Hello reader,
Welcome back or welcome if this is your first time at SWT. Explore the place a bit. stick around a bit.
Today, we’re going to delve into Shinedown. The popular US-based rock band was formed in 2001 in Jacksonville, FL. Many have opinions about the importance of Billboard’s charts across its many genres and subgenres. What I do know is that Billboard and some in the industry love them, as do trivia question writers and some music fans. Regardless of what one’s opinion on these charts is, one fact is for sure: Shinedown has the most No. 1s in Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart history with 23. Three above second place: Three Days Grace. Good chances if you’ve turned on modern rock radio stations in the past few decades, you’ve heard a song from both bands.
The band’s lineup has been fairly consistent as a quartet since its formation, with original members Brent Smith as lead vocalist and Barry Kerch on drums. The exception was a brief period of time during touring for The Sound of Madness (2008) album, where Nick Perri of Silvertide joined the band as a fifth member alongside Smith, Kerch, Zach Myers (rhythm guitar), and Eric Bass (rightfully on bass guitar). The quartet of Smith, Kerch, Myers, and Bass has been the band’s stable lineup since that time. Shinedown has released seven studio albums: Leave a Whisper (2003), Us and Them (2005), The Sound of Madness (2008), Amaryllis (2012), Threat to Survival (2015), Attention Attention (2018), and Planet Zero (2022).
My personal history with listening to Shinedown begins in my late high school days. I wasn’t one of the fortunate kids who had an older sibling to get a mixtape or CD from and influence my musical tastes. Luckily, a few friends and I had an overlap in music that we enjoyed. Shinedown’s debut album, Leave a Whisper (2003), was recently released, and a few singles were getting a lot of local radio airplay. We really loved the sound, and as I reflect on present day to over 20 years ago, I think the rawness and emotion of Shinedown’s vocals and sound in general struck a chord with us. Say a decade later, in the same scenario, we would’ve been called hipsters, a term that never got to me as an appreciator of good music and as someone who attended more shows than the average person, especially up-and-coming bands. Back to 2004…Shinedown, along with Silvertide and headliner Tantric, was in the middle of the bill on a late February show at a nearby venue for an 18-and-over audience, so the four of us had to go. And we did. I had turned 18 a couple of months prior. This was my first venue show. I came away with a great appreciation for Silvertide, Shinedown, and live music. Longtime SWT readers may think Josh is part of the group. He was not at the time, as he was not as into the band or modern rock then. Though I haven’t been paying much attention to Shinedown since their 2008 album, as life and other music have taken over my listening time, Josh recently saw them live, and it knocked his socks off. Check out his thoughts and photos after you read this review. I really liked the singles off this new album, so much so that I’m back in it, writing a review.
Shinedown’s eighth studio album, titled EI8HT, is out via Atlantic Records on Friday, May 29th, for your listening pleasure. From the album’s press release, frontman Brent Smith said, “Music, along with my son, is what saved me. Music is the last frontier of human existence, the universal language. It’s the one thing that can bring us all together. Being this far into our career, we labor over what we write and record to get it just right. And that’s what you hear on EI8HT — the sound of us working our asses off and baring our souls to bring everyone together.”
In the press release for the album, Smith noted the following about the song recording process, which placed importance on live takes: “Eric is always making sure that we follow Shinedown’s mission statement: to serve the fans the most authentic piece of art we can give them. Once again, it’s about being human. These songs are all rooted in organic elements.”
Smith continued, “EI8HT doesn’t follow anything. That’s the beauty of the album. This was a completely open road. We weren’t trying to harken back to a certain era of the band or gaze in the rearview. Instead, we looked at this album as, ‘Where are we now?’ There’s a lot of heavy subject matter on this record, but there’s a lot of triumph, too. Songs like ‘Dance, Kid, Dance’ and ‘Burning Down the Disco’ show a side of Shinedown that is fun. You can just throw down and groove.”
A final message for the large and welcoming Shinedown Nation? Smith says, “Onwards and upwards. We rise together.”
