How do you top an eight year run that includes Gold and Platinum selling CDs, inclusion on video game, television, movie and sporting event sound tracks and the performance of one of your songs by a contestant on American Idol?  Shinedown’s answer to this is the release of their latest CD, The Sound of Madness, and the coup of landing not one, but two tracks  (Devour and Junkies For Fame) as downloadable content on everyone’s favorite music video game, Rock Band.

Shinedown concerts have long been recognized as intense and energetic events and 2008 also brings a tour to support the new release.  Catch the band live in the US during the fall of 2008, then they’re off on the European leg of the tour for the remainder of the year.

Is The Sound of Madness(The Clutter Madness) the best Shinedown cd to date?  It debuted at 8th spot on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, already besting the chart performance of the band’s previous releases, 2005’s Gold selling Us and Them and the 2003 debut, Platinum-selling Leave A Whisper.  With three new members complementing remaining originals, vocalist Brent Smith and drummer Barry Kerch, the sound is reportedly the heaviest to date for the band.  Add a Grammy award-winning producer (Rob Cavallo) whose background includes working with the likes of Green Day, Kid Rock and My Chemical Romance, and it begins to look more and more like a sure thing.  Rolling Stone magazine readers have awarded the new CD 4.5 stars (out of a possible 5); certainly a positive indicator.

If you’ve somehow missed out on this hard rock Florida phenomena, check out the Shinedown videos available online.  Shinedown’s live version of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man (a cover released by the band in 2004 as a tribute to murdered Pantera guitarist and friend Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott) has been viewed nearly 700,000 times on YouTube.  The video for 45, banned by MTV, is also a popular choice and if you want to get a taste of the famed live experience but can’t make any of the upcoming shows, try the 2005 concert DVD Live From The Inside.

Leveraging new media to its full potential, Shinedown has embraced technology and opportunities, allowing fans and potential fans unprecedented access to music and band-related material.  Shinedown’s web site includes the usual offerings: concert listings, a bio, Shinedown photos and merchandise.  It also features a frequently updated and candid blog by members of the band as well as concert footage and music videos.  The band took the unusual (and some would say risky) step of posting all of the tracks for The Sound of Madness on its MySpace page –before the CD was even released.  With a growing fan base, critically acclaimed music, solid reputation for live performances and a deft touch for marketing through alternative media, Shinedown seems destined to only get bigger.