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Sound & Color

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Untitled

Sound & Color is the second studio album by American rock band Alabama Shakes. It was released on April 21, 2015 via ATO Records, MapleMusic Recordings and Rough Trade Records.[1]

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., giving the band their first chart-topper; globally, the album hit the top ten in Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Sound & Color was a critical success and received six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year. It ultimately won 4 for Best Alternative Music Album, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, as well as Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for "Don't Wanna Fight". It spawned four singles; "Don't Wanna Fight" was the most successful, peaking at number two on Billboard's Adult Alternative Songs chart.

Background

Alabama Shakes began recording their second album in late 2013. The group listened to anything and everything for influence, without regard for its public reception in the end.[5] They spent over a year in the studio, with no clear end-goal, as they had not written any new songs due to their exhaustive touring schedule.[5] Sound & Color is steeped in several different genres, touching on shoegaze to bands such as MC5.[6]

In promotion of Sound & Color, the group appeared on Saturday Night Live on February 28, 2015; they performed the singles "Gimme All Your Love" and "Don't Wanna Fight".[7]

Commercial performance

The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart selling 96,000 copies (91,000 copies of traditional album sales) in its first week, in the week ending April 26, 2015, making it the band's first number one album.[8] The album has sold 306,000 copies in the US as of December 2015.[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Chicago Tribune[12]
The Daily Telegraph[13]
Entertainment WeeklyA–[14]
The Guardian[15]
NME8/10[16]
Pitchfork Media8.1/10[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
Slant Magazine[19]
Spin7/10[20]

Upon its release, Sound & Color received positive reviews. At the review aggregator Metacritic, the album currently holds a score of 80 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10] Writing for Exclaim!, Andrea Warner called the record a "deliberately weird record, but authentically weird; it's chaotic yet cohesive, full of sound, colour and unshakable vision."[21] Barry Nicholson of NME compared it favorably to the band's first album, writing, "whereas their debut was cast in sepia hues and downhome earthiness, its follow-up is a more kaleidoscopic affair."[16]

Accolades

Sound & Color garnered six nominations at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards; it was nominated for the Album of the Year, marking the group's first nomination in the category. The album was also nominated for Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (Blake Mills), and won Best Alternative Music Album, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (Shawn Everett and Bob Ludwig). "Don't Wanna Fight" won for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.[22]

Country Publication List Rank
US Billboard[23] 25 Best Albums of 2015
7
US Complex[24] The Best Albums of 2015
29
US Consequence of Sound[25] Top 50 Albums of 2015
36
US Entertainment Weekly[26] The 40 Best Albums of 2015
13
US Rolling Stone[27] The 50 Best Albums of 2015
37
US The New York Times[28] The Best Albums of 2015 (by Jon Pareles)
7
US Rough Trade[29] Albums of the Year 2015
31

* denotes an unordered list

Track listing

All tracks are written by Brittany Howard, with help from Blake Mills on "Future People", "Guess Who" and "Gemini"[1]

No.TitleLength
1."Sound & Color"3:02
2."Don't Wanna Fight"3:53
3."Dunes"4:18
4."Future People"3:22
5."Gimme All Your Love"4:03
6."This Feeling"4:29
7."Guess Who"3:16
8."The Greatest"3:50
9."Shoegaze"2:59
10."Miss You"3:47
11."Gemini"6:36
12."Over My Head"3:51
Total length:47:26
iTunes Japan Bonus Track Version
No.TitleLength
1."Drive By Baby"2:20
2."Joe"4:00
International Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Joe"4:00
2."Makin' Me Itch" 
Target Exclusive Bonus CD
No.TitleLength
1."Gimme All Your Love (Live from the Artists Den)"4:13
2."The Greatest (Live from the Artists Den)"3:19
3."Joe (Live from the Artists Den)"3:35

Personnel

Credits adapted from Sound & Color liner notes.[30]

Alabama Shakes
  • Brittany Howard − vocals (all), guitar (2-12), vibraphone (1, 7, 11), percussion (4, 6, 12), keyboards (11, 12)
  • Heath Fogg − guitar (all), percussion (6, 12)
  • Zac Cockrell − bass (all), percussion (6, 7, 12)
  • Steve Johnson − drums (all), percussion (2, 3, 4, 6, 12)
Additional musicians
  • Ben Tanner − keyboards (1, 3-12), vibraphone (1), percussion (12)
  • Paul Horton − keyboards (11)
  • Rob Moose − string arrangements (1, 3, 6, 7)
Production

