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Sound & Fury (Sturgill Simpson album)

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Sound & Fury (stylized in all caps) is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson, released through Elektra Records on September 27, 2019. Its release is accompanied by an original Netflix dystopian anime film, Sturgill Simpson Presents SOUND & FURY, written and produced by Simpson and Japanese director Junpei Mizusaki of the animation studio Kamikaze Douga.[1] The album marks a significant departure from Simpson's country roots, embracing hard rock, psychedelic, blues, and funk.

Sound & Fury
Studio album by
Sturgill Simpson
ReleasedSeptember 27, 2019 (2019-09-27)
Recorded2019
Studio
Genre
Length41:08
LabelElektra
ProducerSturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson chronology
A Sailor's Guide to Earth
(2016) 		Sound & Fury
(2019) 		Cuttin' Grass, Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions
(2020)
Singles from Sound & Fury
  1. "Sing Along"
    Released: August 20, 2019

The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards. This makes Simpson the first artist to ever be nominated for both Best Rock Album and Best Country Album by the Grammy Awards.[2]

Background and production

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Simpson and his band spent two weeks[3] recording the majority of the album at the McGuire Motor Inn in Waterford, Michigan.[4] They recorded the songs "All Said and Done" and "Last Man Standing" at the Butcher Shoppe in Nashville, Tennessee.[4] Simpson produced the album, with co-production from John Hill and bandmates Bobby Emmett, Chuck Bartels and Miles Miller.[4] He said that while making the album, he was listening to "a lot of hip-hop, and Black Sabbath, and the Cars, and old funk records and things."[5]

Simpson said that while in Detroit, he was inspired after listening to Eminem to write "a bunch of mad shit-talking songs about how fucking awesome we are" but later began to think that what he and his band had produced was not "weird" enough, so came up with the idea to travel to Japan and "get the five most legendary animation directors in history together and get them all drunk and put them to competition to see who can outdo one another, and we'll just animate the whole fucking album". Simpson later characterized the album as a "sleazy, steamy, rock 'n' roll record", calling it his "most psychedelic" and "heaviest".[5] Bobby Moore of The Boot described the album as "a collection of dystopian rock songs".[5] Musically, SOUND & FURY has been described by critics as blues-rock,[6][7] psychedelic rock,[7] boogie rock,[8] and synth-rock.[8]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [10]
Chicago Tribune    [11]
Exclaim!9/10[12]
The Guardian     [13]
The Independent     [14]
Paste6.5/10[15]
Pitchfork7.2/10[16]
Rolling Stone     [17]
Sputnikmusic4.0/5[7]
Under the Radar          [18]

Sound & Fury received positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Metacritic, the album has an average review score of 79/100, based on 16 reviews.[9] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian rated the album 5 out of 5 stars and wrote that "It seems almost beside the point to note that Sturgill Simpson's fourth album sounds nothing like its predecessors, as his previous three albums didn't sound much like each other either", calling it a "hugely exciting album that underlines Simpson's status as a daring, restless and unique artist. He isn't the first musician to throw his label a curveball while protesting about the pressures of fame and the grim nature of the music business. That said, it's hard to think of anyone else who's done it by making an album as gripping and enjoyable as this."[13] Reviewing the album in Hot Press Pat Carty reckoned "you’ve got to applaud an artist who follows his muse as resolutely as this and refuses to be corralled."[19]

Accolades

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Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
Billboard Top 50 Albums of 2019
35
[20]
Chicago Tribune Top 10 Albums of 2019
7
[21]
Good Morning America Top 50 Albums of 2019
13
[22]
Rolling Stone Top 50 Albums of 2019
16
[23]
Vulture Top 10 Albums of 2019
9
[24]
Yahoo! Top 10 Albums of 2019
6
[25]

Commercial performance

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Sound & Fury debuted at No. 3 on Top Country Albums with 32,000 album equivalent units, 26,000 of which are in true album sales.[26] It has sold 72,900 copies in the United States as of March 2020.[27]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Sturgill Simpson; "A Good Look" was co-written by John Prine.

