Brian got me the new Shinedown album for Christmas. I’ve been listening to it for a few weeks and I have to say that I really like it. It’s too early to tell if it’s going to stand the test of time, but for now, it’s a cool listen. I first heard of this band a few years ago and thought the singer was excellent, but I wasn’t really into their songs. Then, they released “Save Me” from their latest album and I really liked the song, so I expressed my interest in owning their cd. The have a few slower tempo songs on there that I could do without (though I do sort of like one of them). And there are two bluesy songs on the album that I think are great (I hear shades of David Coverdale and Ray Gillen on them, and that I really like). I don’t know the titles of half the songs or I’d mention them by name. The other thing I like about this band is that all of the members have long hair. What ever happened to long hair? All of the bands used to have it, now everyone’s sporting a short ‘do these days. But, I digress.