It looks like a type of spirea to me. I'm not sure what cultivar. Sorry!

Laurel

Ok if it's spirea, with lots of dead wood, and will be completely lopsided if I cut off all the dead branches, can I cut this down to the ground? or will that kill it?

If it is a spirea (reminds me of "Goldmound"), it'll take alot to kill it. We found a regular S. japonica at one of my sisters' houses just after she moved in that had been continually mowed to the ground by the previous owner. Since the area hadn't been mowed for a bit after she moved in, we finally noticed it when it sprouted a few branches and had the nerve to bloom - all under the dense canopy of a Silver maple. We dug them up (at least what was left of the poor neglected things) and moved them to an optimal position next to a newly purchased one, where they quadrupled in size the first summer and are almost the same size as the new one now after the new one doubled in size itself.

So if you're not keen on thinning and heading, then perhaps take it all the way back and let it regrow.

thank Jenny, i took out some of the dead wood and i found that I have 2 shrubs, not one. The one that is so ratty looking is going to be cut way back and I'll see if it grows back. If it doesn't have new growth next year I'll take it out and then just have the one.
Thanks for your help.

Way to stay with it, Anita! You should get the GW award for stick-to-it-iveness.

Good luck with your shrubs.

Thanks for the encouragement! There are a very few good things about being a Bull. Persistance is one of them!