in the course of the last half a year or so baroness really has become one of the heavy hitters in my personal play list. 'the red album' and 'blue record' made me love their weird and catchy incarnation of progressive rock music. therefore i am always on the hunt for more baroness vinyl. while i still keep falling short on getting a coloured vinyl copy of 'yellow and green', i was quite successful obtaining a copy of the compilation of their first two e.p.'s.
those two e.p.'s were aptly entitled 'first' and 'second' and have been originally put out as seperate releases by hyperrealist records. i suppose the band has some connection to the label because they are coming from the same city - savannah, georgia - and black tusk, also with releases on hyperrealist, is one of the bands john dyer baizley does almost every artwork for.
anyway, following the 2004 release of 'first' and the 2005 release of 'second', said hyperrealist records reissued them as one release on vinyl in 2008. it was too expensive for me to hunt the single versions and so i was really happy to grab this real nice brown marble record from an ebay seller from germany. the orange marble of the same pressing, the third to be exact, would have been cooler but i am more than ok with it.
if you want to witness a more raw and heavy version of the band's trademark sound this compilation is your way to go. it reminds me of early mastodon stuff and i really like it for what it is - an early stage in the bands career. all in all i like their full length's better but this is still essential stuff and a must-have for any baroness sympathiser. 750 copies on brown marble with foil print on the cover. hyperrealist records. 2008.
