For better or worse, Paramore has of been on our radar, and everyone else’s, for a couple of years now. They seem like easy potshot targets for music critics like us, jaded and well over the age of seventeen. But their radio singles have stood out among those of their vending machine Hot Topic rock peers. Their talent is not particularly extraordinary, but it’s promising.
As jaded as we are, we remember some other bands that started off as innocuous teens signed onto a trend, but developed over time into great, mature acts. Silverchair comes to mind immediately.
I recently caught a video of twenty year old Hayley Williams and her band doing an impromptu acoustic cover of Kings Of Leon’s Use Somebody. It was refreshing to hear her voice free of brick wall radio compression, stripped of the unmerciful production all these machined pop rock bands seem to feel they need, to be loud enough just to be heard. You can watch it on YouTube here. I personally like it more than the original. Williams has something special.
With the release of Brand New Eyes this year, we decided it’s time to finally dig deeper than the unescapable radio favorites.
Ignorance grabbed me immediately, before I heard it 3 times on the radio in the same day. The verse has two parts; it opens with a straightforward attack over a stock palm-muted emo rock riff, but the vocals swerve into an inventive pattern in the second part, and it sticks in your head like bubblegum on the bottom of your kid sister’s sneakers.
Ignorance is by far the best song on the album, but unfortunately, everything else wears thin fast. The lyrics in Playing God are painfully cheesy and childish, while the rest suffer from a sameness that lets them blend together, and ultimately get skipped or forgotten together.
The album’s obligatory ballads generally provide better listening experiences, but only because their mediocrity isn’t screaming in your face.
With some inspired riffs and an upbeat chorus that deviates from the standard delivery a bit, Turn It Off might be good enough to be another single. Though I hear the band and label are eyeing the underwhelming Brick By Boring Brick and predictably the very girlfriend-friendly The Only Exception instead. Regardless, two good songs does not a good album make.
Some versions of the album feature the teen an(gs)them Decode, the song from the Twilight soundtrack, as a bonus cut. If you ask me, that’s the band’s best song to date, despite following a somewhat cliché pattern. It helps if you’ve got it, but doesn’t make the album any more listenable as a whole.
The bottom line is that while Paramore is very capable of recording truly good, massively successful radio singles, they have yet to justify their use of the album format. Brand New Eyes is precisely the sort of album we regretted buying before the internet came along; a couple good tracks with a lot of filler in between. There is a theory floating around the music industry suggesting that albums are dead and that today’s artists would be better off efficiently releasing singles here and there, building a fanbase up with less overhead and touring more. It would seem that this approach would suit Paramore well. At least until they can collect more than eight minutes of truly strong material at a time.
- 01. Careful
- 02. Ignorance
- 03. Playing God
- 04. Brick By Boring Brick
- 05. Turn It Off
- 06. The Only Exception
- 07. Feeling Sorry
- 08. Looking Up
- 09. Where The Lines Overlap
- 10. Misguided Ghosts
- 11. All I Wanted
8 minutes? I only need 2.
Wait…are we talking about music?
Fair review, Skwerl. I totally agree with you regarding Silverchair as well.
Paramore is weak, and this album proves it. Still they’re more than good enough for an average Twilight fan. Anyway I wouldn’t listen to them because Decode reminds me of Modest Mouse, and everything else is entirely too cheesy, and immature, just listening makes me feel really old… even though I’m 19.
your fucking retarded.
I thought looking up was a good song….
I won’t lie, I have a lot of respect for Paramore. Granted I have not heard the new record, I have enjoyed the last two. Perhaps it’s becauase this Farro kid is a fan of the mighty Ken Andrews and his playing shows that influence, or perhaps it’s because I want to sodomize young Haley as she sings crushcrushcrush over and over, I am not really sure. Regardless, for what it is, it’s not bad. In fact, I hope these kids grow into something really special.
me too.
Don’t hold your breath – I don’t share the hopes & potential sentiments at all. I mean hell, what’s the best we can look forward to here? Another No Doubt?
