Shinedown - Sound of Madness

"Sound of Madness" is the 3rd album by American hard rockers Shinedown. It came out in 2008 meaning this year (2018) marks a very special 10 year anniversary. It doesn't look like they are doing anything to celebrate it, like special tours etc. But the music press have been keen to point out that this is the 10th anniversary for the album. And when they do that it tends to mean the album was a memorable one and still relevant 10 years down the line. I only came across Shinedown this year and I have been slowly getting through their back catalogue. In fact I have pretty much getting into the albums in reverse order to when they came out meaning I've only heard the hit singles from the first two albums.

But let's focus on "Sound of Madness".  This album saw quite a change for the band as 2 members - Jasin Todd and Brad Stewart were fired from the band. They were replaced with Zach Myers and Eric Bass. For a four person band where your lead guitarist and bassist get replaced this is pretty big and you would think their musical output would change. But from what I've heard of the first 2 albums "Sound of Madness" does seem like a continuation of their sound. I think because vocalist Brent Smith is still their means that it still sounds like Shinedown. You can replicate guitars and bass to an extent depending on talent, but vocals are a lot more difficult.

The one thing that really grabs me about this album is that their are so many anthems on this record.  I mean there are songs on hear which only really deserve being played in stadiums and headlining festival slots. By the looks of things they did get big in America but didn't quite have the same impact in the UK. But what I'm trying to emphasise is that these are great big sounding songs. I would say 2 singles which stand out in particular are  "The Crow and the Butterfly" and "Second Chance".  This album is hard rock at its best.  There are also some lighter moments on the album with songs like "What a shame" and "If only you knew".

I don't normally review deluxe versions of albums. But I did buy the deluxe version of this album and I have to say it is well worth it.  The DVD has about 6 live tracks and all the music videos belonging to the album. While the album also contains a few bonus tracks which just need to be heard!  "Energy", "I owe you" and "Son of Sam" are all excellent. Sometimes I think you need to listen to the album they put in front of you and it should be a whole. But these bonus tracks actually add to the listening pleasure and would stand proud alongside their more well known songs if they were to play them live today.

I have reviewed the 3 latest albums by Shinedown and gave them all 5 stars. I still stand by that. And this album I can't give anything less than 5 stars. It is fantastic. The deluxe version just takes it to another dimension. I sure don't envy them for the job of choosing a set list.