IN REVIEW: Shinedown - "Attention Attention"

When they arrived on the scene fifteen years ago, Shinedown found themselves already on the wrong side of history; a couple of years removed from the nu-metal and post-grunge heyday of bands like Staind and (welp) Nickelback, the band's debut album was considered standard rock radio fare upon its release and, a couple of moderately successful singles notwithstanding, Leave a Whisper didn't necessarily bode well for long-term relevance or viability of continued success. The thing is, they stuck around long enough (and, more importantly, fed radio enough hits) to buck the odds that were stacked against them; by the time their third album (2008's The Sound of Madness, considered by most fans as their best) ran its promotional course, they'd amassed a handful of formidable singles and built up a devoted fan base. Still, it proved to be a difficult status to maintain, and the band's following pair of albums (2012's Amaryllis and 2015's Threat to Survival) saw sharp declines in intensity, quality and, in turn, success.

It makes sense, then, that Shinedown would look to reclaim some of their previous rock glory on their sixth album; as such, Attention Attention is their fiercest and heaviest batch of songs in a decade. To be clear, it also packs plenty of the pop sensibilities (read: catchy choruses and some studio sheen) that slowly but surely worked their way into the band's sound early on, but this time out those big hooks are wrapped in harder music; to wit, lead single Devil has pianos, vocal effects and a little studio trickery, but it also has punishing riffs. Black Soul, meanwhile, might be as good a microcosm of the album as there is, a marriage of the accessible and the abrasive that's pulled off masterfully.

Whereas previous albums would take frequent detours into slower and/or more emotional territory, Attention Attention maintains its bite for the majority of its 50 minutes, with only a couple of true ballads; the focus seems to be on keeping the energy up and the hooks coming. Even the album's least enduring moments have a modicum of earworm-inducing quality, like the melodic chorus found on the otherwise pedestrian title track or the undeniable catchiness of assured future radio smash Get Up, the album's most blatant hit-seeking moment.

There's nothing shockingly different to be heard here, and the album's greatest crime turns out to be its run time; Attention Attention doesn't do the greatest job of (ahem) holding attention all the way through, and cutting a couple of the 14 tracks that veer toward the mediocre/repetitive would have made the album leaner and meaner. Regardless, we're talking a handful of minor missteps across an album that's overall full of promise for both longtime fans (who are looking for a return to their rocking roots) and their record label (who's looking for hits). It's a delicate balancing act that doesn't often work as well as it does here and, if nothing else, we're still talking about Shinedown in 2018; considering their tenuous start and their spotty recent output, what better measurement of success is there?

May 4, 2018 • Atlantic
Highlights Devil • Kill Your Conscience • Pyro

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

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