Having hope for this band is like believing that one day Linkin Park will stop sucking. Just look at those guys and their emo fucking hairstyles. They are just another talentless group that looks good on MTV, except this one has a cute chick up front, since obviously My Chemical Romance and Panic!!!!!11! at the Disco weren’t “cool” anymore, so MTV had to fabricate a band that’s slightly different. Just another temporary thing. I remember some people had hope that Avril Lavigne would mature one day. We all know how THAT turned out, eh?
do i need to remind you guys what trent reznor was up to when he was 19, with his emo fucking hairstyle? it was worse than this album. not that i’m saying paramore is going to be the next nine inch nails or anything. but we don’t have to be dicks.
i think they’re already the next do doubt, not that that’s saying a lot. but i never for a second had any hope for avril. she has absolutely zero talent. as for linkin park, aside from the worthless mike shinoda, they’re a talented band that keeps getting more talented, while continuing to write songs that do absolutely nothing for me. i stopped hoping that would someday change. but paramore have years ahead of them, and anything could happen.
Emo fucking hairstyles didn’t mean the same thing 20-something years ago. And I think No Doubt were way better than this.
Fernando’s right, we might as well expect them to go independent.
This shit isn’t even worth reviewing on this site. I come here everyday because you guys normally post articles about music that’s good…or bands that are creative and interesting.
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And I don’t think they are the next No Doubt…as No Doubt had good songs…even if they weren’t your fancy.
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But to be fair…a year or so ago a couple of girls were over at my place and they kept playing the 2 fucking singles from their last record over and over…I’ll never forgive Paramore for that weekend haha.
fernando, were you even alive 20 years ago? and can anyone say they still listen to no doubt albums in their entirety? they were pretty much the same band paramore is today. massively huge singles, only some of which are still good, with a ton of filler in between that is all now completely irrelevant. not to mention that hayley williams is the new model female as gwen stefani was in 1995.
i mean don’t get me wrong. this album sucks, and i don’t have high expectations for paramore or anything. ultimately, i barely care. but fernando is talking out of his ass pointing to their hair and calling them an mtv fabrication. silly hair is nothing new, and the band’s tween fans made them, not mtv.
and i’m willing to bet that hayley williams will be making music long after panic! at the disco and my chemical romance have fizzled out. it might not be good, but her heart’s in it.
by the way i’m totally done talking about paramore. blech.
I am oddly intrigued by these guys. I live outside of Nashville and was born in the town these guys are from so I may be drawn towards them because of some unsubstantiated kinship based on geography. Who knows but they are a promising young band. Love the diversity of coverage here guys, despite what Rory says.
Alive 20 years ago, yeah. And I can listen to No Doubt singles over and over, while I can barely bring myself to listen to one full Paramore song. But as far as the No Doubt comparison goes, I agree that this chick will probably leave the emo guys in the dust while she shits out pop hits even worse than “Hollaback Girl” on her solo career. Then they’ll reunite for American Idol.
Anyway, on all of those pictures they look so vain it’s simply obnoxious. Perhaps it’s not wise to criticise a band for their look, but damn, I saw their pictures more times than I’ve heard their songs (considering I have a sister, who listens to Paramore all-the-fucking-time since she got bored of Michael Jackson), and those were many different pictures… So, basically this band is more about looks than it is about music, which actually makes them an MTV fabrication.
PS
All this talk about emo hairstyles could’ve been avoided if a different (less gay, cause this one’s pushing it) picture was chosen for the article.
it was less gay than this one.
by the way, this is what teenagers look like these days. they dressed themselves, not mtv. mtv only fuels the fire to warm their hands and pockets.
I think that certain songs on the album, and paramore’s past albums are entertaining enough but others are disappointingly similar. A few of the songs have absolutely nothing special about them, they’re not painfully bad, but i can’t think of a reason i would want to listen to them.
I like paramore but i honestly think that “the only exception” is the worst song they have ever recorded.
