Paramore - Brand New Eyes
Rating
RIYL
No DoubtAvril Lavigne
Hey Monday
Release Date
09/28/2009
Label
Fueled By RamenTracklist
1. Careful2. Ignorance
3. Playing God
4. Brick By Boring Brick
5. Turn It Off
6. The Only Exception
7. Feeling Sorry
8. Looking Up
9. Where the Lines Overlap
10. Misguided Ghosts
11. All I Wanted
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Brand New Eyes is all about Paramore making an artful compromise. On one hand, they have solidified an arrival to the mainstream – All We Know Is Falling’s underground tint is almost completely back-staged by voluptuous radio production and busty pop songwriting. On the other, they’re straddling a history-making sonic that few fans could possibly recognize at this point. It’s just another highly anticipated Paramore album to them and not the potential career defining, “this is the band at their best” package it is.
And at this point, Brand New Eyes is Paramore’s best. It’s not necessarily the songs themselves that make it so, it is a nice cut above Riot!, but All We Know Is Falling might still be their masterpiece in terms of songwriting. But factor in this one’s lyrical spice and incomparable vocal work, and you’ll know the truth of this statement. Paramore are sovereign rulers of their genre here, as they seemingly squeeze the life out of competition with every chorus Hayley Williams belts.
The funny thing is that it’s all so generic at the same time. From the opening strike of “Careful’s” drilling riff to “Brick By Boring Brick’s” memory imprinting “bada ba bada ba bada,” to the buffed-up-“Hallelujah” (from All We Know Is Falling) vibe of the glorious “All I Wanted,” all the tunes are familiar. “Misguided Ghosts” will be a novel sound to pubescent worshipers, but it’s nothing to trip up those of us familiar with folky acoustic influences. Overall the song structures are easy to predict. It’s classic Paramore on the instruments – nothing overly spectacular to see here.
Williams, however, isn’t a classic Paramore piece on the album. She’s always had capacious pipes, but never has she had the colossal vocals she flaunts like an engine here. She’s solid for most of the album, sounding rich when she sings, “If God’s the game you’re playing / Well we must get more acquainted / Because it has to be so lonely / To be the only one who’s holy,” on “Playing God.” As time progresses, the vocals increase in skill with Williams showing off her vibrato-infused aerobatics comfortably (see: “Turn It Off” and “Where The Lines Overlap”), but all her previous work becomes nearly irrelevant on closer “All I Wanted.” When the climax “All I wanted was you!” peaks, Williams sounds like a goddess as she climbs a musical Mount Everest with her voice. Hey Monday? Credibility: destroyed. Versa Emerge? Credibility: destroyed. (Insert pop band with female vocalist)? Credibility: destroyed. The beauty in this section is so immense it turns to similar acts and asks, “How in the world are you going to compete with this?”
That’s why Brand New Eyes is Paramore’s best album. No one said anything about it being ground breaking, but for a target audience like theirs, a simple pop album with a transcendent voice is all you need. Even beyond that, it’s really all the industry needs, since it’s essentially a roundhouse kick of triumph in the face of the auto-tune phenomenon: you’re supposed to sound good without a fake effect, and if you can’t, maybe you shouldn’t be singing! Few think of it, but given their extensive influence and dominating popularity, could Paramore be the ones to save the music of this generation? All things considered, I wouldn’t mind if they were.
--Matthew Tsai
Comments
Paramore's peers take note: This band actually wrote their own record. Try it sometime.
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Somewhere in New York
Great review man, I really like the paragraph on Williams. Anyways, I've always had a soft spot for this band. I've never liked this type of music but this band has a certain charm to them that I am powerless to refuse.
"If someone gives you a kazoo and toots around the house to MTV, they're not gonna fuck you." - David Cross
San Jose, CA
Thanks for the compliment, and yeah, they definitely "stand above their peers."
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
West Haven, CT
What a terrible pile of crap.
The Cityscape Burns Brighter By The Hour.
Senegal Africa
Mike D hates Paramore? nonsense
I only heard the single "ignorance" and thought that song sounded a tad "edgier" then their previous songs.
Listening to:
fuckin african mosques (Tang na bu baax)
West Haven, CT
I like her voice and I'd love to club her in the back of the head, tie her up and keep her somewhere locked inside of my house. But as far as this band goes, they've always been boring.
The Cityscape Burns Brighter By The Hour.
Somewhere in New York
I feel dirty now...
"If someone gives you a kazoo and toots around the house to MTV, they're not gonna fuck you." - David Cross
New York
I think this album is pretty legit. It's heavy and melodic. and Hayley's voice is at its most powerful.
Cold Showers for Stereology
http://coldshowersforstereology.blogspot.com/
Dallas, TX
Great review Matthew. Never been a big fan of the band but after spinning this I didn't feel like it was as entertaining as their past releases. Completely agree about the songwriting and specially about the vocals, Hayley is at her best on this one.
San Jose, CA
Hey thanks. Hayley's such a powerhouse vocalist for size haha.
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
West Haven, CT
Achievement unlocked!
The Cityscape Burns Brighter By The Hour.
Milwaukee, WI
Maybe I missed something here because I think it's their worst disc. Not that I am a huge fan of theirs but there were 5 or so songs that were catchy as hell on Riot! while this album has maybe one. When Paramore isn't being catchy they fail because not one part of their operation is strong enough to make anything interesting about them. So this one was pretty bad for me.
Minnesota
Eh, this is listenable, but nothing they've written since their debut has been up to the same level established on that album.
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Raleigh, NC
Completely overlooked this album because I figured it would be more of the melancholy sound from Riot. I was severely mistaken. Album is incredible, IMO.