#17 - Top of 2012

Baroness -Yellow and  Green (Relapse Records)

After a short break we are moving on to number 17, taking a small leave from all things progressive that defined the last 4 posts of this list and heading towards a more hard rocking album. "Yellow and Green" is Baroness's third full length album and it came out during a year that became challenging for the band (while touring for the album's promotion, the band's bus crashed in the UK, severely injuring the vocalist/guitarist John Baizley, as well as drummer Allen Blickle and guitarist/vocalist Matt Maggioni who later left the band). The record is split into two discs both equally interesting and filled with psychedelic, heavy and hard-rock vibes! The first disc starts with the heavy-paced instrumental "Yellow Theme" followed by a range of different tunes including the rocker "Take My Bones Away", the psychedelic "Cocainium", the melodic "Twinkler" and the atmospheric "Eula", which constitutes as a transition to the second part of the album. The second disc starts with the airy instrumental piece "Green Theme" followed by the radio-rock "Board Up the House", the captivating "Mtns. (The Crown & Anchor)" and "Foolsong", wrapping up with the more alternative "The Line Between" and the instrumental tunes of the "If I Forget Thee, Lowcountry". The intriguing cover art by Baizley completes the album with a great visual depiction of the record's vibe and amazing song-writing!


 94/100

 Below is the music video for "Take My Bones Away"