I don’t expect too much for the future but i think Hayley Williams is an amazing singer but her voice is lost in producing and recording. Listening to hayley sing in acoustics and live versions is worthwhile.
I really like hayley williams and i don’t think farro or any of the others are mtv fabrications, they may yet have potential, especially Hayley’s amazing vocals but at the moment their new album and past albums remain mediocre with a few gems.
I don’t disagree with diversity…but I come here for credibility. Usually the acts discussed here are creative and at least moderately progressive. This is tame pop-punk rehash.
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I like the diversity on this site…I end up learning about a new group or musician every now and then from checking here.
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Swerl…even though you are done talking about it…I’m one person that will still occasionally listen to “Tragic Kingdom” in it’s entirety. Once in a while.
How are they not credible? They put in their time playing shows and building a fan base. If you don’t like them because they are not progressive that is fine but back off man. I didn’t see any Paramore fans coming in under the Octahedron review bashing Mars Volta for being too progressive and playing time signatures you can’t even keep a good head bob going to. Peas.
This song doesn’t even have a hook to latch on to.
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It’s just all tracks at unity gain…annoying noise…I don;t understand how anyone could like it.
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That is my opinion.
guess i got a little more in me… someone awhile back once said our reviews were overwhelmingly positive. and i admit most of the albums we review get at least three stars. what i told that commenter, and what still stands is when we have a negative review, it’s not that we went after someone to trash. and we’re definitely not afraid to be honest about a below average album. usually we decide which albums to tackle before we even hear them, let alone form an opinion. and it’s almost always with the very real hope that they’ll be worth talking about. bad reviews happen when we wind up disappointed. paramore got nominated for a grammy and has been getting a lot of passing respect from fans that aren’t really into the genre. i hate all this new whiny emo metal bullshit, but i can admit hayley’s got a genuinely good voice and some of their radio singles are great. unfortunately, the album falls flat, as i’ve said. i set out as a detective. was hoping to find a great album to share with you guys, but it didn’t work out that way.
primarily, we definitely prefer to talk about good bands, and ignore the bad ones. we could sit here and trash hinder all day, but it doesn’t do anyone any good- you guys all know they suck dick. but every once in awhile we’ll have a piece that essentially says “yeah, we checked out this album because we were curious. if we were, then you might be too… and if that’s the case, we’re here to tell you that you can save yourself the trouble.”
@jasmine: agreed.
I tried, but after about a minute it made me want to go listen to Queens, which is never a good sign for a band I’m trying out.
That or go watch porn, cause I figured she wasn’t getting naked by the end.
Just wanted to say thanks for the article and warning about Paramore’s latest effort. I wouldn’t have invested in the album anyway (invest?…album?), but it’s nice to be updated on this band’s progress, or lack thereof. Anyway, I liked the group’s version of “Use Somebody.” For whatever reason, that song has become a cover staple — and it seems like most cover renditions sound better than KoL’s original.
Something else you mentioned caught my attention, though…I really like the concept of intermittently releasing singles in lieu of “dropping” albums. You’re right, in that too many times we end up with ‘complete albums’ that are really ‘complete shit,’ just because we heard a tune that defied the rest of the compilation. I think this could somehow help innervate the music industry…The anticipation-laden “installment” schtick has been a boon for the movie industry; plus, it would force kids to go to shows to hear more. Albums only serve as fodder for pirating anymore, anyway.
you guys are a bunch of fuckwhitts. paramore is the best thing in main stream music right now, and if your to narow minded to see that, you might as well go listen to 303.paramore has worked hard on building up a HUGE fan base touring for years., unlike the shitt on the radio like all time low and cobra starship. iv’e seen them twice in consert and they don’t disapoint. i also plan to see them on there brand new eyes tour. its people like you that hate the fact that they are so huge and don’twant to give them enough credit. there vidios have hundreds of thousands of more vews the moast of the “big names” in music. Brand new eyes is a great album, iv’e been listening to it non stop, and i will deffently invest my hard earned cash on it this tuseday.
and i will alwayze love my great orange hope.
