![]() ![]() ![]() Mind you, it’s worth noting that the groove in question didn’t last any longer than this LP: when the band released their next album, THE SOUND OF MADNESS, Battaglia was nowhere to be found in terms of production or songwriting. Having co-written several songs on LEAVE A WHISPER, it was certainly easy enough for Shinedown to work with Battaglia, and in addition to producing US AND THEM, he also had a hand in cowriting 10 of the album’s 13 songs, so it’s clear that he and the band found a groove and stuck with it. Recorded partly in Jacksonville and the rest in Sanford, Florida, US AND THEM was produced by Tony Battaglia, stepping into the role held by Bob Marlette on the band’s debut album, LEAVE A WHISPER. If you were part of that camp, then first of all, shame on you, but secondly, we’re happy to inform you (as if you Shinedown fans didn’t already know) that US AND THEM provided the band with their second consecutive platinum-selling LP, which offers some pretty solid proof that they were in no way a flash in the pan. Today’s focus is being placed on an album which was released 15 years ago this month, and in addition to being Shinedown’s second album, it’s also the LP which defied anyone who believed that the Jacksonville, Florida band was destined to deliver a sophomore slump of an album. But after all its populist concessions, Us and Them isn't it.Welcome back to another installment of “You ‘Aughta’ Know,” the slightly title-tweaked feature usually known as “You Oughta Know,” which of late we’ve been utilizing to shine a spotlight on some albums from the 2000s – otherwise known as “the Aughts” – that you’ve either forgotten or, God forbid, never heard about in the first place. Shinedown definitely have a rewarding hard rock album in them somewhere. It's a confusing song that doesn't do anything for the album's continuity. ![]() Elsewhere, "I Dare You" is like a formula and an experiment all in one, suggesting light pop like the Calling even as gritty guitars churn up the reverb. They didn't invent ploddingly urgent post-grunge either, but provided the most recent examples with their string of early-2000s hits. "Save Me" and "Beyond the Sun" are direct descendants of 3 Doors Down. Shinedown have been road-tested, and they prove it again on "Trade Yourself In" and "Yer Majesty." Unfortunately, for most of Us and Them the band still relies too much on formula. ![]() Shinedown frontman Brent Smith channels Chris Cornell (or at least Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy) on opener "The Dream," but the song's grunge theft is forgiven by its airtight groove. The quartet played something like 400 shows over the course of 20, and that gelling process is unquestionably a factor in the more realized hard rock sound of the 2005 follow-up, Us and Them. But it became a hit, certainly due in part to radio support, but mostly because of the Jacksonville, FL-based band's reputation as a great live act. The debut LP Leave a Whisper offered more of the same - a satisfactory sound as rock radio filler, but ultimately pretty calculated. Shinedown's 2003 single "Fly from the Inside" blended atmospheric Alice in Chains references with a lumbering post-grunge sound similar to Nickelback. ![]()
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