Shinedown's music has most commonly been described as hard rock, alternative metal, post-grunge, alternative rock, pop rock, grunge, arena rock, and nu metal, with pop and Southern rock influences. In August 2013, Kerch disagreed with more specialized genre ascribed to the band, stating that "We're just a rock 'n' roll band" while conceding that each album did have a markedly different rock sound to them by design. The nu metal label has been applied to the band's earlier work by journalists on occasion, though the band disputes that term as well. The band's first album, "Leave a Whisper", largely stayed away from having any guitar solos, something then-guitarist Todd felt was undesirable due to the popularity of nu metal at the time of recording album, though he felt the band was never particularly part of the genre's movement. With nu metal falling out of popularity by the mid-2000s, they began adding guitar solos more prominently to their music, starting with their next album, "Us and Them". "Us and Them" has also been described as less "grungy" than its predecessor with "more twisted, progressive song structures".