Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color

I have recently been getting to grips with the sophomore album by the Alabama Shakes. Would it live up to the promise of that great debut I wondered?

Well it does - and more but only up to a point.

In this album they take the soul and R&B influences that won them so many fans with their debut but they add elements of jazz, funk, Southern rock and punk. The shift in direction is clearly signalled from the opening notes of the album played on bass and vibraphone.

Obviously one of the major assets of the band on 'Boys & Girls' was the soulful voice of Brittany Howard and on this album I love the way her voice almost wheezes into life at the start of 'Don't Wanna Fight Anymore', However this band is not just about the vocal ability of Ms Howard as the tasteful backing and instrumental passages of 'Gimme All Your Love' demonstrate. Indeed this one track with its various twists and turns, is almost worth the price of the album alone. Unfortunately its brilliance only serves to demonstrate the weakness of a few songs that follow it particularly 'Guess Who' and the track called 'The Greatest' (it isn't). Thereafter in my view the album never really recovers it's momentum. If I owned it on vinyl I could visualise myself playing side one to death but rarely bothering to flip it over.

Nevertheless I admire the fact that they have been brave enough to make changes and in so doing the Alabama Shakes may well win a legion of new followers, hopefully without losing their existing ones. If so, it will be a smart move indeed.