Shinedown album short but sweet

Shinedown is one of the lesser known hard rock bands of the 2000’s, with powerful energetic music. They seek to catapult their name to the forefront of the genre with their fifth studio album released on Sept. 18 entitled “Threat to Survival.” This is an album sure to make a splash in the world of rock and on any listener’s mind.

Shinedown is band out of Jacksonville, Fla. known for hard rock songs that get the listener up and moving. This album embodies that spirit while also experimenting with power ballads. The result is an album with quite a few karaoke or frat party ready hits and the kind of mellow songs that can be comforting in a depressing situation. While it does fall short of perfect, perfect is only a relative word and this album sets the bar pretty high for a contemporary hard rock act.

The lead single off the album,  “Cut the Cord,” is a classic Shinedown song similar to “Devour,” a hard rock anthem with an easy shout-along chorus, and an appreciable complex word choice. It also has some background singing throughout the song. Interestingly enough, its chorus of “Don’t be a casualty, cut the cord!” conflicts with the next song on the album.

“State of My Head,” is a more pop influenced song, with another catchy chorus and word choice. The message the song conveys is about not leaving a battle except dead and giving up. As the singer says: “The only way I’m leavin’ is dead, that’s the state of my, state of my, state of my head.” It’s an anthem with the kind of inspiring message that puts it in field with the class “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey.

Another good song, that starts more on the slower side, is “How Did You Love?” This is a more relaxed song when compared to the rest of the album, that talks about how in this ever-changing world, there is one constant memory: how you loved.

The last outstanding song was “Misfits,” the closing track from the album. This was another soft song, as well as the longest on the album (only 4:06). As the title suggests, it is about misfits, and the singer is rounding them up.

Other less stellar songs on the album include “It All Adds Up,” “Asking For It,” “Black Cadillac,” “Outcast” and “Oblivion.” “Dangerous” and “Thick as Thieves” were mediocre, with the latter being a little more on the bland side. They don’t enhance the album and seem more just like fillers.

This album is a short composition running only 40 minutes of nice alt-rock anthems meshed together with some softer rock influence. On “Threat to Survival,” about half of the 11 tracks stood out as either average or getting stuck in your head.

“Threat to Survival” earns a rating of 8/10 because of its catchy tracks. “Cut the Cord” makes this obvious as it ranked #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart the week of the album’s release. While there were many virtuoso tracks, some are only average, and there were a few lackluster fillers. This is a relatively short album, but definitely worth it’s weight in gold, and worth listening to.