Threat to Survival

Great CD

I won't lie, as a fan of Shinedown I wasn't sure about this album. Like many fans out there, I've been following the band before the album was released. The band told us the album was going to be different, and they released a couple of songs for us to hear. It reminded me a lot of Metallica, and how much St. Anger affected their fans. (Load and Reload as well, but hear me out first) The sound on St. Anger wasn't similar to any albums the band produced before. Some fans were not happy with the album when they first heard it, and probably never played it again. They only heard it, ONE TIME, twice maybe just to make sure they made the right decision. (I'm not saying all Metallica fans, but the few that I know did not give the album a chance)Threat To Survival is similar to St. Anger. A different sound that fans are not used to, and quickly being judged because it doesn't carry the Shinedown sound. If you listen to the album with a negative attitude you're going to miss out on a lot. Just because the band decided to take a change it doesn't mean it's not Shinedown.When "Cut the Cord" came out, the reviews I saw on Youtube liked the song. (I think most were just happy to have a new song out by Shinedown) It sounds different, but it's pretty catchy. Once the other songs were released then everyone started to complain.You have to give this album time. Get rid of the negative attitude, and just listen to it. Pay attention to the lyrics if you don't like the sound. If you play it ten times and still don't like it, then it's not the album for you. I'm sure there's a song or two that you will like, for me it's 'State of my Head' and 'Misfits'. But from one Shinedown fan to another, give the album a chance. It is a really good album.

I am 63 years old and music is a big part of my life. My 9 year old daughter loves Shinedown as much as I do.We are both serious music lovers and lean more towards well produced and thought out songs. We focus moston the talent of the musicians as well as the lyrics. Being an ex rock drummer and guitar player it's great to hearthe quality of Shinedown's musical delivery. My daughter is learning music and I'm teaching her how to drum andkeeping time on songs which she is very good at learning quickly. She is going to be making her own music inthe future. I have a disease which makes it very difficult to hold the drum sticks now but still manage to followand make music. The disease I have is ALS which is very limiting at times. But music makes the difficult daysa lot better to get through as it helps me forget how limited my life has become. I use music as a meditation toolthat relaxes me and my mind better than any drug that I've tried or have to use now. Thanks to bands such asShinedown, my days are much easier to get through!

I've been a Shinedown fan since 2005 and I've witnessed their progress in music. I agreed with the majority of fans that Threat of Survival is no where near Sound of Madness but it doesn't mean I love them any less. Yes, this album is different, it's not what we're use to, it's not as hard or as loud but the one thing Shinedown hasn't changed is themselves. This is just another version of them. This is a mature version of Shinedown that we know and love. They're still a rock band, they still love what they do, and we're as a fan we should support them.Threat of Survival is something we all can enjoy. It contains so much meanings and this is obviously very personal to them. I enjoy every single song. My initial reaction was "This is different" but the more I listen, the more I can hear Shinedown, not from the style of music but from the words that were beautifully sung by Brent. Any old or new fans should totally appreciate that.

Personal...love Shinedown!

I say best POP-Rock of 2015 because there is a lot of Pop in this new album. And this has got to be one of the best produced pop-rock albums, soooo polished, to a fault really. And where are the guitars, not just the great solos, but overall guitar sounds?? For the most part, unfortunately gone:/ There are a lot of "pop" oriented sounds here, and IMHO, over-processed vocals, which gives it that current pop sound that top 40 radio people like. The things is, as all Shinedown fans know, the lead singer's voice is one of the best in rock history, needing almost no processing except the regular stuff record producers add. BUT on the BIG plus side, Shinedown's very strong melodic rifs are still there, just not done with a lot of guitars, more so keyboards and layered vocals & backing vocals, which will make a live show interesting and full of "background taped bits", especially without a keyboard player on stage. It is less of the traditional Shinedown sound than I and most longtime fans will like, but I think the driving force for this direction may be the sad decline of the ROCK genre, which is a THREAT TO SURVIVAL for Shinedwown, and many rock bands. These days a rock group needs album sales & radio play to "stay in business" and be able to draw a crowd to their live shows, so if adding "pop" to some of their albums keeps Shinedown in the charts and getting radio play so they can continue producing albums and touring, then so be it, let's welcome what they chose to do so we can still get more albums from them as well as live concerts ...which everyone knows is an amazing show, an event really. So suggest we be greatfull and be loyal fans to the group and support their decisions and (hopefully temproary) direction, even if it may not be our favorite. It's still great music! After all, there are many elements to this new album that are still true to Shinedown, including their dramatic & emotional melodies & lyrics, and it's still better than 99% of new stuff that is played on the radio today.