The band I chose to write about is Shinedown, and I think their style is alternative rock that is rooted in hard rock and a little bit of grunge with it as well. alternative rock. singing on some of their songs. Most of their songs feature hard rock rhythms and instruments. They don't use a lot of electronic sounds or experimental sounds, but they do use guitar, bass and drums. Brent Smith, the lead singer, has a strong voice and his lyrics are somewhat poetic at times. They don't have "concept albums", as they usually have albums full of singles. Shinedown began in 2001 and the original members of the group were Brent Smith, Barry Kerch, Brad Stewart and Jasin Smith. After 2 years of living together, they released their first album in 2003 (Grierson). Their sound was compared early on 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 from the album was their cover of "Simple Man". Simple Man was originally a Lynard Skynard song, but they did a really good job covering it. Some time later, the group released an album called Sound of Madness, and on this album they worked with a bigger producer, Rob Cavallo, who worked with bands like Goo Goo Dolls and Greed Day. Over the years the band has changed members several times, but Brent and Barry have been there the whole time (Rivadavia). While on tour, they toured with 3 Doors Down, which helped increase their popularity even further (Grierson). They also toured with bands like Van Halen and Velvet Revolver. (Grierson) Tim Grierson of About.com says that "Shinedown plays melodic hard rock middle of paper...they're clearly a rock band, but their style and sound tends to shift a bit." . I think he kind of has the power in his voice to be able to experiment with his sound and expand the capabilities of their band. Personally, I like their acoustic songs like “call me”. It's soft enough to listen to at any time, and it also shows that he doesn't just need to be near loud instruments when singing, as he still sounds pretty good with the slower, more acoustic sounds . “Call Me” also uses piano which I like in rock songs. It's a bit of a change that sounds like a few Led Zepplen songsWork CitedGrieson, Tim. “Shinedown Biography – Shinedown Rock Band Profile.” About.com Rock Music. Np, and Web. April 16, 2014. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Shinedown | Biography | AllMusic." All music. NP, 2014. Web. April 16. 2014.