Leave a Whisper was the band's debut album, released in July 2003. It featured successful tracks such as "Fly From the Inside", "Burning Bright", the emotionally-charged "45" and the popular cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Simple Man". The acoustic cover jolted the band to popularity, and was later made a tribute to Dimebag Darrell during concert performances.

In 2004 the band released a live DVD of the album entitled Live From the Inside which also contained a documentary. The recording featured the final concert of the LAW touring schedule.

After the hugely successful Leave a Whisper and accompanying tour, the band went back into the studio in 2005 to record their second album. On October 4, 2005, the band released Us and Them, which went on to produce three singles; "Save Me", "I Dare You", and "Heroes". The lead single, "Save Me", maintained the #1 position of the Active Rock Charts for twelve weeks straight, setting a record for the band. The two other singles had similar success – "I Dare You" was notably performed on American Idol by Chris Daughtry. Us and Them was certified Gold by the RIAA in November 2006.

The album has three versions for release; the regular thirteen-track version, a limited edition with three bonus acoustic tracks, and a store-specific version with two bonus tracks: "Break" and "Carried Away". On itunes, there is a 25 track 'Deluxe' version, containing live songs and acoustic versions of songs. After the album's release the band took part in 2007's SnoCore Tour with Seether, Flyleaf, and Halestorm. After that the band joined Trapt for the Equinox Tour. The band then proceeded to play their first overseas concert at the London Astoria on June 6, 2006, supporting Alter Bridge. In the summer of 2006, the band then opened for Godsmack and Rob Zombie on their tour of North America, effectively ending their rigorous touring schedule.

On December 12, 2006, Shinedown played a concert in Knoxville, Tennessee at The Tennessee Theatre which was filmed for a DVD the band was expected release later in 2007. However, after a show in Waukesha, WI on July 21, 2007, the band made it known that the DVD was scrapped by Atlantic Records. "We don't want to put anything out if the band is gonna be presented in the wrong way," Smith said. "I might be able to bootleg it later on ... but as of now I don't see it coming out anytime soon." In late 2007 after taking some time off, the band returned to studio to record a new album.

The band began recording their new album in Los Angeles on September 20, 2007. It was released officially on June 24th, 2008. A deluxe edition was released as well including three extra tracks, digitally. Their first single, "Devour", was released on May 6, 2008, and has proven a successful single, with it becoming their second #1 on the active rock chart.

"Devour" was also the theme song for the WWE pay-per-view Night of Champions 2008, as well as part of the soundtrack to the 2009 film, The Final Destination. It can also be found on the soundtrack from Madden NFL 09. The video for the song was released on June 25, 2008. Sound of Madness was also used as a song for WWE Wrestlemania 25 review aired on NBC on August 30, 2009 for the Shawn Michaels/The Undertaker match.

"Second Chance", the second single off of The Sound of Madness, is Shinedown's biggest hit to date, being their first top 10 song on the Billboard Hot 100. The song peaked at number 7 during its duration on the chart. "Second Chance" has since gone double platinum. Ironically for the song "that broke into everything", it was one the band hated when they first wrote it.

On April 11, 2008, lead singer Brent Smith announced that Jasin Todd was no longer a member of the band, saying "at this time, he's no longer with us in Shinedown." In the liner notes of The Sound of Madness, Smith says that he loves Todd and considers him the "brother [he] never had". Since parting ways with Shinedown, Todd has remained out of the public eye. Although rumors briefly surfaced that he had joined Soil (the band promptly denied this), there is no confirmed news as to what he will do next.

Shinedown is re-releasing their albums, "Leave A Whisper" and "Us and Them" as Deluxe Editions. The albums will only be available digitally. Between the two albums, the band will release 25 unreleased tracks, seven of which were never before heard. The deluxe editions are scheduled for a July 7, 2009 release.