Review Summary: Amaryllis turns innovation into desperation.
Amaryllis is the fourth studio album in Shinedown’s ever-expanding discography. Serving as the follow up to the widely acclaimed
Sound of Madness,
Amaryllis was a commercially successful record going gold in 2014.
Amaryllis is a shifting point in Shinedown’s discography. Leaving aside the slow-burning radio rock tracks of
…Madness,
Amaryllis looks to crisp production, brighter songs, and tonal energy to grasp audiences. Brent Smith made numerous claims of empowerment, inspiration, and perseverance to be the focal points of
Amaryllis. Another goal was to have
Amaryllis serve as the catalyst for their future. They wanted to go about this transformation by combining past and current elements of their music into the album and move on from there.
The best things
Amaryllis has going for it are the opening and closing tracks. 'Adrenaline' opens the album with a huge burst of energy. A driving rocker with roaring vocals and a burning riff storm through the gates with tons of nitro. 'Through the Ghost' juxtaposes the entrance with a delicate moment of loss and regret. I would regard 'Through the Ghost' not only as my favorite from the album, but among Shinedown’s best performances in their career. As stated by Brent Smith, “…I don’t know if you’ve ever looked at yourself in the mirror and felt as if, you don’t know who that person is anymore,” he continued, “…But I used to look in the mirror, and it felt as if I was looking at a ghost. Sometimes you can’t heal in an instant. It takes days, it takes weeks, it takes years. But don’t give up. Take each and every day as to what it truly is. It’s a gift. This is a song called Through The Ghost.”
Once you take a theme as deep as the one mentioned and translate that into a way listeners can hear and *feel* what you do, magic happens. This is a song where listeners can see the deconstruction mentally as the song runs its course. It’s truly the highest point of the album overall. Shinedown manages to play with different sounds through the album. No song sounds the same, albeit formulaic at times. The title track has a bright acoustic leading into a powerful electric guitar in the chorus. ‘Unity’ takes on a more dramatic direction with a huge intro and chorus to lift the hearts of its listeners. Smith’s voice is complemented well in this track. ‘Nowhere Kids’ brings us back to their original fiery sound with a harmonic filled verse and crawling pre-chorus.
Amaryllis’ big album feel will overbear listeners at time. The tidal wave choruses and intense intros are trying a lot to keep listeners attention throughout. Positivity is more than felt in this one, but that alienates the heavy songs, which are the worst part of the album. Almost all of the “heavy” songs featured feel out of place and contrived. ‘Enemies’ and ‘Nowhere Kids’ don’t fit what the album is trying to mold. In an album centered on empowerment and inspiration, heavy songs ring out of tune. Especially when they’re followed by songs like ‘Miracle’ and ‘Unity.’ Introducing themes of aggression into a positive environment feels counterproductive to say the least. They aren’t necessarily bad songs; they just don’t belong on this album.
‘Bully’ and ‘Follow You Down’ shouldn’t have been included. ‘Bully’ is a generally awful song and could easily be their worst one. The forced message and poor instrumentation alone makes this song more of a joke than anything else. ‘Follow You Down’ has been done a million times by the band. ‘If You Only Knew’ and ‘Miracle’ tell the story so much better. ‘I’m Not Alright’ is a song I don’t know what to feel about. It has weird lyrics and an off sound. I don’t know if I like it or dislike it at times. After listening to
Amaryllis multiple times through, ‘I’m Not Alright’ is the one where I can’t figure out why it’s here or even if it should be here.
Amaryllis falls out of consistency quite a bit and trips over itself despite its 12 tracks and 44 minute runtime.
Amaryllis is such a mixed bag for Shinedown. It’s an album that should be great but falls short of its peak. Listeners can tell Shinedown is going places with the songs introduced, but they find a way to retract that momentum through
Amaryllis’ duration. ‘Adrenaline’ and ‘Through the Ghost’ may be strokes of genius, but everything in between is a mess!
Amaryllis has its moments overall. It’s not a complete waste of an album, but it feels choppy as a whole.
Amaryllis is a hard album for me to recommend. I have such mixed feelings about it that I’d rather suggest certain songs rather than the entire album. Nevertheless, I’d say it’s a suitable album for those who are just getting into rock or just want an easy jam. Otherwise, this isn’t a consistent album to justify a start-to-finish binge.
Amaryllis may look pretty, but it starts to wilt after a few songs.
Standout Tracks
Through the Ghost
Adrenaline
Miracle
My Name (Wearing Me Out)
