Paramore Band Review

[TheSpiritofCygnusSawyer]

Paramore was the second and latest band I reviewed. Now all my band reviews will be up-to-date, if I have the patience to do another one eventually

 

 

Band History

Hayley Williams met brothers Josh and Zac Farro in Frankin Tennessee when they were in their young teens. The two guys and Hayley's band with Jeremy Davis and her neighbor Jason Bynum eventually merged to form Paramore. Hayley was the lone one signed on to Atlantic records, with management wanting to make her a Top 40 pop vocalist. She resisted and said she wanted to go into alternative rock and have a band behind her. They agreed to her wishes.

The band played shows while still going to high school, and began writing and recording for their first album. Jeremy Davis, not dealing well with rising success, quit the band, but later rejoined during this time. All We Know Is Falling was released on the Fueled By Ramen label over the summer of 2005, and they toured with Warped and had their first U.S. tour. During the touring before the album was released, Davis was replaced by John Hembree. After the album was released, Jason Bynum was replaced with Hunter Lamb, who left before the recording of their next album. Their sophmore album Riot!, released two years later, really broke them into the mainstream. Taylor York did not appear on the album, but was given membership in time to tour in support of the album. During the European leg of the tour, the band cancelled a handful of shows due to personal issues, the main catalyst being that Hayley was becoming the center of attention. Her and Josh also had a relationship going on that ended as well. The band regrouped and finished the tour. Paramore's hit it big when they recorded two songs for the Twilight soundtrack, an association that they still carry to this day.

Their third album, Brand New Eyes, was released in September of 2009. The writing process was a healing process for the band members, mainly Hayley as the songs reflected the band's internal stuggles that they eventually worked through. They toured supporting No Doubt and eventually headlined a tour throught the U.S. and in Europe, with a South American tour on its way. But on December 18, 2010, a statement was released by Hayley, Jeremy, and Taylor on Paramore's website stating that the Farro brothers had left Paramore, making the claim that they hadn't seemed to want to be around for the past year or so. A few days later, Josh released a reponse on his blog, claiming that the band was "a manufactured product" and that the band was just "riding on the coattails of Hayley's dreams." Controversy of course ensued, with no real conclusion. The remaining members of the band are currently completing their South American tour with Josh Freese filling in on drums and Justin York on guitar, however they are not to be the permanent members in the band. Josh and Zac both have other projects in the works.

 

My History With the Band

I first heard Paramore when I played "That's What You Get" on Rockband at a friend's house, probably around winter 2008. Looking further, I purchased that song and later "Crushcrushcrush." Eventually I found a place to download the first two albums for free over the summer. This past summer, I listened to Brand New Eyes through YouTube postings, but not being impressed I didn't get the album. A few months later I gave it another try and ripped all the songs off YouTube. I finally downloaded a higher quality version of the album when I came home for Thanksgiving break.

 

 

 

 

All We Know Is Falling - 2005

 

Lineup:

Hayley Williams: vocals

Josh Farro: lead guitar, backing vocals

Jason Bynum: rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Zac Farro: drums

Lucio Rubino: bass guitar on everything except "Here We Go Again"

Jeremy Caldwell: bass guitar on "Here We Go Again"

 

Paramore's debut album was obviously written by a group of teenagers just getting their foot in the water. That being said, there's alot of positive things to find. The main high point of the album is of course Hayley Williams, belting our notes with the best of them at just the mere age of sixteen. Josh Farro's crunchy guitar riffs are what make most of the better songs on the album, like "All We Know", "Pressure", and "Emergency". The anthematic "Whoa" breaks up what was a string of just average or slightly-above-average songs starting from about the fourth track, and this unfortunately continues through to the end of the album. Most of the songs gave me a hard time deciding whether they were 3 or 4-star material, so there was really not that much exceptional material. But the dark edginess is an aspect of the band that is never seen again, and to me is what makes this album more interesting than it really should be.

