The Sound of Madness
Encyclopedia
The Sound of Madness is the third studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by American rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band Shinedown
Shinedown
Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed in 2001 and founded by members Brent Smith , Brad Stewart , Jasin Todd , and Barry Kerch . A few line-up changes followed, and the band's current line-up consists of Smith and Kerch, the band's only two remaining original...

, released June 24, 2008. The album's lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...

, "Devour
Devour (song)
"Devour" is a song recorded and performed by the hard rock band Shinedown. The song was released as the first single in promotion of the band's third studio album, The Sound of Madness. The track landed online and at multi-format rock radio outlets nationwide on May 5...

," was released to radio on May 5, 2008.

The album's lyrics explore diverse subject matter as opposed to their previous albums; "Devour" ventures into political territory while "What a Shame" tells a story about lead singer Brent Smith
Brent Smith
Brent Smith is the lead vocalist and singer-songwriter of the band Shinedown. His biggest influences as a singer are Otis Redding, Billie Holiday, and Chris Cornell.-Personal life:...

's uncle, who died during the recording of the album, and how Brent and his cousin, professional wrestler Olivia Smith, dealt with his death. The song "If You Only Knew," which is about Smith's then-fiance and newborn child, was the first time that he had written a love ballad for Shinedown.

Shinedown's tour to support the album subsequently started with the band playing a few festival shows before the release of The Sound of Madness.

The Sound of Madness is Shinedown's most successful album, and has issued both one multi-platinum single ("Second Chance
Second Chance (Shinedown song)
"Second Chance" is a song by American hard rock band Shinedown and the second single from their 2008 album, The Sound of Madness. However, the song is not included on the UK release of The Sound of Madness...

") and a gold single ("If You Only Knew"), as well as being certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2010 for shipments over 1,000,000 copies.
The Sound of Madness is the first album to feature guitarist Zach Myers and bassist Eric Bass.

Pre-release and production

Brent Smith told Billboard.com
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

, "It's time to just go over the top, literally go above and beyond what a human being thinks they're capable of recording. We want to do a huge hard rock record that has a lot of crossover potential but also some of the most insanely intense and heavy material that this band has ever tried—and see if we can pull it off." Smith said the group had more than forty songs written from writing sessions in Atlanta, Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Shinedown road tested four "potential singles," "Sound of Madness," "The Crow & the Butterfly," "Second Chance" and "Devour," on a short run of shows.

The band began working on The Sound of Madness after several off-date shows in the summer of 2007. Recording began in Los Angeles on September 20, 2007, with the final CD being completed in early-mid 2008.

On June 17, 2008, the entire original album was made available for streaming on the band's MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 page. It was removed again a few days later.

Touring

In the fall of 2008 Shinedown embarked on their biggest tour of Europe at the time, supporting Disturbed in a number of countries.

In January 2009 the band embarked on a European tour, and most notably toured with Staind
Staind
Staind is an American rock band that was formed in 1995 in Springfield, Massachusetts. For 16 years, the band consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April, and drummer Jon Wysocki...

 in July.

Shinedown supported the highly anticipated "Stimulate This!" Tour with Staind. The tour kicked off July 1 and ran through the end of August. Other acts included Chevelle, Halestorm, and Lo-Pro
Lo-Pro
Lo-Pro is an American five-piece hard rock band. They released a self-titled album in 2003. However, after touring in support of the album, they were dropped from the Geffen record label. The band then spent years working on new material, and streaming many new songs on their Myspace...

.

On August 29, 2009, Shinedown performed a free concert at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY. The hour and 20 min show brought in just under 20,000 people from all over the state. The size of the crowd was more than hired security could handle, and over 40 state troopers were called in for crowd control. This was stated to be the largest crowd ever drawn for a free concert in NYS fair history.

Shinedown began their fall 2009 headline tour in Baltimore, MD on September 10, 2009, and performed at the Baltimore Ravens kickoff party. The show was free and also includeed Tantric
Tantric (band)
Tantric is a rock band from Louisville, Kentucky. The group has released four studio albums since 2001; although, their last two albums only retain Tantric's original singer, Hugo Ferreira...

, Cavo
Cavo
Cavo is an American hard rock band from St. Louis, Missouri. Because of their sound and musical influences, they are sometimes classified as post-grunge.-Band history:...

, Halestorm
Halestorm
Halestorm is an American rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania. The group's self-titled debut album was released on April 28, 2009 through Atlantic Records.-History:...

 and Egypt Central
Egypt Central
Egypt Central is an American rock band from Memphis, Tennessee.-Formation and debut album :Egypt Central was formed on October 2, 2002. They wrote and recorded for one year until generating a buzz in their hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. After eight shows, they caught the attention of former Lava...

. The remainder of the Headline tour was supported by Sick Puppies
Sick Puppies
Sick Puppies is an Australian rock band, formed in 1997. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Shimon Moore, bassist Emma Anzai and drummer Mark Goodwin....

