Shinedown: The Sound of Madness

The third studio album of the Jacksonville, Florida, quintet, "The Sound of Madness" is similar to the past two albums in that it goes from heavy, fast guitar riffs to slow, acoustic (or almost acoustic) songs.

The album starts off with the main single for the album, "Devour." The song starts with a drum roll and build up by adding on the first, then second guitar, and then the bass, then speeds into the fast, heavy riffs the verses and choruses. The song has such a heavy guitar riff that many people could mistake this band for a metal band.

The next 3 tracks on the album are slightly slower and lighter than "Devour." "The Sound of Madness," which the album was named after, is followed by "Second Chance," which starts off slowly with an acoustic guitar but speeds up after the first chorus. After that is "Cry For Help." This song starts with a fast riff, and then briefly slows down into the first verse. After that, the song speeds up to be almost, if not as fast as the first track on the album.

"The Crow and the Butterfly" starts off slow with an acoustic guitar, but then adds in an electric guitar for the choruses. The song also adds in a string orchestra in the background for the second verse. After the buildup into the second chorus, there's a mini-guitar solo, a repeat chorus, then all other instruments slowly fad away into an acoustic ending.

 

The next track, "If You Only Knew", starts off with an intro that makes you expect another song like "Devour." Instead, the song is a mainstream-rock-ish mix of acoustic and electric guitar.

 

"Sin With a Grin" starts with the fast, heavy guitar riffs and fast drums you were expecting from "If You Only Knew". Overall, it is a very good song, but the chorus could use some slight improvement.

 

"What a Shame" is very similar to "The Crow and the Butterfly" in that it starts off slow and acoustic and slowly builds up. After that comes "Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide", a song that almost sounds like "Sin With a Grin", but has a better transition into the chorus. "Breaking Inside" is another song that starts off acoustic and slowly transitions to electric guitar for the chorus.

 

"Call Me", the last track on the album, is only piano with some strings instruments playing lightly in the background while the singer sings (duh, what else would he do?). Though, a bit long for a song like this, it is a great song and a fitting ending to this album

 

Rating: 4/5 stars

It's a great album; actually it's one of the best I've ever heard, but there is room for improvement on a few songs, and some songs sound very similar. It is one of the few albums I would actually buy if I had the option of getting it for free.