BY SERENA STAUFFER
Clarkston News Intern Writer
Multi-platinum rock band Shinedown is asking for your consideration once more, with the release of their latest album “Attention Attention.”
“I just think it’s undeniably Shinedown; it’s the most Shinedown record we’ve ever made as far as what we are and what we represent,” said guitarist Zach Myers, who will perform with the band at DTE Energy Music Theater on Sunday, July 22, along with co-headliner Godsmack.
Myers, frontman Brent Smith, bassist Eric Bass, and drummer Barry Kerch tackled themes such as “mental health, facing fears, not being afraid to fail, social media negativity and the resolve of the human spirit,” in their sixth album.
“Attention Attention” features 14 new songs. For the first time, the band went in-house for production, enlisting band member Bass to produce and mix the entire record. Also for the first time, the band wrote it as a “concept album,” meant to be listened to collectively from beginning to end, rather than skipping around.
While the band knew it was going to be a personal album from the start, according to Myers they were halfway through the writing process when they truly saw the story they were creating and the subjects they had been intertwining together song by song.
“It’s a single kind of driven market now; people put out a song and don’t put out a record, but we’re still kind of from this old school mentality of, a record is a picture of who that artist is at that time and that’s kind of how we wanted to be listened to,” he said in a phone interview. “I think that a record should be listened to from start to finish anyway, but especially this one.”
From the opening and ominous track “Devil” to “Get Up,” which has been called the “centerpiece of the album,” and finally closing out with the rousing anthem “Brilliant,” the album as a whole can be seen as Shinedown’s boldest one yet, with the power to resonate with everyone who listens.
Frontman Smith wrote “Get Up” about watching his best friend, Bass, struggle with depression. The song is both gut-wrenching and empowering, and speaks to anyone going through a difficult time.
“When it was written, it kind of opened up this floodgate of things that were okay to write about,” Myers said. “You always wants to be real and you want to be personal and you want to let yourself out there, but you also want to keep a piece of yourself to yourself I guess, and I think with that song it was kind of like, we’re going to put everything out there about ourselves, so we knew it was a special song.”
Since the release of the album in May, it has attained the attention its title seeks. It debuted at number one on the Top Rock Albums, Hard Rock Albums, and Alternative Albums charts.
The first released single “Devil” hit number one at Active Rock Radio, and “Get Up” has amassed over four million streams. And even though this is their sixth album, Myers shared how the excitement surrounding it still very much exists.
“Your reaction is a little bit more outwardly not as excited as you were when you were a kid, but inside you’re just as excited,” he said. “I’m probably even more excited now, honestly. As we get older and the longer we’ve been doing this, six records in, when you release a debut single and it goes number one and it stays there, that’s an exciting moment.”
The rockers played a multitude of music festivals in Europe last month and are now returning to the States to kick off their summer tour; one of their first tour stops being right here in Clarkston.
“I hope everybody comes out the show, I know it’s almost sold-out so come get the last couple tickets,” Myers said. “We’re excited about it; we’re excited to come back and we love playing DTE.”
Go to www.musictheatreclarkston.com to purchase tickets.