Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Band Of The Week #4- Paramore

History:
Coming as the fourth band of the week is Franklin, Tennessee's Paramore. They were originally formed back in 2003 with Hailey Williams on vocals, Josh Farro on lead guitar, Zac Farro on drums, Jeremy Davis on bass, and  Jason Bynum on rhythm guitar. Prior to this, Hailey had been in a funk cover band called The Factory with Jeremy Davis and a friend of theirs. Within their first band rehearsal, they felt that they were all on to something and that being a band could work. Record labels tried to get Hailey to become a pop star, but she was adamant and wanted to see where things would go with Paramore. In the end, they were signed to rock label Fueled by Ramen, a label they still reside on. Jeremy left the band shortly for personal reasons during the writing process of their debut album "All We Know Is Falling", and the band continued on, replacing him with John Hembree. Soon after, Jeremy came back and was reinstated into the band, but their rhythm guitar player Jason left, and was appropriately replaced by Hunter Lamb. They released their first album in 2005, but it didn't get very far with airplay. Music videos were produced and shot, but they did reach 30th place on the Billboard's Heatseekers chart.

They did grow with fame as time went on, and they played Warped Tours, and sold out headlining tours prior to their second album, Riot!. Hunter had left the band, forcing Josh Farro to record both rhythm and lead parts for the album, but Josh and Zac's old bandmate Taylor York quickly stepped into to play rhythm guitar, thus making the band a five piece once more. The album released in mid June and received a lot of attention. The album was named riot due to it's literal definition which is "a sudden outburst of uncontrolled emotions". The album went Platinum and they were rated Best Band of 2007 by various critics.

Their third album release, Brand New Eyes, was different in comparison to their first two albums. It was released that Hailey had been dating Josh Farro, and they broke after, causing the lyrical content of this album to sound a bit more grittier and angrier than Riot!, as well as more emotional. The album was recorded in Nashville, which is their hometown, thus giving the band a cozier feel since they were in a surrounding they knew very well. The album was widely written in early 2009. The album went to be a Gold Record, Paramore's success continued. The band was starting to feel the pressure when recording this record due to the success of Riot! which went Platinum.

The Farro brothers left the band in 2010/2011 due to various reasons, many having to do with Hailey and how the band was an overproduced band created by a label. Many interviews were done with the remaining members of Paramore to sort of what was real and what wasn't when it came to the claims the Farro brothers made, specifically Josh Farro. The band went on a slight hiatus, although they did record the song "Monster" for the movie Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon. Then in 2013, Paramore announced and released their fourth album which was a self titled record.

My Thoughts:
Paramore has always been a fantastic band to me. I love the fact that there is a female singing because I don't really hear of too many females singing in a rock band. Her vocals are stellar and I am a big fan of all of their records, including their newest release. Although I was taken aback by it at first, the album has grown on me and I have come to appreciate how far Paramore has come since their debut release 8 years ago. The instrumentals may be a bit typical at times, but the band has a way to add little nuances that make me want to listen to them more. They're not the most technical band in the world, but to me, they are a fantastic rock band and I simply cannot wait for their next record.


Here are two of my favorite Paramore songs


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