Brent Smith Wants a No. 1 Album With Shinedown’s ‘Planet Zero’
This may come as a surprise given the amount of success that Shinedown have had with their singles over the years, but the band has yet to top the Billboard Album Chart during their career. That's something that has not escaped singer Brent Smith, who expressed his desire to check off the accomplishment when the band releases their Planet Zero album later this spring.
Speaking with Wes Styles of Bloomington / Normal, Illinois station ROCK 96.7FM, Smith was asked about his goals, to which he responded, "I would love to see this Shinedown record finally debut at No. 1 on Billboard. For me personally, that is something that I would love to see, and not just here in the U.S. but multiple countries."
"I say that because why not be truthful about that. When I was a little boy and growing up with music, I still look at charts and I'm still enamored by it. I'm still the guy that buys records and opens it up and reads all the lyrics from all kinds of music and all walks of life," Smith adds.
While Shinedown have yet to hit the top spot, they do have four consecutive Top 10 albums with 2012's Amaryllis charting the highest at No. 4.
Speaking about what the significance of a chart-topping album would mean, the singer stated, "We have such a deep respect for people like yourself and the fanbase and the people that have been with us from Day 1 and promoted this band and championed this band, that, you know, it becomes your No. 1 also. And for us, looking at that, the fan base means so much to us and I know it's something they want to see happen on this album and I know they'll do everything in their power to make it happen."
He concludes, "But at the end of the day, would that be something awesome? Absolutely. Do I rest my hat on it? Not at all, because at the end of the day our whole outlook is the public and the fan base. I've often said we have one boss. It just happens to be everyone in the audience. So we just want to make them proud more than anything, but man, debuting this record at No. 1 would be awesome." Hear more of the chat with Styles here.
Speaking about the new record with Loudwire Nights host Toni Gonzalez earlier this week, Smith discussed the band tackling some of the larger issues that have gone on in recent years such as the pandemic and social unrest.
"If anybody describes this band with one word, I would hope it would be honest," the singer said. "We just had to be honest with what we were seeing and what we were looking at, because everything was happening in real time."
The vocalist also commented on the larger dissonance they had seen between what the media was portraying and what they viewed with their own eyes.
"Go out into the real world, because in the real world, it's not happening the way that it's being presented on these mechanisms. People would say, 'What do you mean go out into the real world? Everybody was inside.' I wasn't, I didn't stay inside. I went out... in the real world, people weren't trying to destroy each other. In the real world, people were trying to help each other," he noted.
But for those thinking that it's a complete dive into politics, Smith cautions, "The record is not a complete political record, thought-provoking record in regards to, 'This is what we think and you should think that way.' It's the complete opposite of that. What it is, it's historical. Nobody writes records like these anymore."
Shinedown announced their Planet Zero album would be arriving on April 22 earlier this week and also just debuted the title track. Pre-orders are available here.