Shinedown - Amaryllis

Shinedown profess their love of flowers in the title of their new album Amaryllis. As we all remember the last record kicked off with a straight up hard rock tune that was awesome. This album follows the same formula with "Adrenaline" it isn't as good but it is a good hard rock song that rocks balls out. The first single follows the tune and is a great song with a very positive and strong message about ant-bullying. It's one of the best songs with that message to date and is not only catchy it rocks. Reminds me a lot of the underrated Saigon Kick. The title track has a fantastic melody and is one of the bands best songs so far into their short career.

The big trouble with Shinedown is that they hit so big with their single "Second Chance" that they will be forced to chase that success for the rest of their existence by their record label. As the album plays through the band sounds more polished but more commercial as well. I was happy to hear the powerful and punchy "Enemies" which picked up the pace nicely. This song is one of those happy place songs for me. I like the stomping beat and rhyming lyrical patterns. The band shows a little more of their depth on this album than on the overtly commercial turn of Sound Of Madness and this album grabs me like their first two album did specifically like Us & Them which is still in my opinion a near masterpiece in the modern rock format.

The band again drop an incredibly well written polished song in "I'm Not Alright" then follow it with "Nowhere Kids" that pushes down the gas peddle picking up the pace. Two great songs in a row and lets be honest just over halfway through this album there isn't a bad song to be had yet. Brent Smith's vocals are so present and crisp on this album along with the incredible production of the drums and bass. The band have perfected their studio sound and I mean perfected because I don't think you can improve upon this level. I will admit the Elton John styled intro of "I'll Follow You" made me go hmm. The song has a very Black Crowes inspiration mixed into it as well which saves the song. The chorus is excellent and I actually ended up really liking the song.

As the album moves towards its eventual end it sort of runs out of gas a bit with "For My Sake" and "My Name (Wearing Me Out) both of which I would most likely hit the skip button when they begin from now on. I do like the closing power ballad "Through The Ghost" I hope this album does huge business for Shinedown because they deserve to be rewarded for all their growth and hard work putting together and album that overall kicks their biggest album's ass. Outside of "Devour" on their last album there is no doubt in my mind that Amaryllis is superior in every way and on every level.

http://soundcloud.com/atlanticrecords/sets/shinedown-sampler