(#14) / Album: “Brand New Eyes” / by Paramore / (Music)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Album: “Brand New Eyes” / by Paramore

OCLC Number: 431300605 / Fueled by Ramen

 $10.40 (Amazon)/ 40 minutes

2009

Body of Content

Summary: The eleven songs from the album, in order, are the following tracks: “Careful”, “Ignorance”, “Playing God”, “Brick By Boring Brick”, “Turn It Off”, “The Only Exception”, “Feeling Sorry”, “Looking Up”, “Where The Lines Overlap”, “Misguided”, and “All I Wanted” (MOG, 2011).  The band features a rock-heavy sound – with a well-processed studio production.  For many of the songs, the guitars are heavily compressed – providing a well-polished sound that is probably difficult to duplicate in live performances.  Fans of Paramore will once again recognize that the majority of the songs feature upbeat rock anthems – much in the same style as previous albums.  Tight drum work – well-executed with quick fills – again ring familiar.  The songs do offer a few lighter tracks – in particular “The Only Exception” (featuring acoustic guitar) and “Misguided Ghosts” (featuring acoustic guitar with more ethereal vocals).           

Critique: The band is a rock band – most assuredly – but they contain elements of punk rock.  The speed (i.e. tempo) is consistently north of 120 beats per minute.  But the tempo does not – for the most part – reach levels of complete “thrashing” like speed metal or pure punk rock bands.  The instrumentation is pretty consistent – bass guitar, two distortion guitars, drum kit, and lead vocals.  Supporting orchestral instruments or miscellaneous solo inclusions are absent on the record – as many emo/punk bands represent bare-bones instrumentation.      

The lyrics also contain a punk theme of self-dependence and general rebellion – which might explain their interest among teen listeners.  Granted, Paramore’s version of lyrical rebellion contains a subdued message compared to early 80s acts in the same genre.  That general, undefined teen angst is embodied in songs like “Ignorance”:

            “Where’s your gavel? Your jury? /

            What’s my offense this time? /

            You’re not a judge, but if you’re gonna judge me /

            Well, sentence me to another life” (Metrolyrics, 2011a)

Or consider the song “Playing God”:

            “You say that I been changing /

            That I’m not just simply aging /

            Yeah, how could that be logical? /

            Just keep on cramming ideas down my throat” (Metrolyrics, 2011b)

The difficult part with angst lyrics – particular borderline emo/punk acts – is that the verses come across somewhat whiny and self-entitled.  The true spirit of earlier 80s punk is more chaotic and anarchist.  Paramore’s lyrics contain angst as a general sentimental – more loathsome than a rallying cry for punk-inspired world change.  The band is a rock band with punk traits; but they are not a full-fledge punk ensemble.    

Teaser:  Haley is small in appearance, but her voice has the power of someone three times her size!

Information about the Author: The band’s current lineup includes Jeremy Davis (bassist) and Taylor York (guitarist) along with Haley Williams (lead vocalist) – filling out the roster with tour musicians for live performances.  The band did have two founding members – both brothers – Josh and Zac Farro – leave the band recently (Paramore, 2011).  Paramore has released three albums to date: “All We Know Is Falling” (2005), “RIOT!” (2007) and “Brand New Eyes” (2011) (MOG, 2011).  The band claims various other bands as influential into their signature sound – including Jimmy Eat World, Sunny Day Real Estate, Thrice, Death Cab for Cutie, and New Found Glory (Paramore, 2011).

The band is based out of Franklin Tennessee.  Critically, the band received a Grammy Award nomination for “Best New Artist” – receiving notice after “RIOT!” – which sold two millions copies globally (Paramore, 2011).  The band is a rather young act – and at the time of the conception, only Davis was older than 18 – notably, Haley started as a 13-year-old charter member (MOG, 2011).  Arguably, their most successful song is “Decode” from the Twilight soundtrack, which has received over 56 million hits on YouTube (2008) – although the band does have six songs above 19 million view counts on the site (YouTube, 2011). 

Supplemental Material

Genre: Rock / Alternative

Curriculum Ties: Music – studio production, guitar technics, female vocal range  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Have you heard the tracks off their latest studio album – from the same band that brought us “Decode” from the Twilight soundtrack?

Reading Level: Currently, as a very popular rock band, Paramore caters to Top 40 rock sensibilities – with teen interest mostly grades 9 through 12.   

Challenge Issues and Defense: The album does contain some language – but the album is not considered explicit.  Either way, that detail will not stop most teens from listening to the album if they like the band.  I could not find edited versions of the album/songs – if the library finds the case necessary.  

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: This is one of the few modern rock bands – emerging over the last five years – that I actually enjoy.

Last Thoughts

References:

Metrolyrics. (2011a). Ignorance [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.metrolyrics.com/ignorance-

lyrics-paramore.html

Metrolyrics. (2011b). Playing God [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.metrolyrics.com/playing-

god-lyrics-paramore.html

MOG (2011). Pararmore [Webpage]. Retrieved from https://mog.com/albums/

mn33257063/paramore/brand-new-eyes

Paramore. (2011). Paramore bio [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.paramore.net/bio/

YouTube. (2011). Search results for Paramore [Webpage]. Retrieved from

            http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=

paramore&search_sort=video_view_count

YouTube. (2008). Paramore: Decode [Official video]. Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvnkAtWcKYg

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Sanctus Real / Album – “Pieces of a Real Heart”