A young couple in love picking dandelions in a hazy, dreamlike field in the mountains…walking hand-in-hand to the mountain’s edge, gazing out at the water below. A romantic moment captured at the base of a cascading waterfall. A solitary place to wash the world away and live in the moment for two people who seem to need nothing but each other to enjoy true happiness. A bird’s eye view of an evolving relationship that culminates in a wedding and a white picket fence. Images like these would seem to be out of place in a hard rock music video, but Shinedown makes it work perfectly within the confines of the video for their most recent single, “I’ll Follow You,” off of their hit album, Amaryllis.
The verses of “I’ll Follow You” are reminiscent of classic Elton John, and the melodic guitar solo over violins is similar to the approach that Slash and Guns N’ Roses took with “November Rain,” but the song is far from derivative. If anything, it rises above the din of modern-day hard rock music for its unique sound. Of course, Shinedown can take musical leaps that many others can’t because of Brent Smith’s vocals, which are virtually unparalleled in the genre.
Although the poetic lyrics give listeners room to interpret what the song is really about, the emotion of the song is intensely conveyed by Smith’s powerful delivery. Even without knowing the exact meaning, “I’ll Follow You” makes you feel uplifted and a bit melancholic at the same time. Like many great songs, “I’ll Follow You” stirs your emotions, and makes you turn up the volume every time that it comes on the radio.
Not surprisingly, Shinedown has released yet another song that promises to have significant staying power.
[…] Shinedown – “I’ll Follow You: Hard Rock Daddy Review […]