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'I won't lie I got really angry,' Smith explains about the first single. THE SOUND OF MADNESS also contains Smith's first-ever political song “Devour,” which he says was inspired by Shinedown's visits to troops in Iraq and his feelings about the end of George W. My son has given me a whole different perspective on things, especially love.' But this song was written the day that I found out that I was going to be a father. 'I just never had a reason to write a love song before.

I'm not that guy,' 'Smith recalls with a laugh. 'A long time ago I said, 'I'll never write a love song. But the likes of 'The Crow and the Butterfly,' 'Breaking Inside' and their latest single 'Second Chance' incorporate more sophisticated, emotional dynamics (enhanced by a 20-piece string section), while Smith counts 'If You Only Knew' as his first straight-up love song. The group's hard rock muscles flex on songs such as the first single, 'Devour,' 'Cry For Help,' 'Sin With a Grin' and the title track. On THE SOUND OF MADNESS, Smith and Shinedown express those thoughts and ideas in ways they never have before. So I just tried to express that in the most artistic and the most honest way I possibly could.' And I can't believe I'm the only one who feels the way I do.

CALL ME SHINEDOWN HOW TO

'I feel that on this record I wrote what a lot of people want to say, but they just don't know how to say it - not that I should tell anyone how to live their lives, but I've had these experiences and these thoughts that are in my head. 'Lyrically, these songs are the most blunt that I've ever written,' says Smith, who formed Shinedown with drummer Barry Kerch in 2001 in Jacksonville, Fla. Where THE SOUND OF MADNESS differs most is in its growth it’s the product of a group that has developed an even clearer vision for how it wanted to impact an audience. However, after one listen, it’s clear that the band didn't shrink from the task. Smith and company began the recording process for THE SOUND OF MADNESS with the formidable task of following up two massively successful albums that yielded a staggering seven consecutive Top five rock and alternative radio hits that included 'Fly From the Inside,' '45,' the chart topping 'Save Me,' and a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Simple Man,' along with a reputation as a hot live band with an insatiable appetite for the road. Like its two predecessors, 2003's Platinum LEAVE A WHISPER and 2005's Gold US AND THEM, THE SOUND OF MADNESS offers a brave and unsparing look into the soul and psyche amidst a fierce musical attack that, even in its quieter moments, vibrate with the passion, energy and focus of a band with high-minded ideals and limitless ambitions. Welcome then to THE SOUND OF MADNESS, Shinedown's third album - and the Florida rockers' boldest effort to date. 'And part of the reason it took so long to make!'

'That was the motivation behind this album.” 'I said, 'You know what - when I'm dead and gone, when everybody in this band has passed or what have you, I want the world to remember this as a record that needed to be made, and that there was a reason for it,' ' Smith says.

Early in 2007, producer Rob Cavallo asked Shinedown frontman Brent Smith about his goals for the band's new album.

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