The songs here are far more intricately constructed than anything on the band’s debut, and the musicianship is disciplined almost to a fault; a little unbridled rocking out would actually have injected some needed verve into Color’s quieter second half.
If the Shakes’ debut Boys and Girls proved difficult to categorize, then Sound and Color ups that ante even higher, adding doses of psychedelia, punk, and lengthy jamscapes to the band’s already heady musical cocktail.
Sound & Color is a daring and deliberate record, and its greatest success stems from the band’s complete defiance with its choices.
Sound & Color avoids the sophomore slump by packing a sense of purpose into its 12 sleek yet gritty soul tracks.
Among rock music of its kind, it's one of the most muscular collections in some time, yet it accomplishes this by hardly even flexing.
Remarkably, for all its genre-hopping and instrumental experimentation, Sound & Color is still sonically cohesive, the product of a band that no longer aspires to just imitate their influences, but to build on them, to draw from diverse sources to create a familiar yet identifiably unique rock n' soul sound.
After the wild success of Alabama Shakes’ debut album, it took a lot of courage to veer into the territory they explore in Sound & Color, a deeply layered collage of tempos and textures – and a seemingly hard left-turn from their previous work.
On their 2015 follow-up, Sound & Color, they free themselves from the vestiges of the past, let loose, and push themselves further in either direction. This could've resulted in a disjointed record pulling itself in two opposing directions, but the mess of Sound & Color is invigorating.
True to its title, Sound & Color finds a much wider range of textures and contexts for Brittany Howard’s expressive belter of a voice, with impressive variations in pace, delivery and style.
While Boys & Girls seemed to crawl out of its creators fully formed, Sound & Color feels like it might require a longer gestation period. It is both brilliant and uneven.
The biggest thing that Sound & Color seems to have going for it is how agreeable it all seems. Alabama Shakes don’t rock the boat necessarily, but by refining the formula, they’ve proven they can succeed with a model that has become all too easy to fail with in recent years.
The tinted and tightly paced sophomore effort Sound & Color is an alluring musical rainbow that sets Alabama Shakes apart from niche throwbacks.
Sound & Color drops some of that urgency in favor of a hefty dose of experimentation, and while the results are intriguing, the record can’t help but meander a bit.
While it lacks the instant-gratification of Boys and Girls, Sound & Color is nevertheless a prime example of how an old genre can still enthral.
Given that a certain conservatism was the attraction of their debut, it takes guts to mess around with the formula. Not all their experiments work, but it’s hard not to be infected by the excitement when they do.
I was never a fan of this project, but instant gratification isn't always the homie y'all. Years later and several re-listens later, I am now seeing the appeal and it couldn't be easier to see why. Sound & Color is a genre blend of so many things that should be given much more credit than it gets.
Yeah not sure why tf Taylor Swift beat this for AOTY at the 2016 Grammys.... I mean I know why. Sound & Color was going against 1989 which is considered to be one of Taylor's biggest projects ... read more
Alabama Shake’s Sophomore Record Is Easily One Of The Most Enigmatic Record The 2010’s Had To Offer.
Everything Down From The Very Heavy & Fun, But Intense Wall Of Sound From The Amazing Instrumentation To Brittany Howard’s Amazingly Passionate Vocals That Grip Onto You & Never Want To Let Go!
This Record Makes Me Feel Like Rock Isn’t Just Dead Yet.
Alabama Shakes, Thank You For Bringing Hope Within A Dying Genre.
I was never a fan of this project, but instant gratification isn't always the homie y'all. Years later and several re-listens later, I am now seeing the appeal and it couldn't be easier to see why. Sound & Color is a genre blend of so many things that should be given much more credit than it gets.
Yeah not sure why tf Taylor Swift beat this for AOTY at the 2016 Grammys.... I mean I know why. Sound & Color was going against 1989 which is considered to be one of Taylor's biggest projects ... read more
Half of it pretty bland, but when the album is at its highest, it's pretty freaking high.
I really can't get over the lead singers grating voice and singing style. The instrumentals aren't too engaging in the first place, but the vocals sound like nails on a chalk board. I was not engaged at all with this album, I may be tweaking however as I am in the trenches rn but as of this moment I am not a fan.
1 | Sound & Color 3:03 | 87 |
2 | Don't Wanna Fight 3:52 | 90 |
3 | Dunes 4:17 | 78 |
4 | Future People 3:21 | 83 |
5 | Gimme All Your Love 4:03 | 90 |
6 | This Feeling 4:28 | 82 |
7 | Guess Who 3:15 | 78 |
8 | The Greatest 3:49 | 76 |
9 | Shoegaze 2:59 | 74 |
10 | Miss You 3:47 | 77 |
11 | Gemini 6:35 | 78 |
12 | Over My Head 3:53 | 79 |
#2 | / | Magnet |
#6 | / | FasterLouder |
#7 | / | Billboard |
#10 | / | PopMatters |
#11 | / | Variance |
#12 | / | Okayplayer |
#13 | / | Entertainment Weekly |
#16 | / | No Ripcord |
#21 | / | American Songwriter |
#21 | / | Uncut |