''Leave a Whisper'' is the debut studio album 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
Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of Dreve, his previous band. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original l ...
. The album was released on May 27, 2003, faring well due to the success of the singles "Fly from the Inside" and "45". Recording took place at
Henson Recording Studios
The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serv ...
and The Blue Room, both in Los Angeles. ''Leave a Whisper'' paved the way for Shinedown's successful second album, ''
Us and Them
Us and Them may refer to:
*The sociological concept of in-group and out-group
*'' Us & Them'', an American television series
* ''Us and Them'' (Australian TV series), a 1994 Australian comedy television series
* "Us and Them" (song), by Pink Floy ...
'', and was re-released on June 15, 2004, to incorporate a cover version of
Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man". The album's singles also fared well, with "Fly from the Inside" reaching No. 5, "45" reaching No. 3, "Simple Man" reaching No. 5, and "Burning Bright" reaching No. 2 on the
US Mainstream Rock
Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in ...
list.
''Leave a Whisper'' is Shinedown's second best-selling album. On August 17, 2004, it was
certified gold
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
for 500,000 copies sold, and by October 21, 2005, the album had sold one million copies in the US, and was certified platinum by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
.
Background
Prior to the album's release, frontman
Brent Smith
Brent Stephen Smith (born January 10, 1978) is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Shinedown.
Early life
Smith was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and is an only child.
Career
Prior to fronting the rock band S ...
had been working with his prior band, "Dreve", which had signed a record deal with
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
in 2000. The record label, unhappy with Dreve as a whole, dropped the band prior to releasing an album, but retained Smith, who they felt was worth developing separately as an artist.
Atlantic signed Smith to a development deal where record representatives helped him with his song-writing ability, and helped him recruit members for a new band, which would become Shinedown.
Smith moved to
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
and began work on the project in 2001.
The first member he recruited was bassist
Brad Stewart
Brad Stewart (born November 19, 1974) is an American bassist, best known for his work with hard rock bands Shinedown and Fuel. He now plays in Saliva, Society Red, and Burn Season.
Career Shinedown
Stewart was the second member to join Shinedo ...
, through local Jacksonville music producer Pete Thornton.
Smith and Stewart began recording demos together in a small local studio, whose owner recommended they meet with her fiancé, guitarist Jasin Todd, who Smith brought in as the third member.
The original lineup was rounded out by drummer Barry Kerch, who was the seventh drummer the band had auditioned for the spot.
The four worked together on creating demos, and submitted their work-in-progress material to Atlantic, who approved of the material and greenlit a full-length album.
Release and promotion
The album was released May 27, 2003. While not an immediate success, through the extensive touring and successful singles, eventually went
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
in the United States, indicating sales of over 1 million. Four singles were released from the album "
Fly from the Inside
"Fly from the Inside" is the debut single of the American rock band, Shinedown, off of the album '' Leave a Whisper''. The song performed fairly well on the charts, reaching number five on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, the band's first hit s ...
", "
45", and a cover of the
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...
song, "
Simple Man", and "
Burning Bright
''Burning Bright'' is a 1950 novella by John Steinbeck written as an experiment with producing a play in novel format. Rather than providing only the dialogue and brief stage directions as would be expected in a play, Steinbeck fleshes out the ...
". All four singles charted in the top five of 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
Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.
Format background
Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...
charts, peaking at fifth, third, fifth, and second, respectively.
The band toured extensively in support of the album, playing over 400 live shows over the course of 2003 and 2004.
The band ended up touring for 24 months straight, doing various tours with
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...
,
Seether
Seether are a South African rock band founded in 1999 in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The band originally performed under the name Saron Gas until 2002, when they moved to the United States and changed it to Seether to avoid confusion wit ...
, and
Three Doors Down. The band later released a live DVD titled ''
Live from the Inside
''Live From The Inside'' is a live DVD by the American hard rock band Shinedown, recorded on December 31, 2004 at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC released on August 23, 2005.
Track listing
# Intro
# In Memory
# Stranger Inside
# Fly from ...
'' that documented the live shows of the touring cycle.
The album was re-released twice. The final three tracks only appear on the enhanced edition, released June 15, 2004. This re-release was prompted due to the popularity of their "Simple Man" cover, which was not present on the original album's release. On July 7, 2009 Shinedown digitally released a deluxe edition of Leave a Whisper, featuring demo material and unused tracks from the recording sessions.
Reception
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
compared ''Leave a Whisper'' to that of
post-grunge
Post-grunge is a derivative of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox and Collective So ...
acts like
Creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets.
The ea ...
,
Puddle of Mudd
Puddle of Mudd is an American rock band formed in Kansas City, Missouri in 1992. To date, the band has sold over seven million albums and has had a string of No. 1 mainstream rock singles in the United States. Their major-label debut '' Co ...
, and a modern-day
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
. They go on to state "Coupled with a plodding, two-dimensional sound varying little from song to song, let alone from the sound of its peers, Shinedown's debut offers scant hope that heavy music will right itself from the nasty stumble of its last few years."
[ According to '']Melodic
A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinat ...
'', the album will satisfy fans of bands like Depswa
Depswa is a four-piece alternative metal band from Modesto, California. The band released two studio albums, two EPs, and a compilation before entering an indefinite hiatus in 2011.
History
Formation and EP releases
The beginnings of Depswa cam ...
and Saliva
Saliva (commonly referred to as spit) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which DNA can be ...
.[
]
Track listing
Personnel
Band
* Brent Smith
Brent Stephen Smith (born January 10, 1978) is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Shinedown.
Early life
Smith was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and is an only child.
Career
Prior to fronting the rock band S ...
– lead vocals
* Jasin Todd – guitars, lap steel, theremin, sitar
* Brad Stewart
Brad Stewart (born November 19, 1974) is an American bassist, best known for his work with hard rock bands Shinedown and Fuel. He now plays in Saliva, Society Red, and Burn Season.
Career Shinedown
Stewart was the second member to join Shinedo ...
– bass
* Barry Kerch – drums, percussion
Additional personnel
* Bob Marlette
Robert Roy Marlette (born December 7, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixer, and songwriter. His production, writing and mixing credits include David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Sebastian Bach, ...
– producer, engineer (tracks 1, 2, 4-6, 10, 11)
* Tony Battaglia – engineer, mixing, producer (tracks 12-15)
* Rick Beato
Richard John Beato (born April 24, 1962) is an American YouTube personality, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer and educator. Since the early 1980s, he has worked variously as a musician, songwriter, audio engineer, and record producer, a ...
– engineer, producer (tracks 3, 7-9)
* Andy Wallace – mixing (tracks 1, 2, 4-6, 10, 11)
*Randy Staub
Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008). ...
– mixing (tracks 3, 7-9)
* Steven Marshall – additional guitar on "45"
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Singles
"Burning Bright" reached No. 7 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...
chart.
Certifications and sales
References
{{Authority control
2003 debut albums
Albums produced by Bob Marlette
Atlantic Records albums
Shinedown albums