"Atlas Falls" is a song by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Shinedown. Originally conceived and recorded for the band's 2012 album ''
Amaryllis'', the song was left off the album and unreleased until 2020, when the band released it to raise money in support of the on-going
COVID-19 pandemic. It was later released as a non-album single, and topped the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Mainstream Rock Songs chart for a week in August 2020, marking the band's 16th number one, the most by any musician since the chart's inception in 1981.
Background
The song was initially written and recorded by the band for band's fourth studio album ''
Amaryllis'' (2012).
While the song did not make the cut for the album, frontman
Brent Smith noted that he always expected to release it to the public at some point, noting that it "meant a great deal" to him.
The band decided to release the song on March 24, 2020, as part of a plan to raise money in support of fighting the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The efforts were deemed a success by the band, who announced that the song, along with a
t-shirt bundle, had raised over $300,000 in approximately two months. Initially only available to those who donated, on May 22, 2020, the band released the song as a formal, non-album single, and made it widely available for purchase and streaming. A music video was released as well. In August 2020, the song topped the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The song was the band's sixteenth song to top the chart, making Shinedown the band with the most number ones on the chart in its almost 40 years of existence, having previously been tied with
Three Days Grace.
Themes and composition
The song was described as an "uplifting
rocker
Rocker or rockers may refer to:
Places
*Rocker, Montana, a neighborhood in Butte, Montana, United States
People
*Rocker, a British drummer, formerly of The Flatmates
*Fermin Rocker (1907–2004), painter and illustrator
*John Rocker (born 1974), ...
" by ''
Louder Sound''
and "more inspirational in tone, a coronavirus-era
power ballad with some electronic fringe and a generic message of perseverance" by ''
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
''.
While written far prior to the rise of
COVID-19, the band's decision to release it was because they felt its uplifting message was relatable and something they wished to share during the
pandemic
A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...
.
Personnel
*
Brent Smith – vocals
*
Zach Myers – guitar
* Eric Bass – bass
* Barry Kerch – drums
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{authority control
2020 singles
2011 songs
Shinedown songs
Atlantic Records singles
Rock ballads