, Adelitas Way
Adelitas Way
Adelitas Way is a hard rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada that broke into mainstream in 2009 for their song "Invincible", which is the official theme song for WWE Superstars on WGN America. They also perform the song "A New Day" as the theme song for the defunct WWE Tag Team The Legacy and later used...

, and Cavo.

Shinedown played at the Download Festival, held at Donington Park
Donington Park
Donington Park is a motorsport circuit near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England.Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the pre-war period when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship...

 in the UK, in 2009. During an interview with Kerrang at the festival, Brent Smith stated that they plan to play new material when they return in late 2009.
In the fall of 2008 Shinedown embarked on their biggest tour of Europe at the time, supporting Disturbed in a number of countries. On December 18, 2008 it was announced via the band's website that lead guitarist Nick Perri would leave the band after that night's show after less than a year with the group. Statements released from Smith and Perri both cited personal reasons as the main factors in Perri's departure, with Perri's statement highlighting that his decision had "nothing to do with the band". Zach Myers was announced by Smith to be taking over Perri's lead guitarist position.

Singles

The album's lead single was "Devour
Devour (song)
"Devour" is a song recorded and performed by the hard rock band Shinedown. The song was released as the first single in promotion of the band's third studio album, The Sound of Madness. The track landed online and at multi-format rock radio outlets nationwide on May 5...

" and it was released on May 5, 2008. "Devour" was the theme song for WWE Night of Champions on June 29, 2008. It is featured as the title song for MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Island
Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Island
Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Island is the sixteenth season of the reality television game show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, which aired on the American cable tv network MTV. It premiered on September 10, 2008 at 10pm ET/PT...

. It is also featured on the games Madden 09, Rock Band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...

as a downloadable track, and the song is part of the Shinedown track pack in Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5 is a music video game and the fifth main entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game was developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision, and released internationally in September 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, 3 and Wii consoles...

along with Second Chance and Sound of Madness.
This song also featured in The Final Destination which was released in August 2009.

The album's second single was "Second Chance
Second Chance (Shinedown song)
"Second Chance" is a song by American hard rock band Shinedown and the second single from their 2008 album, The Sound of Madness. However, the song is not included on the UK release of The Sound of Madness...

" was used in promotion for Season 2 of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and is the second single. The band performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on September 5, 2008.

On December 27, 2008, "Second Chance" hit the number one spot on the U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Chart and held the spot for ten weeks, losing their number-one streak to Nickelback
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....

 on March 7, 2009. Two months later, the song hit #1 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, making it their first #1 on the at chart, and held the spot for 3 non-consecutive weeks. "Second Chance" reached the number one position of Billboard's Hot Adult Top 40 Chart on June 20, 2009.

"Second Chance" was Shinedown's biggest hit to date, being their first single to reach the top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100, where it has reached #7 as of the June 20, 2009 issue.

"Second Chance" was certified as a Platinum single on May 27, 2009, and has since been certified 2x platinum by the RIAA.

The titled track, "Sound of Madness" was released on February 23, 2009 as the band's third single and hit number one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Chart in the US. It was used for the Wrestlemania 25 replay on NBC.

"If You Only Knew" was released as the fourth single from "The Sound of Madness" on August 31, 2009, with an accompanying music video released on October 6, 2009. Brent Smith
Brent Smith
Brent Smith is the lead vocalist and singer-songwriter of the band Shinedown. His biggest influences as a singer are Otis Redding, Billie Holiday, and Chris Cornell.-Personal life:...

 wrote the song about himself and ex fiancé while she was pregnant with their child.

"The Crow & the Butterfly
The Crow & the Butterfly
"The Crow & the Butterfly" is the fifth single by the rock band Shinedown from their 2008 album The Sound of Madness. The song was written by Shinedown lead singer Brent Smith...

" was the album's fifth single and it received radio airplay on April 6, 2010. Frontman Brent Smith explained on the radio interview program Rockline that while the band were writing the new album, he had a dream about a mother whose son passes away. He wrote the song about the mother dealing with the death of her child and trying to move on.

Standard version

Deluxe version

2010 deluxe reissue

2010 vinyl reissue

Track notes:
  • The song "Junkies for Fame", rumored to be released as an album track, an iTunes
    ITunes
    iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

     exclusive, a retailer-exclusive bonus track and later falsely confirmed by the band to be a Target
    Target Corporation
    Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...

     exclusive song debuted via the video game Rock Band
    Rock Band
    Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...

     on July 22. On August 18 the song was released for download on iTunes and Amazon.

Personnel

It is unclear which members of Shinedown (aside from Kerch and Smith) actually recorded the tracks on The Sound of Madness due to multiple lineup changes during the time the album was being recorded. The album booklet gives credit to many studio musicians for guitar and bass, leaving open exact track credits.

Credits

  • Brent Smith
    Brent Smith
    Brent Smith is the lead vocalist and singer-songwriter of the band Shinedown. His biggest influences as a singer are Otis Redding, Billie Holiday, and Chris Cornell.-Personal life:...

