Today I am reviewing an album by an artist that I have honestly just recently started listening to. The band is called
Paramore and they are from Franklin, Tennessee so they can’t be all that bad right? The band name comes from the bassist’s moms maiden name. They just though it was cool. In Latin it means “more love”. How did I hear about this band? I have my lovely teen aged daughter Crysta to thank for introducing me to their music. She has been asking me to listen to them and possibly review their music on this site. Paramore is known as a punk rock band but I have found their music to be a bit more diverse than what I would call typical punk rock. For one thing their music is optimistic which flies in the face of the typical rebellious nature of punk rock. Paramore is headed by singer/songwriter Haley Williams who is only 18 and has a very mature attitude toward the bands most recent success and their songwriting. The band is also Josh Farro – lead guitar, Jeremy Davis – bass guitar, and Zak Farro – drums.
Paramore’s new album is entitled “Riot” and it was released June 12th, 2007. I would describe the music as pure, honest, energy. From the first track to the last. From what I have read and been confirmed by my daughter the band members are believers in Christ and some of their songs depict this hope. The first track is called “For a Pessimistic I’m Pretty Optimistic”. I love the song title. In my estimation the song title totally describes the attitude for the album. The music is very fast paced energy. The next song “That’s What you Get” has some theology although I don’t know if was their intention. It speaks about how your heart can deceive you into making the wrong decisions. The chorus says “That’s what you get when you let your heart win”. “Hallelujah” is the next track and showcases Haley Williams’ vocal talent as she sings screaming Hallelujah! with great enthusiasm. The next track on the album is the first single release and called “Misery’s Business” and according to Haley Williams, “more honest than anything I’ve ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically.” The song is about how girls learn to manipulate guys, and deal with past romantic rivals, hence the song title, “Misery’s Business”.
For the most part this band and album rocks and they have a presence that is much more mature than some of the other bands I’ve heard my daughter and her friends listening to. The lyrics are startlingly mature for an eighteen year old young woman. Album highlights are: “For a Pessimistic I’m Pretty Optimistic”, “Hallelujah”, “Misery’s Business”, “Miracle” the music reminds me of Relient K, “crushcrushcrush” I love the bridge to this song, “rock and roll baby”. “The soft spoken “We Are Broken” from a heart crying out to be made whole again, and the pleading “Born for This” that says “we want the airwaves back” that makes me think she is looking for more honesty in today’s music. There are two additional hidden tracks including a live version of “Emergency” that is pretty good too.
I will have to admit that my daughter does listen to some good music, Fall Out Boy excluded. Sorry Crysta. 🙂 I will give this album four stars out of five.
Check out the video from “Misery’s Business” and watch it to the end. Thank you.
Upon This Rawk 