Baroness - Yellow And Green (2012)

I'm listening to the NPR stream and enjoying this so far. Best thing they've done by an immense margin.

It's not a metal album, but it is fucking great. The two things are not mutually exclusive.

Yeah, this is fantastic and I love watching the metal gatekeepers getting their knickers all twisted over it.

Totally hate this. Not for failing to to be metal, but for sexless slickness and cornball harmonies. LIke being trapped at the encore of an Alice in Chain gig, where they endlessly cover Asia and Toto deep cuts.

metal album of the year, fuck the purists

encore of an Alice in Chain gig, where they endlessly cover Asia and Toto deep cuts.

Would be in the front row for this gig, btw.

would rather hear Toto cover Got Me Wrong

First impressions:

Yellow is the best thing they've done, even though the alt-rock comes through a bit stronger than I like now and again. I like "Eula" more in sequence than I did hearing it apart from the album. However, Green seems to be mostly a miss, though "Psalms Alive" shakes off some of the torpor that proceeds it.

I might be with AG on this one. There is a killer 40-45 minutes here, but I don't think the stylistic separation of the two parts does it any favors.

Still, it's such a massive step forward that I heartily applaud them. I'm on record as not seeing the appeal of their previous work but this record makes me want to listen to it again.

This is sounding pretty cool, lots of nice textures and details. But the vocals are sometimes a bit Nicklebacky.

I've gone on and on about this album elsewhere, but Phil reiterates everything I've said about this record since day one. Not the least bit metal, which in Baroness's case is the smartest thing they could have done. It's a great rock album, and I'm hoping more people from outside the whole metal scene catch on to it.

the vocals are sometimes a bit Nicklebacky

I haven't heard the new one(s) yet, but this has been my only sort-of objection to them sometimes in the past. But I'm willing to live with it for the grooves, which I'm hoping the new album is awash in.

Second track certainly reminds me of this, if only for a few notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--0XPGid7JY

Man, I had never made the Nickelback connection before, and now I can't unhear it. Thanks ILM!

It's all very alt rock radio.

That's what's killing me.

So their earlier stuff is more 'metal' yeah? Maybe I would prefer it. NB I do like this, but I find some elements irksome

I don't hear alt rock radio, really. I hear Torche in a lot of the vocals, but I've also heard people call them alt rock radio. I suppose the stations here play very different alternative rock on the radio.

wow, not metal at all is a departure i wasn't expecting. particularly given the album seems on the surface to be thematically in sync with the other albums in terms of that colour thing and all.

hmm i think going not metal was always gonna happen. Theyve moved away from their diy punky metal beginnings (and im gonna annoy phil by saying those 2 eps are still the best thing they did again)

Saying there is no metalness to this whatsoever is not entirely accurate.

http://www.spin.com/reviews/baroness-yellow-green-relapse

I reviewed it :D

I'd love to read it but every time I click on it it gets usurped by what looks like the homepage after about two seconds

what the actual fuck

you need to update your browser

sorry abt that

Baroness is Faith No More photographed in their underpants (but not the Red Hot Chili Peppers photographed in their underpants)

this is gold

The deluxe hardbound version of this is gorgeous, next best thing to get if you aren't getting the vinyl.

"...encore of an Alice in Chain gig, where they endlessly cover Asia and Toto deep cuts."

Would be in the front row for this gig, btw.

was gonna say. would spend more time listening to metal if there were more room for big, cheesy harmonies and strong, clear vocals in the genre. that's what i liked so much about that ghost album from a couple years back. haven't heard the new baroness, but i loved the more accessible stuff on the last one, "steel that sleeps the eye" and like.

There's no shortage of cheesy harmonies in most Victory Records/Bamboozle/Hot Topic teenybopper deathcore. It's that Ghost and Baroness are smartypantses too!

probly, but i don't know what hot topic teenybopper deathcore to listen to. ideally, it should have a lot of skulls on it.

You're in luck

I've reviewed shit-tons of Hot Topic teenybopper deathcore for Alternative Press. Lemme go through my clips and find some recommendations for you.

Totally hate this. Not for failing to to be metal, but for sexless slickness and cornball harmonies. LIke being trapped at the encore of an Alice in Chain gig, where they endlessly cover Asia and Toto deep cuts.