     – vocals
    Singing
    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

  • Barry Kerch
    Barry Kerch
    Barry Kerch is a professional musician who currently plays the drums in the hard rock band Shinedown. Along with lead vocalist Brent Smith, he is the only remaining original member of the band.-Personal life:...

     – drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

  • Nick Perri
    Nick Perri
    Nick Perri is a professional lead guitarist, songwriter, producer-engineer, and business owner. He has played for the platinum bands/artists Shinedown, Perry Farrell, Silvertide, Matt Sorum, SINAI, and Christina Perri. In 2009 Perri launched PERRI INK. LLC as a parent company for his future...

     - Lead Guitar
    Lead guitar
    Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...

  • Zach Myers
    Zach Myers
    Zach Myers was born in 1983 in Memphis, Tennessee. He founded and is currently the lead singer and guitarist for the rock band The Fairwell...

     – Rhythm Guitar
    Rhythm guitar
    Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...

    , Backing Vocals
    Backing vocalist
    A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

  • Eric Bass – bass
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

    , Backing Vocals
    Backing vocalist
    A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...


Additional musicians

  • Chris Chaney
    Chris Chaney
    Chris Chaney is a rock bass player who has performed with artists including Jane's Addiction, Alanis Morissette, Slash, and many others. He was the bass player in the third incarnation of Jane's Addiction and a member of Morissette's touring and recording band for seven years...

     – bass
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

  • Tim Pierce – guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

  • Dave Bassett – guitar
  • Bobby Huff – guitar and keyboards on "Breaking Inside"
  • Dale Oliver
    Dale Oliver
    Dale Byron Oliver is an American music composer who works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Formerly a guitarist in BackHawk , Oliver serves mainly as a composer of theme music used in professional wrestling.-Music composer for TNA:Since 2003, Oliver writes, records, and produces music under...

     – guitar on "Breaking Inside"
  • Rob Cavallo
    Rob Cavallo
    Rob Cavallo is a record producer and A&R, most famous for signing and producing Green Day. He is currently Chairman of Warner Bros. Records.- History :...

     – additional guitar and piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

     on "Call Me"
  • David Campbell – String arrangements and conduction
  • Jamie Muhoberac
    Jamie Muhoberac
    Jamie Muhoberac is a session keyboardist with numerous credits, including The All-American Rejects, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones , Backstreet Boys, Aly & AJ, Bob Dylan, Goo Goo Dolls, Chris Cornell , My Chemical Romance, Paradise Lost, Girlfriend, Carmen Rizzo and Pet Shop Boys...

     – keyboards
    Keyboard instrument
    A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...


Reception

The Sound of Madness received mixed to positive reviews. Ed Thompson of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

 wrote a positive review, stating that "There really is nothing new or Earth-shatteringly original included here. But likewise, there really isn't a weak track on the record." However, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...

 of Allmusic gave a mixed review, noting that "Shinedown serve up what they always have: active modern rock embodying the sound of post-grunge in the new millennium without offering much that is memorable, either for better or for worse."

The album debuted on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 at Number 8 and Number 3 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart. The Sound of Madness sold 50,000 copies in its first week. As of March 3, 2010, the album has sold 955,695 copies.

The Sound of Madness went on to spend 120 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 chart starting from its June 24, 2008 release & ending in late October 2010. The album returned to the Billboard 200 chart after leaving it for two months & has now spent more than 134 weeks on the chart.

Singles

Year Single Peak positions
U.S. Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

Mainstream Rock Modern Rock US
Rock
Rock Songs
Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs...

U.S. Pop 100 CAN Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...

2008 "Devour
Devour (song)
"Devour" is a song recorded and performed by the hard rock band Shinedown. The song was released as the first single in promotion of the band's third studio album, The Sound of Madness. The track landed online and at multi-format rock radio outlets nationwide on May 5...

"
114 1 13
"Second Chance
Second Chance (Shinedown song)
"Second Chance" is a song by American hard rock band Shinedown and the second single from their 2008 album, The Sound of Madness. However, the song is not included on the UK release of The Sound of Madness...

"
7 1 1 8 3 29
2009 "Sound of Madness" 85 1 5 2
"If You Only Knew" 42 2 7 4 21 64
2010 "The Crow & the Butterfly
The Crow & the Butterfly
"The Crow & the Butterfly" is the fifth single by the rock band Shinedown from their 2008 album The Sound of Madness. The song was written by Shinedown lead singer Brent Smith...

"
97 1 6 1 51
"Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)
Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)
"Diamond Eyes " is a digital single by Shinedown, written for the 2010 film The Expendables. The song was released on iTunes on June 15, 2010, and to online retailers on June 21, 2010. It is the nineteenth track on The Sound of Madness.The song was released to U.S. radio on December 7...

"
111 1 17 7

Album

Release date Chart positions US sales RIAA
Certification
International
Sales
US
Albums
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

June 24, 2008 8 1,200,000+ Platinum 1,300,000+
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