Yellow & Green,
the third full-length album from southern sludgesters Baroness, has found
itself on a lot of “Most Anticipated Albums of the Year” lists, and for good
reason. Yellow & Green was announced as a double album, which meant
twice as much Baroness as expected, and the band’s first two records, Red and Blue were hailed as filling the void in sludgy heavy metal left by
Mastodon’s divergence into prog territory; also they were great albums that
showcased the band’s impressive skills.
And so the excitement has been building steadily for Yellow & Green for very nearly a
year, with fans excited to rejoice is what was sure to be another sludge
masterpiece. But then something weird
happened. People who had listened to the
album began using words like “poppy” and “radio-friendly” to describe it. The first song Baroness released from the
album, “Take My Bones Away,” featured harmonious vocals in place of the beastly
bellows of lead singer John Baizley, and the next two (“March to the Sea” and
“Eula”) followed suit. Was it a
joke? Was Baroness sacrificing their
place in metal’s royal lineage for the safety of radio rock? Were people
jumping to ridiculous conclusions after reading reviews and hearing only a
sixth of Yellow & Green’s music?
Get the answers to these questions after the jump…