I don't hate Baroness like you do, I just don't really care about them, but this is the sort of hilariously cutting remark Whiney'd love if he hadn't decided Baroness rules

"would spend more time listening to metal if there were more room for big, cheesy harmonies and strong, clear vocals in the genre."

!!!!!

!!!!!

for a start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_metal_bands

killer show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB2g60oQD4w

!!!!!

for a start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_metal_bands

― scott seward, Tuesday, July 17, 2012 6:05 PM (42 minutes ago)

i know, i know. i listen to tons of that shit, both new and old. i really meant that i would listen to more of the metal you read about in new wave magazines if it wasn't all cow man mooing noises and giant beards.

though i like that stuff, too, sometimes. thrones!

haha it's the alice-in-chains remark that is thus far preventing me from checking this out

there's actually a pretty big surplus of metal bands with awesome clear vocals & harmonies right now however I think the key thing that metal bands who want to get that non-specialty press nod do is hire non-metal producers: Baroness has been with Congleton since early on, his style's pretty "sure, we'll cover this"-friendly*, and another crossover act, Mastodon, has always been attentive about whether the people they're working with provide them with a bridge to non-specialty press/audiences.

*he's also a very good & capable producer, don't get me wrong, but the chances that a metal band goes into a session w/him & comes out with a straight-up metal album seem slim to me

I didn't know until tonight that their singer does all their artwork. And lots of other album art, too, I guess. Love that Nouveau vibe.

I don't (or didn't) hate Baroness at all. Blue was top ten of the year for me, and The best parts of Red got the apocalyptic feel of Killing Joke into southern prog. But I'm never too keen on harmonies. I don't really hear the 90s alt, except the bits that were filtered through late UK prog like that bee girl song. This record has this brainlessness that makes it the biggest disappointment for me since the Entrance follow up to Prayer of Death.

They've lost what was odd about them.

I really want to enjoy these guys, but their production choices are a big distraction that keep me from really getting immersed in the music. I wish they'd bring down those big thuddy drums a bit and crank up the guitars. At least on this one, the drums and guitars sound more like they exist in the same sonic space than they did on Blue.

cow man mooing noises and giant beards.

yup

dude I swear the chorus of march into the sea is identical to something on killjoys, the last mcr album. I don't have it on hand so I can't say which song, but i will try to figure it out later for my own peace of mind.

"bulletproof heart"

i hear a strain of j. robbins (jawbox / burning airlines / channels) on (if i'm getting the title right) 'take my bones away'. the voice.

super, super big alt-rock-radio vibe.

this is so borrrrring

i kinda feel sorry for you if you find this kind of thing boring.

It was a bit weird seeing this on the news. I walked past the coach on Tuesday night and had a good look, next time I see it it's stuck in a tree.

The seven with more minor injuries were taken to the Royal United Hospital (RUH)."

Nice of Rick Ross to deliver the news.

my favorite song on this right now is "Twinkler" ... is that weird?

No fatalities in a fucking tour bus falling 30 feet off a precipice sounds pretty damn fortunate.

my favorite song on this right now is "Twinkler" ... is that weird?

― alpine static, Thursday, August 16, 2012 8:15 AM (34 minutes ago)

not at all! it's this album's "steel that sleeps the eye" (nearly the same vocal, tbh), and "steel" is gorgeous. plus it's track 5. track 5 is always dope.

The band members of Baroness and their crew are recovering from injuries sustained after their tour bus crashed outside of Bath, England early on Wednesday morning.

John Baizley has broken his left arm and left leg. Allen Blickle and Matt Maggioni each suffered fractured vertebrae. All three remain in the hospital as of this writing. Pete Adams has been treated and released from the hospital.

Three of the five crew members who were on the bus have also been treated and released. One member is still undergoing testing. The driver of the bus remains in critical condition.