 

Highlights: All We Know, Pressure, Emergency, Here We Go Again, Whoa

Lowlights: Conspiracy, Franklin, My Heart

Overall Album Rating: 5.5/10

 

 

 

Riot! - 2007

 

Lineup:

Hayley Williams - vocals

Josh Farro - lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Jeremy Davis - bass guitar

Zac Farro - drums

 

Riot! is no sophmore slump for Paramore. Taking out the emo and putting in the pop, the band created an album that has the catchiness of a pop album but still rocks enough to be considered punk or alternative. Paramore didn't go totally soft, as the first track "For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic" packs an aggressive punch right from the start, as do a couple other songs. "That's What You Get" is a typical single- catchy, short, and to the point. One thing about the song that really caught my ear was the rhythm guitar part during the chorus (it's just a simple chord progression that's nothing fancy at all, I don't know why I enjoy it that much), but listening for that part gave the song a new perspective. There's a number of uplifting, inspirational songs such as "Miracle" and "Hallelujah" that just make your heart soar. The most popular song from the album, "Misery Business" somehow does nothing for me. I acknowledge it's a good song, but it's not one I could ever get into. The album produces enough hooks to make it a guilty pleasure for me, although its overall effectiveness dropped drastically for me after hearing their third album.

 

Highlights: That's What You Get, Hallelujah, Miracle, Born For This

Lowlights: Misery Business, Let The Flames Begin, Fences

Overall Album Rating: 7.5/10

 

Brand New Eyes - 2009

 

Lineup:

Hayley Williams: lead vocals, keyboards

Josh Farro: lead guitar, backing vocals

Jeremy Davis: bass guitar

Taylor York: rhythm and lead guitar

Zac Farro: drums, percussion

 

Brand New Eyes was written in the wake of the band needing to heal, and it's very apparent in the lyrical content. Almost every song gives some instance of a broken heart or a breakup. But the songwritng on this album is more mature. It feels like the band took a step back, toned it down, and focus on writing real music, instead of simple riffs to slap on with a catchy melody. As they did on Riot!, Paramore makes sure to cover many bases throughout the course of the album. "The Only Exception" and "Misguided Ghosts" are the ballads (with the latter being the first album-released acoustic track), "Careful" and "All I Wanted" are the dark, dramatic, aggressive songs, and everything else finds a place somewhere in the middle. Not much can be said on an individual basis as much as before, because while there may not be something amazingly special about each of the songs, most of them are just plain great. I can find something to like in each one of them, as I'm sure everyone else could too. The one complaint I have is even though the music got a little darker, Hayley's voice did not, and it times it can be noticably whiny. But this album represents a band growing and healing, and it was a huge step in a direction I really like.

 

Highlights: Careful, Brick By Boring Brick, Where the Lines Overlap

Lowlights (but not really): Playing God, Looking Up

Overall Album Rating: 9/10

 

 

Band Wrapup

Paramore. My, my, there's alot to say about them. For starters, I should say that I have a huge obsessive celebrity crush on Hayley Williams. But the bonus to that is that she's actually talented, and while she may sometimes steal the spotlight, it is well-deserved and not because she's searching for attention. In response to the controversy with the Farro brothers, I don't believe that one party is at fault here. After watching and reading itnerviews and soaking up everything I can about all that happened, I'll say this: I do not believe that Hayley runs the band as her project. She is the only one signed to Atlantic Records because they signed her wanting to turn her into a solo pop vocalist, but from day one she has demanded that the band be there behind her and has always, ALWAYS referred to Paramore being a band. As for the Farros, because Zac has not said a word to the public about any of this, I believe he left following Josh because he is a good brother and supported Josh in his decision. Why Josh left, I can't really say for sure, but I think it may have to do again with Hayley getting more attention than the rest of the band.

But onto the music. Paramore has evolved quite nicely over the years. Seeing their songwriting go from emo-alternative to punk-pop to almost straight alternative rock has been an enjoyable thing to see, mainly in the fact that they are one of the few of today's band that haven't really "sold out". Hayley Wiliiams is indisputably one of rock's greatest vocalists, and the third album really put Zac on my list as one of the better drummers in today's music. Now as for Josh, alot of the combinations of lead and rhythm include a really high lead part which I really do not like. It sounds too light and too twinkly.

The band caters to its fans. Paramore always releases blogs, videos, pictures online and keeps in contact with their fans. They have a handful of tracks that do not appear on albums, such as the Twlight songs and others such as "Decoy", "Oh Star", and covers of "My Hero" and "Sunday, Bloody Sunday". It's unfortunate that the band is changing personnel because they had a good thing going, at least musically. Their sound will definately change, and I can't really say yet whether I would go see them when they come around next tour. I know that bands are always changing members. We'll just have to see what happens with them. But overall, they are definately one of my favorites. I will be keeping all three of their albums in full, along with "Decode", "I Caught Myself", "Decoy", and an electronic cover of "My Hero".

 

Overall Band Rating: 8/10