Editing Alabama (band) (section)

===Impact===
[[File:Alabama Fan Club and Museum, Fort Payne, AL, US.jpg|right|thumb|Alabama Fan Club and Museum, Fort Payne, Alabama]]
Alabama has been credited with "substantially broadening country's audience while becoming one of the most popular acts in American musical history" by Michael McCall of ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''.{{sfn|McCall|Rumble|Kingsbury|2012|p=5}} The band was notable for its three-person lead (as "most other country acts focused on a soloist accompanied by an anonymous band"), their collective hair length and facial hair (which would have been deemed unacceptable just a decade earlier), and their prominent electric bass and drums.<ref name="BiographicalDictionary"/> They had a slightly edgier sound than other groups, and both played their own instruments and wrote their own songs.<ref name="tenn"/> Alabama mostly appealed to a younger audience, although their clean-cut image appealed to the more [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]], older country audience as well.<ref name="BiographicalDictionary"/> Kurt Wolff described the band's appeal: "They're just rebel enough for the young folks, but their parents also dig the boys' pretty harmonies, sentimental soft spots, and old-fashioned family values."<ref name=wolff>Wolff, Kurt. (2000). ''Country Music: The Rough Guide''. Rough Guides, 608 pp. First edition, 2000.</ref> Alabama gave prominence to their hometown of Fort Payne, and also raised awareness for environmental issues.{{sfn|Stambler|Landon|2000|p=6}}

The band's incorporation of rock and roll into their sound was an inspiration for groups such as [[Restless Heart]], [[Shenandoah (band)|Shenandoah]], [[Exile (American band)|Exile]], [[Diamond Rio]], [[Lonestar]], [[Ricochet (band)|Ricochet]], and [[the Mavericks]].{{sfn|McCall|Rumble|Kingsbury|2012|p=5}}<ref name="billboard1"/> According to Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon, authors of ''Country Music: The Encyclopedia'', the group's diminishing sales in the late 1980s reflected competition from country bands that would not have received recognition had it not been for Alabama paving the way. For their part, these groups credited Alabama with providing a massive influence on their careers.{{sfn|Stambler|Landon|2000|p=6}} Prior to Alabama's unprecedented chart success, most country hit singles belonged to solo artists or duets.{{sfn|Stambler|Landon|2000|p=5}} Many Alabama singles and albums represented crossover appeal on the pop charts.{{sfn|McCall|Rumble|Kingsbury|2012|p=6}}

Despite their successes, Alabama's career was loathed by music critics of the day, citing the "vacuous songs and watered-down, middle-of-the-road arrangements" that blurred lines between country and pop.{{sfn|McCall|Rumble|Kingsbury|2012|p=6}} ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' once argued the band "render[s] country music all but indistinguishable from pop" and thus "trivializes some of country's most hallowed traditions."{{sfn|Kingsbury|2004|p=8}} Indeed, reviewers such as Wolff consider the band's "overriding problem" their calculated sound, which leads many contemporary music critics to label the band mediocre.<ref name="wolff"/>