Best Album of 2012 : Baroness- Yellow and Green

Baroness is a band I've wanted to fall truly in love with since hearing their Blue Record. They've always struck me as a band of musicians first and foremost. Their sound is varied between heavy Southern modern rock and acoustic, roots inspired picking. Throw in a little ambient noise and you have Baroness.

However, I wasn't sure about their songwriting until this record. Yellow and Green is in my opinion their transformative album. The playing is more impressive, the vocals aren’t as gruff and buried, the melodies are catchier, and the sounds are even more varied.

This album inspired me for a number of reasons. To me, it gives me hope that a true rock band can exist today, that doesn't force a listener to place every sound and song into a genre. With 2012 being a year where we've had more access to music than ever before in human history, it’s easy to rest on our human nature and over-categorize bands to death for the sake of simplicity. Baroness didn't make that task easy for listeners. A band is at its best when rising above whatever genre critics would place them in, and Baroness did exactly that with Yellow and Green.

The band’s story in 2012 is also inspiring. While on tour in England they were in a very severe bus accident, leaving vocalist and guitarist John Baizley’s arm completely shattered. (An account of the accident from Baizley can be found here at http://baronessmusic.com/update-from-baroness/#more-501)

Baroness' John Baizley and Pete Adams share an acoustic performance of "Stretchmarker."