Threat to Survival

Threat to Survival
Studio album by Shinedown
Released	September 18, 2015
Recorded	2014–2015
Studio	Ocean Way (Hollywood) Capitol (Hollywood) NRG (Hollywood)
Genre	Hard rock [1] pop rock [2] alternative rock [2]
Length	40:14
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Dave Bassett Pete Nappi Eric Bass Scott "The Ninja" Stevens
Shinedown chronology
Amaryllis (2012) Threat to Survival (2015) Attention Attention (2018)
Singles from Threat to Survival
"Cut the Cord" Released: June 29, 2015 "State of My Head" Released: October 9, 2015 "Asking for It" Released: April 5, 2016 [3] "How Did You Love" Released: October 4, 2016

Threat to Survival is the fifth studio album by American rock band Shinedown. It was announced on August 7, 2015 that the album would be released on September 18, 2015, via Atlantic Records. ^[4] Four singles were released from the album, "Cut the Cord", "State of My Head", "Asking for It", and "How Did You Love". "Black Cadillac" was also released as a promotional song prior to the album's release as well. ^[5] In February 2018, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA, indicating 500,000 copies sold in the US.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Sputnikmusic	1.5/5 [7]
Ultimate Guitar	4.7/10 [2]

Reception for the album from critics has been mixed. The staff review for Sputnikmusic panned the album for "a complete lack of substance", stating that "The melodies just aren't flowing and the choruses are rarely memorable. The instrumentation is lacking to say the least, and their brand new ideas are questionable at best. There's absolutely no lyrical, emotional, or musical substance", while conceding that "Cut the Cord" still managed to be one of the band's best singles. ^[7] AllMusic was less negative, conceding that "If anything, Threat to Survival proves that Shinedown still have plenty of gas left in the tank, and while the occasional foray into the shallower end of the mainstream may divide some listeners, there's enough here to keep longtime followers satiated..." ^[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Brent Smith and Dave Bassett, except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Asking for It"	3:30
2.	"Cut the Cord" (Smith, Eric Bass)	3:45
3.	"State of My Head" (Smith, Carlo Colasacco, Jayson DeZuzio, Peter Nappi, Ethan Thompson)	3:25
4.	"Outcast"	3:25
5.	"How Did You Love" (Smith, Scott Stevens)	3:07
6.	"It All Adds Up" (Smith, Bassett, Zach Myers)	3:51
7.	"Oblivion"	3:57
8.	"Dangerous" (Smith, Stevens)	3:51
9.	"Thick as Thieves"	3:54
10.	"Black Cadillac" (Smith, Bassett, Bass)	3:27
11.	"Misfits"	4:05
Total length:		40:14

Japanese edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Never Gonna Let Go" (Smith, David Hodges)	4:06
13.	"Reject" (Smith, Jimmy Messer)	3:30

Personnel

Shinedown Brent Smith – lead vocals Zach Myers – guitar, backing vocals Eric Bass – bass, backing vocals, additional production, engineering, production and recording on "Cut the Cord" Barry Kerch – drums, percussion Additional musicians Patrick Warren – Chamberlain, synths and programming on "Misfits" and "Thick as Thieves" Lynn Mabry and Sheree Brown – backing vocals on "Black Cadillac" and "Oblivion" Delaney McLernon – additional vocals on "Cut the Cord"

Technical personnel Steve Robertson – A&R Anne DeClemente and Craig Rosen – A&R administration Anthony Delia – marketing Mark Obriski – art direction & design Darren Doane – band photography Alex Kirzhner – back of booklet illustration Josh Skubel – packaging production Bill McGathy and Gwyther Bultman (In De Goot Entertainment) – management Ron Opaleski (William Morris Endeavor) – booking Jess Rosen – legal representation David Weise, Beth Sabbagh, Laurie Davis (David Weise & Associates) – business management Dave Bassett – production on "Asking For It", "Outcast", "It All Adds Up", "Oblivion", "Thick as Thieves", "Black Cadillac", and "Misfits", engineering, additional guitar, synths and programming, mixing on "It All Adds Up", "Oblivion" and "Thick as Thieves" at Chateau Relaxeau, Malibu, CA Dave Schiffman – engineering, mixing on "Outcast" Jake Gorski – assistant engineering Mike "Sack" Fasano – drum tech Alexander Arias – drum editing Francesco Cameli – engineering Rudá Carvalho – assistant engineering Hans Buscher – guitar tech Nigel Lundemo – vocal editing Pete Nappi – production and mixing on "State of My Head" Eric Rickert and Jeff Leonard Jr. – additional recording Scott "The Ninja" Stevens – production and mixing on "How Did You Love" and "Dangerous", additional instrumentation and engineering Chris Baseford – engineering, co-mixing Michael Eckes – assistant engineering Chris Lord-Alge – mixing on "Asking for It" and "Cut the Cord" at Mix LA, Tarzana, CA Jean-Marie Horvat – mixing on "Black Cadillac" Michael H. Brauer – mixing on "Misfits" at Electric Lady Studios, NYC Mark Bengtson and Steve Vealey – mixing assistants Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York, NY

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2015) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [8] 37 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [9] 38 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [10] 140 Canadian Albums (Billboard) [11] 8 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [12] 50 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [13] 40 Irish Albums (IRMA) [14] 86 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [15] 34 Scottish Albums (OCC) [16] 8 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [17] 13 UK Albums (OCC) [18] 13 UK Album Downloads (OCC) [19] 16 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [20] 2 US Billboard 200 [21] 6 US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) [22] 1 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [23] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2015) Position US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [24] 33 Chart (2016) Position US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [25] 25

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions
		US Bubbling Under Hot 100	US Main. Rock	US Alt. Airplay	US Rock & Alternative
2015	"Cut the Cord"	4	1	34	10
	"State of My Head"	-	1	25	19
2016	"Asking for It"	-	2	-	27
	"How Did You Love"	-	1	-	17

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [26]	Gold	40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [27]	Silver	60,000‡
United States (RIAA) [28]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Shinedown, 'Threat To Survival' - Album Review". Loudwire. September 25, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
2. "Threat To Survival Review" . Retrieved October 9, 2015.
3. "Five Finger Death Punch And Shinedown Announce Co-Headlining Tour; Sixx:A.M. To Support". blabbermouth.net. April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
4. "Shinedown Announce New Album 'Threat to Survival'". Loudwire. August 7, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
5. "Shinedown stream new song "Black Cadillac"". BraveWords Magazine. August 14, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
6. James Christopher Monger. "Threat to Survival". AllMusic. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
7. "Review: Shinedown - Threat to Survival - Sputnikmusic" . Retrieved October 9, 2015.
8. "Australiancharts.com – Shinedown – Threat to Survival". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
9. "Austriancharts.at – Shinedown – Threat to Survival" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
10. "Ultratop.be – Shinedown – Threat to Survival" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
11. "Shinedown Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Shinedown – Threat to Survival" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Shinedown – Threat to Survival" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
14. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 39, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
15. "Charts.nz – Shinedown – Threat to Survival". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
16. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
17. "Swisscharts.com – Shinedown – Threat to Survival". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
18. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
19. "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
20. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
21. "Shinedown Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
22. "Shinedown Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
23. "Shinedown Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
24. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
25. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
26. "Canadian album certifications – Shinedown – Threat to Survival". Music Canada . Retrieved November 6, 2023.
27. "British album certifications – Shinedown – Threat to Survival". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
28. "American album certifications – Shinedown – Threat to Survival". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved March 16, 2017.