Ok, snarky comments about “great orange hope” and terrible taste aside, I listened to the entire album twice yesterday for review at my other gig. I never thought I’d be one to defend No Doubt, but Paramore’s got so little to offer beyond a cute frontgirl with a passably decent voice. They’re absolutely not the No Doubt of today, but pop comparisons be damned – this album is shit. The band wouldn’t be a blip on *anyone’s* radar if Hayley weren’t adorable. There’s just no fucking way. In the inescapable tidal wave of white noise and scene-adapting geometric hairstyles, Paramore stands out for Hayley’s looks alone. That’s it! Mediocrity puts on some makeup and everybody goes apeshit. Now where have I seen this before???
Quiet listening to Paramore and tell us about your trip to Music City!
I agree with Johnny…honestly the only reason I clicked the link in the first place was because I wanted to see this picture of Hayley Williams enlarged.
alex:
please invest your hard earned cash on english lessons
it’s fuckwhits…one t
there is no way they write their songs 100% on their own, but that said, a good 75% of their material is catchy as fuck and i couldnt give a shit who actually wrote it. turn it off and brick by boring brick are the best songs on the album and if they are smart will be singles. the two ballads arent horrible but im already to the point of skipping them nearly every listen.
Hey boys! Ummm….Get your hands on the THEM CROOED VULTURES album yet? No? Guess yer outta the loop. I’m rocking it NOW. Huff it.
ADD A SPECIAL K.
Grow up, dandy.
Thanks 818…your post just led me on a mission to search every torrent site and possible location for that new album…only to find out it was bull shit.
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I’m desperately and impatiently awaiting the leak of TCV.
what’s your deal 818? is it your life’s mission to make someone here jealous that you have some kind of “in” with crooked vultures? because “trust me,” noone gives a shit.
by the way, how was that secret la show you promised that never happened? we’ll be seeing them a couple times next week. hope to see you there.
next week? check your calendar, sir – the shows are *this* week. 818’s got nothing at all to back up her stupid-ass claims, and has outright avoided my repeated offers for free access to shows/festivals to meet face to face on the issue. We should really look into getting some better trolls.
oh right, 3 days away. cool. time flies.
Hey Skwerl, or whomever deleted my message in this article I just wanted to say sorry. I made some juevinile comment about the singer not being able to be 20 since her to quote zappa “mamallian protruberances” were lacking. And it got deleted and I realize it was a dick thing to say. I know it’s the internet and apologies and never the norm or something to do, but you know what? I was being a fucking dick
hmm… i didn’t (and wouldn’t have) deleted that. there’s no policy against immaturity here :)
I deleted it porkspam. We don’t need that noise round here.
grow up already, man
what’s this about a deleted message? only Skwerl and I have that capability, and neither of us deleted it. you sure it posted?
I deleted it. I’m reading your files right now Firecloud
why do you have so many folders named ‘Pigs In Space’ ???
dun dun dun………………. (cue eerie music)
Never said the secret show would happen in a specific time frame, just that yer lame Paramore loving ass wont be there. I’m IN. Huff it. Seen em a few times at rehearsal, HUFF IT AGAIN.
And I would totally meet up face to face, just not to any of the events you offered up.
paramore loving ass? you understand you’re saying that in the comments section of a review where i trashed paramore, right?
huff it? who are you, travis keller? we so don’t give a fuck what rock stars you’re sucking off. but your life is obviously super awesome, so go enjoy it somewhere else. you keep coming here to brag about shit that we don’t give a fucking rat’s ass about, and eventually, we’ll figure out who you are, and physically kick your ass for being such a dork. we’re not pitchfork. we’ve done time and will kick your teeth in.
name a time and a place buddy. i’m off house arrest on wednesday, then i’m off to austin. pick something after the 6th, and i’ll be happy to shut you up in person.
by the way, i’m banning your annoying ass from our comments, so just drop me an email at skwerl at this here site dot com. or twitter me @skwerl, or do a whois on the domain and call me, or whatever. i’m all ears.
