This is the heaviest and most experimental album that SHINEDOWN have released. While not a concept album, SHINEDOWN do a good job of getting the themes and messaging of the album across while keeping the material relatable enough as to not alienate their core fanbase. With that in mind, they could have lost some of those and tightened up the flow. Admittedly half a dozen or so of those are interludes & PSAs from Cyren the album’s Hal 9000 style antagonist. Planet Zero has 20 tracks and is just under an hour in length. It’s a fast, middle finger waving rager that distills the overall feeling of the album into three minutes and change. Army Of The Underappreciated picks up the baton, continuing the defiant, rebellious energy. Not since Pulp Fiction has a shot of adrenaline been more welcome. A late in the game pick-me-up that jolts the album back to life.
The Saints Of Violence And Innuendo is a complete 180. Daylight however brings in a choir element towards the end, giving it a nice gospel uplift. Hope feels like a band on autopilot playing mad libs with their own hits from days past. These are the moments that pull us out of the concept driven aspect of the record and feels like them resting on their laurels. It does have a satirical feel to it, so perhaps that was the intention.Ī Symptom Of Being Human, Hope, and Daylight lean more into the saccharine, cinematic balladeering the band have relied on from time to time. America Burning particularly features a digitised looping banjo giving a unique edge to it, even if lyrically it does play out like a Facebook post from your aunt who gets all her political information from Tik Tok. It doesn’t make them less impressive or potent. Huge, lush arena-ready rock songs designed to ignite voices and fists. It’s the first song on the album that drives the point home lyrically with “ Out here on Planet Zero, we live like there’s no tomorrow/ I think we’ve reached our ceiling, they’re cancelling your feelings” blurring the lines between fiction and reality.ĭead Don’t Die and America Burning are the kinds of songs SHINEDOWN write in their sleep. The title track comes stomping in on its heels, with more stomp than Godzilla having a temper tantrum. It’s a statement of intent from the get go, preparing us for the journey to come. No Sleep Tonight kicks the album off in suitably frantic style. It sees SHINEDOWN stretch themselves creatively, allowing them more freedom. A loose concept album feeling like something we would expect from MUSE. In writing album number seven, they have decided to adjust the formula with Planet Zero owing just as much to the works of Aldous Huxley and Isaac Asimov as it does to the wider world around us.Ĭentering around the concept of dehumanisation in a dystopian future, it plays out like Brave New World in the Covid era.
Armies of fans have pledged their allegiance to the band due to the heartfelt journal-like nature of their lyrics. Platinum selling rockers SHINEDOWN have always made music that felt autobiographical.
Overall Score: 8/10 Songs: 8/10 Production: 9/10 Replay Value: 8/10 Pros: A creative step forward for a band who remains very consistent Cons: Some of the slower moments and interludes could have been cut back
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