Please stay tuned for further updates. Thank you for all the support during this extremely difficult time.

from Facebook

just saw that. How serious is vertebral fracture? It does not usually impact the nerves, does it?

http://social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/headbang-blogpost.aspx?post=2fac47f2-5654-4c35-9d5b-2fa0c9f5bb06

There was one moment in the crash that cut me deeply. For one heartbeat and one tiny sliver of time, I became disconnected entirely. It was, specifically, the moment I impacted with the glass. In that barest heartbeat of a moment, I came face to face with the infinite. I didn’t see a light, or the tunnel or hear any music. Nor did I get a “best-of” montage of my life. Instead, I felt the tip of my nose brush up against the very same fate I had accepted moments before. I looked into a cold, unreflective mirror. It was the dark, silent, dispassionate logic of the end. I realized in that moment that life can be seen as a light switch: “on” or “off”. When the moment passed and I heard the screaming, felt the pain, and tasted my own blood, I was overcome with joy. I was ecstatic to be back amidst all that chaos and horror because it was alive and real.

Very powerful.

His injuries sound horrific.

Holy shit at that.

I love this album more today than I did when I started this thread and can't wait for these guys to get back on the road and play somewhere near me. I'll be there.

More:

http://www.decibelmagazine.com/featured/deciblog-qa-baroness-frontman-john-dyer-baizley-elaborates-on-u-k-bus-crash/

I can confirm that I really really like this record!

yeah, has worn well

I couldn't really get into it, should give it another go.

Favorite 3:
Yellow Theme
Crown and Anchor
Strechmarker

Reminder: This album is awesome.

Finally got into this after a couple of years of not being able to get over the yarliness of the vocals. But damn these are some well-crafted songs.

couple of years

Ha, it hasn't even been out for a couple of years.

it's been out a year and nine months ... i think that's close enough to say what you said

i was listening to a lil eula, like, this morning i think

Back Where I Belong is my favourite.

Listened to this just this past week for the first time in over a year. Great record.

Straight up love it now. Listened twice today already.

Great record.

Theory: Baroness would be bigger than Mastodon right now if their bus hadn't crashed a month after Yellow & Green was released.

They've still got time to be bigger than Mastodon, I reckon they might be after the next album (they're poppier!).

mastodon has kind of sunk into a rut of "consistently-decent-sometimes-really-good-but-not-really-extraordinary-anymore" so baroness's time would be now.

Theory: Baroness would be bigger than Mastodon right now if their bus hadn't crashed a month after Yellow & Green was released.

I kinda agree with this, but in the world we actually live in, I feel like their moment has passed. The crash cost them a ton of momentum, plus they've had so many lineup changes over the years that now it really is just John Baizley and some sidemen; "band identity" has been lost (as represented by the tracks on Y&G that clearly feature drum machines).

Purple out 12/18. Advance track agreeably Skynyrd-meets-Pumpkins imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhS0j3WxfWY

god part of that sounds like weezer

I can never get into this band, but as long as their album covers continue with the theme of naked women continue to cuddling with sea creatures and murdering birds, they are alright by me.

Not sure I'm particularly into this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYF5FCu_M-k

Best New Music via pfork

hey i think i love this record. surprising bc i was pretty indifferent to yellow and green. sorta sounds like thrice crosspollinated with qotsa

i revisited yellow and green and this is way better than yellow and green imo

Their new drummer is very...demonstrative

Listened to this yesterday, and again this morning. I'm liking it a lot more than I did when I streamed half the promo a month or so ago. There are a couple of moments that are blatantly stolen from other bands - there's one riff that's pure Mastodon, and another that's total 70s Pink Floyd - but they're not the main riffs of songs, they just pop up for a second and then disappear again, which is weird and kinda great.

I thought it was interesting that they streamed one track from the album on each of 10 different websites this week - felt bad for Rolling Stone Australia, who got to premiere the 17-second funny-voice outro.

the chord progression in the chorus of "shock me" is just catnip for me, the way it never stops moving

Time has been kind to this album.

purple made me go back to this a lot and yeah, it's so good

This revive brought to you by wondering when the hell they're gonna announce The Other Black Album or whatever, those rehearsal videos from awhile back were exciting.

oh, nevermind. from June:

the next Baroness album has been written and the band has tracked in the studio. Baizley wouldn’t give up too much information, other than to say that Baroness are in the mixing/mastering process and the new record will break from tradition, not being named for a color.

They haven't made a bad album yet. (I don't really like their early EPs much.)

Y&G turns 10 this weekend. I wrote about it for Stereogum.