Baroness - Yellow & Green review
| Band: | Baroness |
| Album: | Yellow & Green |
| Style: | Progressive rock, Stoner rock |
| Release date: | July 2012 |
Disc I
01. Yellow Theme
02. Take My Bones Away
03. March To The Sea
04. Little Things
05. Twinkler
06. Cocainium
07. Back Where I Belong
08. Sea Lungs
09. Eula
Disc II
01. Green Theme
02. Board Up The House
03. Mtns. (The Crown & Anchor)
04. Foolsong
05. Collapse
06. Psalms Alive
07. Stretchmarker
08. The Line Between
09. If I Forget Thee, Lowcountry
Here's a band that has picked up a notable amount of steam over the past few years; Red Album was generally received warmly, building up perfectly to the staggering amounts of praise for Blue Record. The pressure is on. How do they live up to it? By throwing us a goddamn curve-ball, is what.
Of course you all like curve-balls. Well, not all of you will like this one. Yellow has a distinctly mainstream, radio rock appeal. It seems they figured their flavour of Savannah Sludge was being taken over by similar acts like Kylesa and Black Tusk, it was time to shake things up. This result of changing things up with their cleanest, catchiest, most melodic piece to date. Some of these tracks have such an arena-rock sort of feel to them, it becomes increasingly difficult to really call this a sludge band anymore.
The kicker? Despite having an obviously intentional high level of accessibility to it, Yellow is still thoughtfully built from the ground up. The guitar work is incredibly dynamic, even if it completely lacks many of the rougher edges you have come to expect from this band.
That's the Yellow side. Green side is a totally different story. No, it's not back to actual sludge, but even further away. It's a really mellow ("The Line Between" aside), bizarre form of old school prog going on. Not quite as memorable or notable as Yellow, Green is well worth the listen if for nothing else than witnessing the contrast this band is capable of pulling off.
In the end, Yellow & Green is a toss-up. People expecting to hear Baroness revisit Red Album are going to be sorely disappointed. However, open minds may be quite impressed by this bands calculated maturation into a band built on well-structured riffs, diversity, and accessibility.
Comments
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Comments: 35
Visited by: 393 users
| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
A six this is. Played extremely safe and totally oriented at radio airplay with too much Nickelback and post grunge in it. Still undeniably Baroness but an immensely watered down affair.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff Posts: 9718  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.07.2012 at 09:59 Doesn't surprise me. Like I said, this is Baroness playing an extremely radio-friendly version of themselves. I find it well written in spite of that, though. On the other hand, I really can't blame people for not liking this.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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| Cynic Metalhead Paisa Vich Nasha Posts: 6815  |
"Take My Bones Away" is stand out song of this album. rest, they are just above average. Overall? somehow I enjoyed it. Probably, a great release I would say.
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| afu Posts: 260 |
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702  |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by afu on 10.07.2012 at 11:50 I don't hear any stoner ihere at all. yes, it's mellow, but not in a stoner sort of way.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Lokaeda Account deleted |
Lokaeda
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I don't mind bands evolving, but I just don't like it here. It's technically well-done, the musicians know their job, but I find it boring to death. One song (don't remember which one, it's around the middle-end of the Yellow part) even reminds me of Muse 
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
I never particularly liked their previous stuff so, for me, this is an improvement...  Having said that, Relapse are clearly trying to turn them in something with more commercial appeal and they went along with it. We can debate about bands going "commercial" for eons, but it won't change the fact that the music is pretty mediocre... being commercial or not.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276  |
Second staff review where I disagree enough to make me feel like I need to express myself with a review of my own 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| afu Posts: 260 |
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| afu Posts: 260 |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by afu on 10.07.2012 at 15:11 I love both that MM album and that QOTSA one but I myself really can't fit this Baroness one in between there AT ALL. Like I said I totally do not hear and sotner in this baroness album. So your compariso doesn't make any sense to em at all. But it apparently does make sense to you somehow.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Risto Wandering Midget Posts: 1115  |
Written by Guest on 10.07.2012 at 12:17 Which is why this album is also referred to as "indie" rather than commercial.
