HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY – Leave A Whisper – Shinedown

Let’s go back to 2003. LINKIN PARK, KORN, and AUDIOSLAVE dominated the radio waves and sound systems of many a teenage bedroom. Downtuning was the entry requirement to make it big. With the exemption of the final band, it didn’t seem like the best time to reorchestrate the post-grunge revival, did it? Yet on May 27 2003, a little known SHINEDOWN released their debut album: Leave A Whisper.

SHINEDOWN has always been a band about second chances. Their biggest single is literally called Second Chance. Though before 2008’s The Sound Of Madness had a chokehold on the alternative scene, vocalist Brent Smith was given his own second chance. Smith’s previous band, DREVE, had been signed to Atlantic Records in 2000. In an episode of Track X Track With Meltdown, Smith recalls the songwriting sessions being tumultuous for the label saying, “they were trying to work out if we were capable of writing the songs”. Smith was sent to Los Angeles to work with a team of songwriters including Desmond Child. DREVE would be dropped… only for Smith to be re-signed two weeks later on an artist development contract.

Assigned with the task of putting a band together, Smith moved to Jacksonville, Florida where he met Brad Stewart (bass). Smith and Stewart set to work on creating demos in a local studio, the owner of which recommended they meet with her fiancé Jasin Todd (guitar). Auditions for a drummer were opened and the hunt was on. Barry Kerch was seventh in line and selected to join the band.

SHINEDOWN now formed, the only thing left to do was to create the album. “It took a lifetime,” Smith laughed to Meltdown. The process took three years in total, with the recording of the album taking place in late 2002. It took a village to birth Leave A Whisper. Producers Bob Marlette, Tony Battaglia, and Rick Beato (the one from YouTube) were integral to the album’s formation. In one configuration or another, the three powerhouses would share writing credit on a staggering ten of the 12 core tracks.

“Here’s the weight of the world on my shoulders” is the first line of the album and the following scream on the grunge-inspired Fly From The Inside is the reason for Smith blowing his voice out on the first day. As a result, Smith’s approach reminded many of the late Layne Staley (ALICE IN CHAINS) and Josey Scott (SALIVA). In an album of firsts, Left Out was the first song the original band wrote together and would become a live staple for many years. While harsh No More Love was the group’s first use of a baritone guitar which was sacrilegious in a nu-metal world. A collaboration between Smith and Todd while the former was based in a Comfort Inn hotel in Jacksonville Beach, the track would be mixed by Andy Wallace – who worked solely on Logic.

Leave A Whisper would also be the start of SHINEDOWN’s use of autobiographical music. Better Version’s interesting cadence had Smith exorcising his demons. While following Burning Bright was Smith’s first experience with grief as the song was written for his paternal grandmother who was killed in a car crash during the early stages of the record.

Leave A Whisper houses frustration with songwriting, burn out, and a request for a gong. Soon after the album was completed; Smith, Stewart, and Todd embarked on what was delightfully dubbed the “shit-brown Buick tour” where the trio would drive cross country to visit every radio station they possibly could. The promotional cycle was in full swing by the time Leave A Whisper dropped. Had they done enough to please the critics though? Not entirely as Johnny Loftus of AllMusic would state: “SHINEDOWN‘s debut offers scant hope that heavy music will right itself from the nasty stumble of its last few years.”. Fans would disagree as it is currently SHINEDOWN’s second best selling album – The Sound Of Madness taking pole position. Leave A Whisper would also become certified Platinum in the US in 2005, something Smith looked back on fondly in an interview with Loudwire; “I remember the day that we got our gold record (500,000 copies) and then I remember the day that we got the platinum, that was just mind-blowing to me”.

The only thing left for fledgling SHINEDOWN to do now was tour. Extensively. It is reported that between 2003 and 2004, SHINEDOWN would play a momentous 400 shows. Supporting the likes of VAN HALEN, SEETHER, and 3 DOORS DOWN, the manic period was later documented on the band’s DVD Live From The Inside (2005). This was all before “the moment” came in the form of a LYNYRD SKYNYRD cover.

SHINEDOWN’s version of Simple Man’s story began several years earlier. Smith had run out of money while living in Jacksonville and had nowhere to go until Todd’s mother-in-law, Judy Van Zant (wife of Ronnie Van Zant) stepped in. Allowing him to live in her guest-house rent-free for a year was a gesture Smith was hellbent on repaying. During a tour with 3 DOORS DOWN, SHINEDOWN visited a regional radio station in Boston for an acoustic set. The plan had been to perform another song, until Brad Arnold (3 DOORS DOWN) suggested the band play Simple Man instead. The band returned to the radio station a short while later and were told the mp3 recording of the track had been downloaded half a million times within six weeks. This prompted a re-issue in 2004 purely to include Simple Man; a staple on the band’s live set to this day.

Aside from Simple Man, Leave A Whisper would breed one of SHINEDOWN’s biggest hits in 45. Another staple in the band’s current repertoire, this was the first song Smith had written with Tony Battaglia. In a full circle moment, the drums we hear on this track are from Kerch’s audition. Now 20 years later, not only is 45 one of SHINEDOWN’s best songs to date, but is a testament to perseverance.

Recently finishing a tour with THREE DAYS GRACE and FROM ASHES TO NEW over in the States, the celebration of Leave A Whisper is in full swing. Having listened to the album for the first time in over a decade during his flight home from their UK tour last year, Smith has since teased more to come for “the holidays of 2023”. While The Sound Of Madness may take precedence in terms of numbers and sales, Leave A Whisper’s rawness and charm cannot be surpassed. The album which started it all and proves second chances are hard won.

Leave A Whisper was originally released on May 27 2003 via Atlantic Records.

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