As we reach the final two tracks, we find a complete flop and an absolute masterpiece. This earns it respect as one of the better heavy tracks on the CD. Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide nearly suffers the same fate as Sin With a Grin, but it is far more catchy and seems to come more naturally. What a Shame is a nice late-album find, as Smith's songwriting invokes a strong sense of meaning into the whole experience. It rocks hard, but you are left with somewhat of an empty feeling by the time the song ends like it should have (and could have) been so much more. Sin With a Grin is clearly an attempt to shift the album's momentum back to the fast rock-your-world type of pace with which it began. The second half is quite different from the first, taking more risks and failing almost as much as they succeed. With nary a misstep, Shinedown delivers a solid first half of an album. Instead, it seems to glide more smoothly and churns out the mellow, sure to be a radio-hit chorus "it's 4:03 and I can't sleep / without you next to me I toss and turn like the sea / if i drown tonight bring me back to life / the only thing that i still believe in is you / if you only knew". If You Only Knew is an almost equally impressive follow up, but it is not quite as powerful as the aforementioned song. Easily the most compelling song on the CD, The Crow and The Butterfly soars around the top of Shinedown's already accomplished list of ballads. Cry for Help gets stamped with the "filler song" tag.there is nothing terribly wrong with the song, but it serves mostly as a buffer between two amazing ballads, the next of which is The Crow and The Butterfly. Second Chance is something to is poetic, uplifting, and heartfelt - and likely the best mid-tempo song Shinedown has ever created.
As you probably guessed, it was time to slow things down with the next track. The title track follows suit, with a catchy guitar riff and almost dance-able beat. The album kicks off with a head-banging anthem in "Devour", which opens with an amazing drum/piano sequence and explodes into Brent Smith's energetic vocals. The Sound of Madness finds a balance in the intensity of the songs, without sounding choppy or forced. While Leave a Whisper has taken on the role of Shinedown's measuring stick, this album does not disappoint - in fact it proves to be the answer for fans who thought "Leave A Whisper" was too heavy and that "Us And Them" was too soft. The irony of the title is that the sound of the album is the opposite of madness it is closer to a tightly crafted musical masterpiece. Shinedown returns with their third studio album, "The Sound of Madness". Review Summary: "The Sound of Madness Is Beautiful"