No.TitleLength
1."Ronin"3:48
2."Remember to Breathe"2:56
3."Sing Along"2:54
4."A Good Look"4:01
5."Make Art Not Friends"5:51
6."Best Clockmaker on Mars"3:54
7."All Said and Done"3:58
8."Last Man Standing"2:10
9."Mercury in Retrograde"4:31
10."Fastest Horse in Town"7:05
Total length:41:08

Personnel

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Adapted from album notes.[4]

  • Sturgill Simpson – vocals, guitar, production, mixing (all tracks)
  • Chuck Bartels – bass guitar, co-production (all tracks)
  • Bobby Emmett – keyboards, synthesizer, co-production (all tracks)
  • Miles Miller – drums, percussion, co-production (all tracks)
  • John Hill – co-production (all tracks), additional synthesizer (1)
  • James Gadson – additional drums (3, 9)
  • Paul "Paco" Cossette – mixing (all tracks), engineering (1–6, 9, 10), recording (1–6, 9, 10), assistant engineering (7, 8)
  • Sean Sullivan – engineering (7, 8), recording (7, 8)
  • Pete Lyman – mastering (all tracks)
  • Daniel Bacigalupi – mastering (all tracks)

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ Kreps, Daniel (July 21, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson Announces New Album, Anime Film 'Sound & Fury'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  2. ^ "Still Have Questions About 2021 Grammy Nominations? We Have Answers". Billboard.
  3. ^ Caramanica, Jon (September 19, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson Leaves His Old Sound (and the Spotlight) in the Rear View". The New York Times. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Sound & Fury (album liner notes). Sturgill Simpson. Elektra Records. 2019.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ a b c Moore, Bobby (September 23, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson's 'Sound and Fury' Album + Film: What We Know". The Boot. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  6. ^ Pearis, Bill (September 27, 2019). "Listen to Sturgill Simpson's Sound & Fury' (and watch the anime)". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c SowingSeason (September 27, 2019). "Review: Sturgill Simpson – Sound & Fury". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Hyden, Steven (September 26, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson Has Made The Groove-Heavy Guitar-Hero Album Of The Year". Uproxx. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Sound & Fury by Sturgill Simpson Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  10. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Sound & Fury - Sturgill Simpson". AllMusic. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  11. ^ Kot, Greg (September 27, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson review: 'Sound & Fury' aims to blow up speakers and country music boundaries". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  12. ^ Mullin, Kyle (September 30, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson - Sound & Fury". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  13. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (September 26, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson: Sound & Fury review – country's outlaw catches fire". The Guardian. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  14. ^ O'Connor, Roisin; Bray, Elisa (September 26, 2019). "Album reviews: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – This is the Place, and Sturgill Simpson – Sound & Fury". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  15. ^ Danton, Eric R. (September 26, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson Applies Brute Strength to Sound & Fury". Paste. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  16. ^ O'Connell, Chris (October 1, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson: SOUND & FURY Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  17. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (September 26, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson's 'Sound and Fury' Is His Most Left-Field Record Yet". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  18. ^ Moody, Mark (October 9, 2019). "Sturgill Simpson: Sound & Fury". Under the Radar. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  19. ^ Carty, Pat (October 29, 2019). "Album Review: Sturgill Simpson, SOUND & FURY". HotPress.
  20. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Billboard. December 10, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  21. ^ Kot, Greg (December 3, 2019). "Best Albums of 2019". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  22. ^ "50 of the Best Albums of 2019". Good Morning America. December 26, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  23. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (December 5, 2019). "50 Best Albums of 2019". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  24. ^ Jenkins, Craig (December 4, 2019). "The Best Albums of 2019". Vulture. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  25. ^ "Yahoo!'s Top 10 of 2019". Yahoo!. December 20, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  26. ^ Asker, Jim (October 8, 2019). "Whiskey Myers Scores First Top Country Albums No. 1, Jon Pardi & Sturgill Simpson Debut in Top 3". Billboard.
  27. ^ Bjorke, Matt (March 10, 2020). "Top 10 Country Albums Pure Sales Chart: March 9, 2020". RoughStock. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  28. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Digital Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. October 7, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  29. ^ "Sturgill Simpson Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  30. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  31. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Sturgill Simpson – Sound & Fury". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  32. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  33. ^ "Sturgill Simpson Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  34. ^ "Sturgill Simpson Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  35. ^ "Sturgill Simpson Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  36. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  37. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
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