Paramore are the band that accompanied my teen years, Pressure was an anthem for me and my oddball gang and we relished in the fact that they were female led, the girls wanted to be Hayley and the guys wanted to be with Hayley.
Of course now, Paramore are a huge, stadium filling mainstream act, with press coverage everywhere and whole internet sites dedicated to them. But back then they were ours, All We Know was released and it was on almost constant repeat in my room, the funny thing is that the album itself got a one K rating in Kerrang and was described and a poor attempt and very boring... now however, the band have graced their cover on more than one occasion.
And then came Misery Business.
Goodbye small, indie and personal.... Hello big time. It cannot be denied the song is immense; catchy, fiesty and really quite poppy... a recipie for success. And success they got, the track was played on Radio One (they even got themselves a live lounge out of it) the next thing you know, all me and my friends heard was 'have you listend to that new band paramore?'
It's something nearly every fan of music has to go through, letting go of something that you believed to be yours... the premise is a ridiculous one at best, music isn't there to be owned by fans, it's there to be enjoyed. nevertheless, the ordeal is a painful one.
So Riot! was released and it was official, Paramore had gone mainstream. Besides all this however, the band appeared on and off stage to be as tight as ever, five friends enjoying their new found fame and fans. The live shows were awesome and were a great reward to all the original fans who had long been waiting for the lights and graphics that could propel Paramore's live perofrmances even further.
The Final Riot! dvd was put out and left the fans with a little something to go on with whilst the band went off to record album number three.
For me personally, this album was highly anticipated. As a general rule of thumb by album three a band has established it's sound and either runs with it (if they haven't had major success by this point) or goes in a different direction (if they have) ... as Paramore were now a staple band within the music industry it could be assumed that they would choose the latter and go for something a little different, but I couldn't help but think it would be all too easy for them to release a 'Riot! Part Two' and go on to have a steady and similar level of recognition this way. After all, with the band comprising of teenagers, fairly new to the idea of success, it would be a reasonable enough option.
But then came Brand New Eyes, a decidedly different and quite suprising sound. The sound itself was less produced and slightly rawer; less poppy, headbang -worthy rock and more.... something new.
The lead single Ignorance it could be argued was a throw back to the tried and tested Misery Business, but through listening to the lyrical content it was clear tha this wasn't just another song filled with bitchy teen angst, it was about real troubles.
After giving it a few listens, it was clear to me, and to those I knew who were avid Paramore fans, that it was about Josh.... and perhaps other members of the band.
Hardore fans would of course know that Hayley and Josh were once an item, and were the closest of friends.. as were the rest of the band. But now, either through the strain of broken hearts or the stress of the new direction the band was heading, it had caused tension.
Several interviews later and our fears were confirmed, during the writing process the members had all but stopped communicating with eachother, the writing was stale and the atmosphere dead. But then in a glorious outpour of emotionally lead creativity came Brand New Eyes. All the interviews ended with a repeated and strong message that the band were now totally back on track and happier then ever. Or so they said.
Once again the tour was a hit and the shows were outstanding, the new songs gelled well with the old hits and a whole new wave of fans were welcomed in.
Yet slowly it was becoming apparent that Paramore: The band was becoming Paramore: Hayley Williams, with interviews starting to involve the other band members less and less and music videos show casing Hayley more and more, we knew it wouldnt be long.
The music video for Playing God being a prime example of the new Paramore, based soley around Hayley and her troubles within the band, creativly the video was excellent but the undertones were transparent.
So with the official release of a blog explaining and indicating the departure of original two members of the band, we as fans, can only hope that Paramore can survive...... as Paramore and not as The Hayley Williams Show.
http://www.paramore.net/blog/announcement/
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