![]() ![]() Indeed, the slick Zach Myers guitar riff and explosive Barry Kerch percussion saw the band returning to exactly the kind of sound that made the likes of ‘Devour’ so much fun, and with vocalist Brent Smith roaring “cause it’s about to get heavy” it certainly appears that Shinedown’s sixth studio effort is going to be a hell of a ride. Fast-forward a decade, and despite what some have considered a misstep with tamer 2015 effort, Threat to Survival, the Jacksonville hard rockers are still going strong if Attention Attention’s ‘Devil’ is anything to go by. Mixing hard rock with flavours of heavier post-grunge, The Sound of Madness effectively stands as a near-perfect example of fun and catchy rock music it wasn’t anything revolutionary, but that was hardly the point – you’re here to have a good time, and Shinedown were pretty damn good at that. Personal preferences aside, there’s no denying “ATTENTION ATTENTION” is a powerful artistic statement from a band that has become absolutely fearless, and that’s always something to be admired.It’s fair to say that Shinedown are the kind of band where you know exactly what you pay for. It’s ironic that when I reviewed “Amaryllis” in 2012, I jokingly referred to it as “The Sound of Madness Part 2,” and now that the band has strayed so far from that on its two records since then, I kind of prefer things as they were. I can’t imagine there being too many Shinedown fans wanting to hear that, but I could be wrong. The only real misfire is the title track, which finds Brent Smith, one of the finest vocalists of the past decade and a half (in any genre), rapping on the verses. #Cover or album shinedown attention attention full#Produced solely by bassist Eric Bass for the first time, this is a dynamic, dramatic album, with sounds running the full spectrum from the propulsive, hook-laden “DEVIL” (my favorite Shinedown song since “The Sound of Madness” album, released in 2008) to the poppy “GET UP” and the piano ballad “special” to the electronic, almost industrial-like stomp of “THE HUMAN RADIO” (my second favorite Shinedown song since “The Sound of Madness”) and culminating with the upbeat barnburner “BRILLIANT.” The various moods and tones of the record take the listener on an exhausting emotional journey, resulting in a focus and momentum that was missing from “Threat to Survival.” Aside from the voice, the band is almost unrecognizable as the one that recorded its first four records. The experimentation continues on the band’s sixth record, “ATTENTION ATTENTION,” a concept album of sorts, telling of a person overcoming negativity and emerging as a changed individual over the course of 14 tracks. Some may have found it adventurous to me, it felt like a ploy a stay relevant at modern rock radio more than anything else. On its previous release, “Threat to Survival” (2015), Shinedown got a little experimental and ventured a bit too far into alternative rock for my tastes. ![]()
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