I’ll just start off by saying that I am a fan of damn near everything The Alabama Shakes have ever released. Brittany Howard sounds like the love child of Smokey Robinson and Nina Simone and for my money they are easily the best new group from the last 10 years.
Their last album Sound & Color came out 4 years ago and I have been impatiently waiting for them to release something new for quite a while now. Sadly, my recent discovery has led me to believe that The Alabama Shakes will probably never release another album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfizQsGWOxI
If this is the direction Brittany is headed I don’t think we will ever see another album from The Alabama Shakes which makes me sad.
RIP The Alabama Shakes…Long Live Brittany Howard…
I have seen Alabama Shakes play live 5 different times, twice in Salt Lake City, twice at Denver’s celebrated Red Rocks Ampitheater, opening up for Neil Young & Crazy Horse and once at New Orleans’ annual Jazzfest.
The first time in Salt Lake was at a nondescript local watering hole in front of a small crowd of maybe 150 people, and it just KILLED. So much energy, power and emotion.
The 2 nights at Red Rocks were good, but as an opening act at a large venue, something was lost in translation, which is how their Jazzfest set was as well, good solid Blues/Soul/Rock & Roll, but not exceptional or outstanding.
The last time in Salt Lake they played at an outdoor venue that held 3,000 or so, and is was so by-the-numbers and devoid of energy that I spent most of the time catching up with friends, most of whom had also been at the brilliant, intimate dive bar show in Salt Lake a few years beforehand, and like me couldn’t understand how this could be the same band.
Commercial success isn’t always conducive to great music.
Yep. They were good when they opened for Drive-By Truckers. A short time later, Truckers were opening for them, and by that time, they sucked.
They were a band I was supposed to like, but I just could never get into them. I really don’t like Howard’s vocals. If they’re dead and gone, I guess I won’t mind. Sorry.
I have read and heard several stories like what has been described in this thread and it does indeed sound like the magic is gone and it’s time for folks to move on.