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[31] 6
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[32] 52
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[33] 12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[34] 40
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[35] 1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[36] 4
French Albums (SNEP)[37] 41
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[38] 28
Irish Albums (IRMA)[39] 12
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[40] 15
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[41] 27
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[42] 46
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[43] 37
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[44] 10
UK Albums (OCC)[45] 6
US Billboard 200[46] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[47] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sound & Color - Alabama Shakes | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  2. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/sound-color-mw0002821842/credits
  3. ^ "Don't Wanna Fight - Alabama Shakes | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  4. ^ Kort, Alicia (March 19, 2015). "Alabama Shakes Releases New Song "Future People" Off Upcoming New Album 'Sound & Color' [LISTEN] : Buzz : Music Times". Music Times. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  5. ^ a b David Browne (March 25, 2015). "How Alabama Shakes Gambled Big on Wild Second Album 'Sound & Color'". Rolling Stone. No. 1232. New York City: Wenner Media LLC. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  6. ^ Lauretta Charlton (June 12, 2015). "Alabama Shakes: 'There's No Way to Be Original'". Vulture. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  7. ^ Minsker, Evan (March 1, 2015). "Alabama Shakes Perform "Gimme All Your Love" and "Don't Wanna Fight" on "Saturday Night Live" | News | Pitchfork". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  8. ^ Keith Claufield (April 29, 2015). "Alabama Shakes Scores Its First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. (Prometheus Global Media). Retrieved April 29, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  9. ^ Chris Payne (December 7, 2015). "Grammy Nominations 2016: Alabama Shakes and Courtney Barnett Surprise in Rock". Billboard. (Prometheus Global Media). {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  10. ^ a b "Reviews for Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes". Metacritic. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  11. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Sound & Color – Alabama Shakes". AllMusic. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  12. ^ Kot, Greg (April 17, 2015). "Alabama Shakes shake up their sound". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  13. ^ Brown, Helen (April 18, 2015). "Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color, review: 'rattling expectations'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  14. ^ Anderson, Kyle (April 28, 2015). "Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  15. ^ Petridis, Alexis (April 16, 2015). "Alabama Shakes: Sound and Color review – a bravely freshened sound, but too few great songs". The Guardian. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  16. ^ a b Nicolson, Barry (April 14, 2015). "Alabama Shakes – 'Sound & Color'". NME. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  17. ^ Dombal, Ryan (April 23, 2015). "Alabama Shakes: Sound & Color". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  18. ^ Hermes, Will (April 21, 2015). "Sound & Color". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  19. ^ Winograd, Jeremy (April 19, 2015). "Alabama Shakes: Sound & Color". Slant Magazine. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  20. ^ Aftandilians, Natasha (April 22, 2015). "Review: Alabama Shakes Can't Be Tamed on the Ripping 'Sound and Color'". Spin. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  21. ^ Warner, Andrea (April 17, 2015). "Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  22. ^ "Grammy Nominations 2016: See the Full List of Nominees". Billboard. December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  23. ^ "Billboard.com's 25 Best Albums of 2015: Critics' Picks". Billboard. December 15, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  24. ^ "The Best Albums of 2015". Complex. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  25. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2015". Consequence of Sound. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  26. ^ "The 40 Best Albums of 2015". Entertainment Weekly. December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  27. ^ "50 Best Albums of 2015". Rolling Stone. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  28. ^ "The Best Albums of 2015". The New York Times. December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  29. ^ "Albums of the Year 2015". Rough Trade. Rough Trade. November 25, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  30. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Alabama-Shakes-Sound-Color/release/6764040
  31. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  32. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  33. ^ "Ultratop.be – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  34. ^ "Ultratop.be – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  35. ^ "Alabama Shakes Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  36. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  37. ^ "Lescharts.com – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  38. ^ "Officialcharts.de – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  39. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 17, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  40. ^ "Charts.nz – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  41. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  42. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  43. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  44. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  45. ^ "Alabama Shakes | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  46. ^ "Alabama Shakes Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  47. ^ "American album certifications – Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color". Recording Industry Association of America.
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