Baroness - Blue Record

I guess the progression from the First and Second Baroness eps to the Blue Record seems right but... it's hard for me to follow. I loved the trashyness of the first 2 eps. 6 songs of old school trash/hardcore. It was good. The Red Album came out and threw me for a loop. Not that bands need to be stuck in a loop but the Red Album was something different. And to be honest it wasn't my favorite album but it's grown on me and I've come to really like it.

Blue Record is lost on me. My enjoyment is lost. And although the record is slowly growing on me, it's still not an attention grabber. It almost feels like The Red Album light. The doom/stoner metal elements from the Red Album have been traded for a more psychedelic rock approach. And for that sound that seems to be what Baroness is going for, it seems a producer or engineer has let them down because they album doesn't sound nearly big enough. The drums don't capture your attention as maybe they should and and things just seem a little thin. But maybe I was just looking for the wrong thing. Maybe my hopes were that Blue Record would be a progression into more of the trippy metal that was on the Red Album.

The album is a rock album from start to finish and despite my lackluster thoughts and minor disappointment, Baroness has created a good record with few faults. The intro to the record, Bullhead's Psalm, is an indication that Blue Record is going to be different. The Sweetest Curse and Jake's Leg are two straight ahead rock tracks, Jake's Leg really seeming to sound like Red Album light. Steel That Sleeps the Eye is an acoustic track that really seems a little out of place. A short song that doesn't seem to find it's place with the rest of the album and maybe it's a track that should best been moved to later in the record. Swollen and Halo is the trippiest song on the album with a great guitar that probably hits you better when you're stoned. Blackpowder Orchard is a weird tribute to being from the south, I guess, that also seems to lose it's place on the album.

Blue Album is mostly a rock album from start to finish and a pretty good one. It's not what I was hoping for or what I thought it would sound like which kind of took the wind out it possibly being one of the best albums of 09 but it is a solid rock album.