Giving credit where it’s due. EI8HT album credits:
- Eric Bass – bass, programming, production, engineering, mixing, orchestral arrangements, string arrangements, bass technician, guitar technician
- Barry Kerch – drums
- Zach Myers – guitar
- Brent Smith – vocals
- Dave Bassett – vocal production (all tracks), additional instrumentation (tracks 1–9, 12, 13, 15–18), backing vocals (3, 6, 7, 17), synthesizer (7, 17), strings (9, 17), lap steel guitar (9), synthesizer programming (13), piano (17)
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Eric Wayne Rickert – engineering assistance
- Ricky Sanders – drum technician
And now for some hype for both your ears and eyes via Shinedown’s YouTube channel:
The pills will make you dance according to the lyrics in the song, “Dance, Kid, Dance”:
(All credits and rights to Shinedown)
A lot can happen in a year. The impactful, collective human experience featured within the animated video for the song “Three Six Five”:
(All credits and rights to Shinedown)
In the recording space within the video for the song “Searchlight”:
(All credits and rights to Shinedown)
You’re on tour with the band in the video for the song, “Killing Fields”:
(All credits and rights to Shinedown)
Whether you’re a first-time listener of the band or a 25-year fan, you will like EI8HT. There’s a good amount of overlap in the band’s sound that will catch the ears of all listeners, from Smith’s lyrics and unmistakable vocals to Kerch’s rock-steady, ferocious drumming, Myers’ solos and riffs, Bass creating grooves on his fittingly named instrument, and the group working so well together to craft earworm-worthy melodies. There are plenty of new and welcome moments, too. And it all works. The country-rock ballad “Searchlight,” complete with banjo, fiddle, steel guitar, and more. From the dance-worthy songs to the piano-driven, more ballady songs that further give Smith’s vocals moments to shine, along with the new themes that abound on this release.
While different from the past albums, it remains a Shinedown album. If you listened blindly, you wouldn’t call it a work of another band. I think there’s something to be said for crafting music in a way you know it’s from a group of musicians and only theirs. This is a band still at the peak of its genre, entertaining the masses in the studio and live. Kudos all around. And to Bass, Bassett, and Jensen for their production and sound-related work on this album. See above the videos in the credits portion of this review for a full breakdown of who did what.
I think it’s a solid release from start to finish and flows well from song to song as the melodies vary and change. I personally loved how strong the middle and end of the album were. And more importantly, hearing these songs live will bring thousands together in each city, including new fans in a collective experience for the length of the show. United, like only that setting can do, moved by music that heals, makes you feel, and is cathartic. Kudos to Shinedown for creating a space for this.
EI8HT gets 4.5 out of 5 Scum Drops from me. I think overall this is Shinedown’s best album in years, and firmly among the best albums within Shinedown’s eight-album discography, in my opinion. Long-time fans, what do you think? You may disagree, and that’s ok. To me, this is an excellent album relative to all 2026 new releases, fitting well within the 84th-95th percentile. Right now, I’d say the lower portion of that range, which is still a great album worth listening to. And adding to your collection on the formats of your choosing. May I suggest the vinyl?
I’ll always advocate that you take the time to listen to every album in its entirety. The listening process with EI8HT will take just over an hour from start to finish. And just over two hours if you listen twice back-to-back. Along the way, you’ll discover your own favorite songs without the influence or bias of others. After several listens, I found the songs highlighted in green below to be my favorites on this album.
The tracklist for EI8HT (song length)
- At the Bottom (3:49)
- Dance, Kid, Dance (3:32)
- Burning Down the Disco (2:51)
- Three Six Five (3:40)
- Young Again (3:36)
- Dizzy (3:41)
- Imposter (3:37)
- Machine Gun (3:31)
- Outlaw (3:35)
- Safe and Sound (3:21)
- Searchlight (3:34)
- Bear with Me (3:25)
- Deep End (3:27)
- Killing Fields (3:43)
- Back to the Living (3:45)
- Wide Open (3:46)
- So Glad That You Asked (4:04)
- The Pilot (3:31)
Total runtime: 64:28
For more tour info and merch, check out their website, listen to more music on their Spotify page, and their YouTube. And check out their socials on Instagram and Facebook.
Thank you for reading and supporting good music.
Until next time,
Alex
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site, scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions and SWT Interviews. And all of our socials.
Questions, feedback, or more? Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
