The band I chose to write about is Shinedown, and I think their style is Alternative Rock which has its roots in hard rock and a somewhat grunge with it even on vocals in some of their songs. Most of their songs cover the hard rock rhythms and instruments in them. They don't use many electronic or experimental sounds, but they use guitar, bass and drums. Brent Smith, the lead singer, has a strong voice and his lyrics are a bit poetic at times. They don't have "concept albums", because they usually have albums full of singles. Shinedown started in 2001, and their original band members were Brent Smith, Barry Kerch, Brad Stewart and Jasin Smith. After 2 years together they released their debut album in 2003 (Grierson). Their sound was soon compared to Nickleback and Creed, which were a popular sound in the early 2000s, and their debut album eventually went platinum (Rivadavia). The song's most popular hit was the single "Fly from the Inside", but my favorite song on the album was their cover of "simple man". Simple Man was originally a Lynard Skynard song, but they did a great job with the cover. Some time later the band released an album called Sound of Madness, and on that album they worked with a bigger producer, Rob Cavallo, who worked with bands like Goo Goo Dolls and Greed Day. As the years went by the band changed members a couple of times, but Brent and Barry were there the whole time (Rivadavia). During the tour they toured with 3 Doors Down, and this helped increase their popularity even more (Grierson). They also toured with bands like Van Halen and Velvet Revolver. (Grierson) Tim Grierson of About.com says that, "Shinedown play melodic hard rock... middle of paper... they're clearly a rock band, but their style and sound tends to change a bit ". . I think he has the power in his voice to be able to experiment with his sound and broaden the capabilities of their band. Personally I like their acoustic songs like "call me". It's sweet enough to be heard at any time, and it also shows that he doesn't have to just stand near loud instruments when singing, because he still sounds pretty good with slow, more rather acoustic sounds. “Call Me” also uses a piano which I like in rock songs. It's a similar change to a couple of Led Zepplen songs. Work Cited Grieson, Tim. "Shinedown Biography - Profile of the rock band Shinedown." About.com Rock music. Np, nd Web. April 16, 2014.Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Shinedown | Biography | All music." All the music. Np, 2014. Web. 16 April. 2014.