![]() ![]() When I bring this up to Smith, pondering how it is as a creative person to see your new work so well received, he’s quick to mention that it doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. Having just seen Shinedown at Inkcarceration over the summer, I can attest that Shinedown fits under the latter umbrella. Other times, there are bands that can play almost exclusively newer songs, and no one leaves the show complaining. Sometimes when you go to watch a band live, you see audience reception favor their older songs and when that band plays new songs live, the audience sort of tunes them out waiting for their older songs to pop back up in the setlist. But, interestingly enough, this kind of success is one that even translates over to their live shows incredibly well, also. ![]() ![]() It’s quite a run, one that undoubtedly makes them one of the more successful rock acts of their time. ![]() To date, they’ve garnered 14 #1 singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Charts (most recently being “MONSTERS” off of ATTENTION ATTENTION), while all 26 singles they’ve released as a band have charted in the top five of that same chart. With ATTENTION ATTENTION, Shinedown have not only made a record that further pushes their sound, but has continued their run of dominance in the rock world. I think a lot of times you don’t recall what you accomplished, so we’ve all kind of, the band and the crew and management and the label, we’ve really tried to stay very on point with each other and in the moment in regards to all of the moments,” Smith explains. “The year’s not necessarily gone by fast, we’ve done so much that we’re trying to take it in. But with that, they’ve been laser focused on their goals and taking the moments in - this doesn’t mean time flies, but some things go unnoticed. He goes on to explain that while Shinedown has been on tour in support of the record, they set out many goals and things they wanted to accomplish - most of which they have done. “I know that each year, it seems that people, especially this time of the year - it was funny, the other day, a friend of mine from back home, I was catching up with him on a couple of things, and he mentioned just using holiday language, and I’ll be honest with you man, I took a deep breath and told him on the phone, ‘Holy crap, I didn’t even realize it was December,'” Smith humorously shares. It’s quite a surprise to me, as I figured with as busy as their touring schedule has been - they just wrapped played their last show of 2019, their 237th since ATTENTION ATTENTION dropped - but he explains otherwise. If you ask Smith, though, about the amount of time already passed since the record came out, he doesn’t feel like it’s necessarily flown by. It’s only fitting, then, that this piece is going live today with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker coming out today. “We brought a bunch of what we call 350-footers, a big firework display, and we ended with the song ‘DEVIL,’ which is the first single from ATTENTION ATTENTION, and I declared to 40,000 people that we are going to share May 4th with Star Wars, because May 4 is now forever National ATTENTION ATTENTION day,” he tells me. When talking to me about the release of ATTENTION ATTENTION, Smith recants the day that the record came out: they were headlining Carolina Rebellion and as they closed with “DEVIL,” he made a proclamation. To be more specific, the record came out on May 4th, 2018, which is of course “Star Wars Day” to most, including Shinedown’s Brent Smith. That’s precisely where Shinedown comes in, having just released arguably their most eclectic release to date, ATTENTION ATTENTION, last year. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this, as it all comes down to personal taste with music being entirely subjective - but, at the same time, when you see a band constantly evolving and pushing their sound forward, it’s a refreshing thing to see. This is especially true for musicians, and creatives as as whole, who want to better themselves and their projects, but can sometimes fall victim to sticking to what they’re good at/what got them popular. When you’re pushing nearly twenty years into any career, things can get stagnant or repetitive. ![]()
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