I got dibs on the upper teeth.
It was fun watching this unfold…
Johnny!,… stop messin gwith Skewrl’s head
I pretty much agree with you on this album’s review…didn’t like it except for 2-3 songs, and the rest aren’t good.
However, you don’t have a review on the last album, so I was wondering: what do you think about it? Maybe a sentence or two in the comments/quick rating?
Hey buddy, smoking is not good for ya
I am a Paramore fan, but not a Parawhore. Anyway, I think the album is a big change from their other 2 albums, and I think it is showing a different side of Paramore. What about you guys, what do you think.
P.S. I’m new, would u call that a harsh review or is that normal??
Honestly you guys? I mean this is harsh and alot of people are talking tons of crap about them being “emo” and whatnot. How can you possibly consider yourself a music fan eligible to even review this Album if you fall into the category of someone who uses the term Emo and considers it practically a genre??
Anyways I somewhat agree with the review in a few aspects but its complete overkill. BNE is totally different from All we Know is Falling and Riot. Both of those albums are upbeat the entire time, all the songs stand on their own and all have a pretty hardcut melody.
While BNE has only 2 or 3 songs like this. Alot of the guitar tends to get lost in harmony and the unholy amount of cymbals on some tracks. Hayley also gets lost because of some of the EQ and she is a bit too quite in a few songs.
While I would have at first agreed some songs being considered for singles like Brick by Boring Brick are underwhelming, I completely disagree now after having played the Album LOUD enough. Alot of the songs tend to come out and sound way louder. Alot of tracks suffer from what I consider Foo fighter syndrome. One of the most overrated bands for having such a mundane and lazy mixed sounded at normal sound levels.
Also…I stopped taking this review seriously when I went back a page and saw that they gave JAYZs new album like a 4 out of 5 or something…really?? you think you can talk shit about “emo” bands and then you go gaga for fucking JayZ?? are you 12??
Also..I like paramore, they are refreshing, regardless of lyrics, any guitar, just Hayleys voice stands out enough to get me to listen to them.
Also, up until now they haven’t had any really cheesey lyrics…
trucks; stopt critisizeing me and focus on the awesomeness that paramore is. duh.
Nice to know that there are still totally jaded critics out there who see no value in what is absolutely an above-average effor by a band that continues to impress with their honesty. lacking the over-produced pop of a Dr Luke effort, this is a group of kids who, if anyone has taken the time to see them live, reminds of the pure joy onstage of an old Poco performance (yes i am that old). as for the “painfully cheesy and childish” lyrics in “Playing God” – how about growing up in the heart of “christian music” in Franklin Tenn with a STEP-father who was somewhat of a “God nazi” (hayley’s words, lst month’s Spin magazine”) and finally finding the strenght and freedom to reject the “cramming of ideas down my throat”? Cheesy? Childish? HARDLY. Personal and brave thank you. Every song on the damn album is personal and not one lyric is cheesy or childish.
Have you even SEEN them live? Even the fucking parents walked out smiling and satisfied. This band will be around long after this review fades into obscurity and that is MY revenge … :)
Also, please remove the “bit of” from “an asshole” in the short self-serving SKWERL” bio …btw…oooh “SKWERL” how totally cool dude!
totally.
whatever you all suck ok! They got potential
I think Paramore are good. I love the music they play and brand new eyes is no exception. Why even argue about music? People like different music and why can’t some here accept that Paramore actually sound good to other people? Coming here and bashing a band just shows me what kind of person you are.
PARAMORE FREAKING RULES! you guys have to stop disrespecting them. THEY HAVE TALENT! I have been to their brand new eyes tour last week and they RULED!!! Best band since No Doubt. Goes way higher than No Doubt. Let people love what ever music they want. Dont like paramore? HOP OFF! douche bags.