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.07.2012 at 09:59 I don't think that a band that leaves aside the sludge sound which they became known for in favor of a more accessible rock such as you describe is playing safe in any way. Playing safe would have been sticking with the same sound as the previous albums convincing conformist fans, this change was risky in a way.
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| My2Cents Posts: 11 |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
These guys should see if Lou Reed is still interested in collaborating with metal bands. Boring beyond belief.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| afu Posts: 260 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.07.2012 at 15:34 Pill Shovel and Ozium From MM crossed with Auto Pilot and Better Living Through Chemistry by QOTSA as interpreted by the mutant clone of Steve Howe and Robin Trower. It's Progressive Stoner in that sense. 
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| pisymbol Posts: 193  |
Written by Unhealer on 10.07.2012 at 16:05 EXACTLY. Some reason finally seeping into the Metal Storm "this sucks because it has a somewhat mainstream appeal" mentality. This IS an extremely risky album for them on several levels. And after hearing the full stream on NPR, Doc really hit the nail on the head with this review. This is a very dynamic albeit rock oriented album.
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| dizzlemahnazgul Posts: 9 |
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| Susan Smeghead Elite Posts: 6941  |
I love when bands challenge their limits and go in a different direction than the fans expected. Haven't listened to this one yet though. I pre-ordered it a while back and am waiting for my actual CD  But I have heard enough negative opinions so far to be a bit worried. Thanks, Doc, for spelling out exactly what's going on. Mostly I've just heard bitching and if your review is at all accurate then I can see why certain people would shy away from this... but I can also see why many people would love it anyway. It's still the same talented band it always was. The only thing that made me really react negatively was your speculation that the "Savannah Sludge" scene was getting too crowded. Damn, I really hope that's not what Baroness thinks. One simply cannot get enough of that sound!!!
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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| Alex F Slick Dick Rick Posts: 3502  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 10.07.2012 at 16:30 I wouldn't say beyond belief... but it is pretty boring. Perhaps what they need to spice up their discography is a Lulu of their own.
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311 |
Written by Susan on 10.07.2012 at 18:22 I've read a couple of interviews with Baizley and I think his words honestly reflect that they really needed to change their sound the way they did. I don't really see them changing their sound based on what other bands of the scene are doing or not
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| Susan Smeghead Elite Posts: 6941 |
Written by Unhealer on 10.07.2012 at 19:59 That of course makes sense; I totally respect when bands need to change their sound and grow and explore music. You can't just keep releasing the same album over and over, even if only for your own sanity. But I just hope no band changes a good thing simply because they feel pushed out by other successful bands. Fuck em and keep on
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250  |
Haven't heard it yet (thought it was coming out today. silly me.) a continued change in sound is no surprise to me, there were already concerned voices when Blue wasn't as "hard" as Red, and they never were particularly hard to begin with. In interviews after Blue, BB was already stating that the record they listened to the most during the recording of Blue was Queen's "Day At The Races." i don't mind shifts so long as bands find a way to keep it interesting. and i don't limit my opinion of "interesting" to just metal.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Spirit Molecule spirit molecule Posts: 1918  |
Written by Susan on 10.07.2012 at 18:22 Well a lot of people got into Baroness coz of their signature sound. I agree with Craig here, Its cool they're experimenting with their sound, most bands do this and sometime it works and sometime it doesn't. I just didn't find it interesting. All I know is that its not really the Baroness I fell in love with. On the other hand, they will have a shit load of new fans on this one, just like Mastodon. I will give it a couple more listens though to see if it grows on me. I really hope the change isn't coz the Savannah sludge scene is getting crowded, coz it isn't. I love that sound as well. I'm looking forward to the Kylesa album now.
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| afu Posts: 260 |
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