The chatter in the buildup to Shinedown’s seventh album Planet Zero (Atlantic Records) has focused on the lyrics and subject matter and a new ground for a band who have stood up for unity, mental health support, and anti-bullying. Freedom of speech has long been a vanguard of rock lyrics, and it is interesting that Shinedown’s challenge of cancel culture has been seen as evidence of an underlying conservatism, though lines about people being “woke, but not awake” and sections of the society being “Clueless and Dramatic” will invite comment, even if the stated intention is to encourage exploration of nuance and individuality. Indeed, the band stated on the album launch “It’s not a record for the right, it’s not a record for the left… it’s a record for all of us.”
Perhaps the overall lyrical message is prevalent to the well-meaning ‘Dysfunctional You’ and ‘A Symptom Of Being Human’ too, as, while some of the lyrics are on the clumsy side, the positivity and the intention of the songs is the more important element, particularly the invitation to be “the wonderful dysfunctional you”? Here is a thought – maybe it is not a binary thing…
On the musical side, all aspects of Shinedown’s repertoire are strongly represented on Planet Zero – the title-track is a slower, swinging stomp (as for Shinedown not being metal, the riff structure and approach is actually not far from latter-day Manowar in style – honest!); ‘Sure Is Fun’ is poppy and electro-based and site in Falling In Reverse territory; ‘America Burning’ plays around a country-style motif before building to a driving pre-chorus and bouncing guitar energy and a cool melodic solo; ‘Daylight’ is an earnest and heartfelt piano ballad; and ‘No Sleep Tonight’ and ‘Army Of The Underappreciated’ are energetic, pacy blasts, ripped from their The Sound of Madness era.
All prove that vocalist Brent Smith and the nominative predetermined Eric Bass continue to have an unerring knack of writing massive rock songs – the title track will fill any arena either side of any ocean – with distinctive chunky guitar motifs and choruses that embed and don’t let go.
Under the production lead of Bass, Shinedown have stripped things back, removing the layers of synth and cinema that had embellished previous offerings, resulting in a more straight-forward alternative hard rock sound which sits nicely as a direct comparator to their contemporaries. The guitars and Smith’s vocals are still front and centre, and the sound benefits from an unclustered approach that highlights the strength of the Shinedown songwriting.
Where the album dynamics take a little getting used to is that our musical journey is broken up by the interjects of the AI host on Planet Zero, dropping hints of cynicism, leading to stark warnings that failure to adhere to pre-determined, standardised group behaviour will result in deletion… and a midsection run that cools the momentum a little. That isn’t to say any of the tracks drop standards, they don’t, though when things end with the quirky ‘What You Wanted’, there is a feeling that the pacing and arrangement of the album could have been stronger.
Whether political or not, and the overall feeling is that this is more about encouraging individuality and critical review and not getting swept up in klout-based group thinking whilst highlighting the dangers a collective mindset can bring than planting a flag either side of the right / left dividing line, in and amongst a series of worthy heavy contemporary rock tracks, Shinedown have provoked a challenge on album seven.
Buy the album here: https://shinedown.lnk.to/PlanetZero
7 / 10
STEVE TOVEY