People CAN be such dicks indeed. Fair enough if you don’t like the music, but to call them talentless and call them names like “emo” and “MTV-manufactured creations” and whatever names reserved for a band that people think deserve no respect is childish and stupid, as well as a sign that some people are very elitist about music. I’m pretty sure the people trashing them grew up idolizing The Pretenders, Blondie, The Ramones, The Runaways and other pop-punk bands of that era that are so well-respected now and in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. Well let me tell you something, from a purely technical standpoint, those bands weren’t much better than Paramore. Really, they weren’t. The lead singers certainly weren’t more outstanding than Hayley, in fact even less so. The dudes handling the instruments weren’t standout virtuosos, either. Oh yeah, and the lyrics? Very cool and catchy, but not Bob Dylan good or anything. However, the reason why they’re memorable is because they made great music. They had that potential, and they used to their advantage. It’s the same with Paramore. Why does someone like Skwerl, and others of his ilk bother giving a band like Paramore the time of day when their type of music is so not up his alley? Because he recognizes their talent without being biased. Even if you find their music annoying, go check them out live and tell me that they’re not worth giving a damn about. They play their hearts out and put on a great show with no tricks or gimmicks. No lip-syncing, no Auto-Tune, no fancy lights or stage costumes, just the five them playing for the diverse crowd that chants along to every word. Yes, I said diverse crowd. It’s not just the teenyboppers that go to their shows, adults go too, and I’m not talking about parents dragged against their will. Even those that are walk away being very impressed, when their initial expectations was that they would suck like most modern bands. I’m not saying Paramore is the greatest band in the world, I’m not a die-hard fanatic of the band, as Paramore is far from being my favorite band, but they’ve got talent and great potential. I thoroughly enjoyed BNE, I think it’s a huge step up from their previous albums, and I hope they continue maturing. Who knows, maybe they’ll release that classic album that’ll make everyone respect them and that might be worth remembering several decades from now. I certainly hope so.
are you really pretty sure of that? because i kinda trashed them and i definitely did not grow up idolizing the pretenders or blondie, and definitely not the ramones. i still don’t. the pretenders were really good songwriters in hindsight, but none of those bands did anything for me. they were candy bars. being a guitar nerd, i flipped out for maiden and shit, and zeppelin, later gnr and crüe, bands that could really play with singers that could really sing. there was the occasional guilty pleasure of course, but i knew the difference. oh and by the way, lita ford would wipe the floor with josh or taylor from paramore. but yes, i do recognize their talent. i think this band has something, unlike some of the commenters. this album just wasn’t consistent, in my unbiased critical opinion. but i’ll continue to listen to everything they put out with genuine hope, while hipsters and close minded douchebags continue to call me a faggot for giving them credit.
Sorry, didn’t mean YOU specifically, I meant the idiots calling them emo and whatnot. But yeah, you’re right, and I appreciate a reviewer not hating on this band just to impress snobby people who think they’re too cool for anything that isn’t heavy metal or underground indie music.
Brand New Eyes was a heck of a whole lot better than any other teeny thing to come out this year. Give them credit for going out of the box a bit. The band definitely has potential, though only glimpses are seen throughout. Honestly? Williams could go places, the band, I’m not so sure. Not to doubt them, but she does have a powerhouse voice and definitely a talent with lyrics. Crafty, different, creative. And catchy, no doubt.
Besides, if someones trying to compare this to something they aren’t (like punk? Who does that? or even emo or metal… wow.) you’re going to say yeah, it sucks. But Paramore’s a poppy rock group, they never tried to be anything else. They’ve got style and different elements (which makes me happy. As long as its not miley cyrus it makes me happy). Talent, i think is the word. Who cares if they get on mtv and on the radio? Kudos to them, they’re making more money than i am, and doing what they love.
If you look at the album for what it is, they’ve matured a lot since All We Know. And especially from Riot!.
[...] the way, superfans, here’s our review of Brand New Eyes, lest you think we only care about Hayley’s [...]