Take Off Your Colours is the debut studio album by English rock band You Me at Six, originally released on 6 October 2008 through Slam Dunk Records.

After releasing "Save It for the Bedroom" as a single to promote their tour, the band gained attention from both independent and major record labels.

Although all the music's writing was credited to the entire band, vocalist Josh Franceschi and guitarist Max Helyer were usually the biggest creative forces among the group, being responsible for songs' concepts.

The album was recorded in two weeks at Outhouse Studios in Reading, Berkshire with producers Matt O'Grady and John Mitchell.

"If I Were In Your Shoes", "Gossip", and "Jealous Minds Think Alike" were released as singles to promote the album, the latter of which became the band's first charting song.

[1] After Franceschi wanted to become a vocalist, him and Helyer jammed for a few months, until bassist and college friend Matt Barnes began playing with them.

As their local scene leaned on heavy-sounding music, the band had to push themselves to win over the crowds, eventually earning a notable reputation amongst their peers.

In April 2007, they appeared at a showcase of up-and-coming artists at the Camden Underworld in London, and by the following month, they supported Saosin in Leeds.

[10] They played another show at the Camden Underworld in June 2007; by this point, they had acquired a press agent and were starting to attract attention from people in the music industry.

[10] Over the next two months, they played support slots for one-off shows with Paramore and Furthest Drive, and joined This Is Goodbye on their national tour.

[13] "Save It for the Bedroom" was released on 22 October 2007 through Slam Dunk Records,[14] a label co-founded by the band with help from their manager and fans.

This situation made it clear to the band that, according to Franceschi, "major labels are good but over the years they have totally lost touch of what sells.

[25] O'Grady encouraged Franceschi's vocal performance, as Flint explained: "Getting into the studio was very daunting for all of us, and Matt gave him the confidence to express how he felt, to know that he really could sing."

[24] "Save It for the Bedroom" and "You've Made Your Bed (So Sleep in It)", which were initially released as a single in 2007, were re-recorded during the album's studio sessions.

[28] Daniels said it displayed a "promising young band making a collection of competent, perhaps quite Americanised songs",[29] and as such, noted influences from All Time Low, Blink-182 and Four Year Strong.

[32] By contrast, the We Know What It Means to Be Alone EP was compared to the sound of the Academy Is..., Paramore and other acts on the record label Fueled by Ramen,[6] while Untitled incorporated influences from Incubus, Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday.

He added that the band members acted as themselves and expected as much from their peers "so the title is not about gangs but rather the concept of personal identity".

[34] "Call That a Comeback" is an anthemic pop-punk song,[34] and is followed by "Jealous Minds Think Alike", the chorus section of which was compared to the work of Panic!

[27] "Tigers and Sharks" evoked the early work of Taking Back Sunday,[26] and features shoegaze guitar riffs.

[37] A music video was released for "If I Were in Your Shoes" on 14 February 2008,[38] while it was officially announced as single on 17 March through Slam Dunk, with "Taste" as the B-side.

[59] The US iTunes version of Take Off Your Colours also includes "Kiss and Tell", a song which would later be released as a single to promote a UK limited edition of the album.

The band announced they would perform Take Off Your Colours in its entirety[65] after the initial show at a given venue for VI on select dates.

[65] While promoting these shows and celebrating the record's tenth anniversary, they were also featured on the November issue of Rock Sound; included with its special edition were poster prints that were hand-signed by the band, a 16-page photo collection from the Take Off Your Colours era, and other bonus material.

"[32] Jen Walker of Big Cheese called the album "a refreshing English pop punk debut", which contained "clear musical influences" from New Found Glory, Panic!

[87] The Observer described the band's sound to be "the UK's answer to Fall Out Boy," with reviewer Emma Johnston choosing "Jealous Minds Think Alike" as a highlight.

[88] In a lukewarm review, Alternative Addiction described the album as such: "Think Fallout Boy [sic] meets New Found Glory and you won’t be far off getting what makes You Me At Six tick.

‘Gossip’ and opener ‘The Truth Is A Terrible Thing’ all echo the aforementioned bands, however there is a rough edge that separates You Me At Six from their glossy luminaries.

[26] Thrash Hits reviewer Mischa Pearlman heavily criticised the album, calling the music on the record "a series of badly phrased platitudes set to irritating tunes", and attacking the band as "most definitely a product of their times [...] You Me At Six are the perfect poster boys for their so-called scene.

[28] However, another AllMusic reviewer, Jason Birchmeier, later regarded Take Off Your Colours as an "impressive debut album" which cemented the group "as one of England's hottest up-and-coming rock bands".

[94] One of the magazine's writers, Rob Sayce, said the album's "unprecedented success helped open doors for other rising bands" in the UK, such as Deaf Havana and Young Guns.