Shinedown - ATTENTION ATTENTION
A review of the brilliant 2018 album with some information on the new album, Planet Zero
Although this album was originally released in May 2018, I thought it was worth revisiting it again to highlight the video version that was released last Fall and their new single Planet Zero that was just released today. Check out the end of the review for information about that.
I first heard of Shinedown indirectly many years ago. My wife was watching American Idol in 2006 and Chris Daughtry did an amazing cover of a song called I Dare You. I checked out the original on the Us and Them album and it was even better. I also enjoyed Save Me and Heroes was pretty good. But I didn’t love Us and Them as an album overall.
Then in 2008, Sound of Madness was released. I listened to a few of the 30-second samples on iTunes and purchased the Deluxe Edition immediately. This was easily my favorite album of 2008.
Since then, Shinedown released Amaryllis in 2012 and Threat to Survival in 2015. Neither of those were nearly as good as Sound of Madness. I mostly enjoyed Amaryllis, except for the horrible Bully song which was just too on the nose and boring. On Threat to Survival I really only liked Cut the Cord. The rest of the album was just not as memorable to me.
And now we get to ATTENTION ATTENTION, a strange album title with a bunch of songs also all listed in all CAPS and one in all lowercase. The band has been saying this album is is a light concept and tells a story.
The lead single DEVIL did not click with me immediately. Then HUMAN RADIO appeared, which I totally loved. But I found the more I played DEVIL, I also really appreciated its aggressiveness and how it reminded me a bit of Sound of Madness.
I put ATTENTION ATTENTION on while I was working and song after song, I just loved it. The songs rock pretty hard, are catchy and memorable. I found several got stuck in my head. And then over the weekend I found I kept coming back to it to replay. And replay. So overall, I love it. It may not be quite as perfect as Sound of Madness, but it is wonderful.
Some of the songs have some added distortion to Brent’s voice, which I think is totally unnecessary.
Frankly, all the songs here are great. In particular I like GET UP, which I’d say is the most pop-oriented song here. It would fit fine as a Pink song. But all that means is that it is amazingly catchy. Shinedown are a rock band, but they write a lot of pop songs and are a bit similar to Def Leppard in that regard.
I just love the bass intro on THE HUMAN RADIO, followed by the drums. Great rhythm here. And then it all kicks in. “The Human Radio is playing your anthem.” Indeed. The chorus, “we want the world to know we are the human radio” just sounds big and epic.
BRILLIANT is the last song. Shinedown has had some great album ending tunes, such as Call Me and Through the Ghost. Those songs are both great, but are also slow ballads.
BRILLIANT also starts off pretty slow. Brent singing smoothly with a piano, finishing with “It’s my day to be brilliant.” And then you hear a guitar. And things pick up speed. Quickly. Soon the tempo is moving along rapidly and you’ll find yourself singing along to that “brilliant” chorus. This is an amazing song and a fabulous way to end the album. Brilliant!
This album has no sappy love songs and only one song I would call a ballad (special). If you’re a fan of the more pop-oriented Threat to Survival you may not love ATTENTION ATTENTION. But if you prefer the harder side of Shinedown and Sound of Madness in particular, you will love ATTENTION ATTENTION. I know I do.
Bonus Tracks
If you’ve bought the CD from Walmart you’ll also have access to two bonus tracks: ANWTD and Headcase. Neither fit the theme of this album, but they are both great in their own right.
And in 2020, Shinedown released the Atlas Falls single, which is also a great song in its own right. Apparently it was a leftover from the Amaryllis album.
Video Album
More recently, in September 2021, Shinedown released the video version of ATTENTION ATTENTION. I bought it on iTunes (in the Movies section) for around $7. The movie is essentially a series of music videos for each song on the album with some minor narration between them. Some of the videos are the same ones that were released for the singles over the past few years, but the rest are all-new and created just for this.
Overall, I really liked it. The videos all follow the theme of each song and since the album itself has its own theme, they all flow together pretty well.
New Single and Album Announced
Today Shinedown released the first single, Planet Zero, from their upcoming album of the same name (out Apr 22). It is big, heavy, dark and loud. Listen to it here:
Also, Billboard talked with Shinedown about the new album!