t miss it!
While you wait, here’s five things you didn’t know about Shinedown.
1. Influences
Their influences may actually surprise you. Shinedown says the following musical artists have influenced them in one way or another: Otis Redding, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Stone Temple Pilots, and Foo Fighters.
2. Success
Their early success can be contributed to their acoustic remake of the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man”. The song is still very popular, with the video alone garnering over sixty-three and a half million views. In live performances, the band generally dedicates the song to Pantera’s deceased guitarist Dimebag Darrell.
3. Protest
Shinedown actually vocally protested George W Bush’s presidency. In fact, most of their third album, named “The Sound of Madness” was focused on the US and their modern politics. Smith says he was really very angry about the end of Bush’s presidency; not that every single thing he did was wrong or bad, but that after he returned from Iraq, he just felt overwhelmed. “Devour” was the band’s first political song, inspired by their visit to the troops in Iraq.
4. Third Time’s The Charm
If you and a friend ended up having slightly different versions of the band’s third album which was released in 2005, titled Us and Them, it wasn’t a fluke. Shinedown actually released three different variants – the regular version with thirteen tracks; the second, a limited edition version, included three bonus tracks; and the third, which was the one that was more universally available, featured two bonus tracks.
Another fun fact about this album, Chris Daughtery actually sang a song from this album, “I Dare You”, during his time on American Idol.
Fun fact number three, the same song also became one of Wrestlemania 22’s themes.
5. In 2010, Shinedown had the honor of contributing a song to Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables, “Diamond Eyes” otherwise known as “Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)
As a treat, here’s their just released song from the upcoming Attention Attention album, “Devil”:
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