[Music] Paramore – Brand New Eyes
January 6, 2011
Someone call PETA and quick
Brand New Eyes is an important record for Paramore. Rock bands with a teen fanbase don’t tend to survive for long. Somewhere along the road, they lose their edge completely (I’m looking at you, Three Days Grace), or they suddenly evolve, understand you can’t keep making the same old shit and lose their dumb fanbase (Hello, Linkin Park). Paramore actually managed to get even bigger with their 3rd record, so I decided to see what the kids were down with and gave it a shot. I already heard “The Only Exception”, which I first thought was some singer-songwriter a la KT Tunstall, and I liked it. What could go wrong?
A lot can go wrong. The album kicks off with three songs, that each fail in a different way. “Careful” is bad. It really is. There is no melody or structure. The band simply bangs the hell out of their instruments, with Hayle shouting dull lyrics that make no sense. “Ignorance” is a little better. Too bad it consists of the band, again, merely banging while Hayle speaks fast (A more aggressive rewrite of “Misey Business”). Its catchy line, “Ignorance is your new best friend”, is just not used enough throughout the song. The result is a missed oppurtinity, and this album is full of them. “Playing God” is calmer, thankfully, but the hook is still messy and lines like “Next time you point a finger, I’ll point you to the mirror” are pretty lame when you think about it. In fact, the whole album is full of cheesy lyrics that try too hard.
Speaking of trying too hard, Hayle is not the great vocalist you heard she was. Most of the time, her singing seems strained and actually drains the melody from the song. The kind-of decent “Brick By Boring Brick” loses any poppy vibe when Hayle shouts the chorus, instead of singing it. It’s not good shouting either, since her voice tends to pretty grating most of the time. She sounds too full of herself sometimes, but I guess this is the price of fame. As for the band, maybe it’s the production but they’re reduced, especially during the hooks, into playing very loud and nothing else. The drummer is very good though, and his performance on “Ignorance” and “Careful” deserves a mention. He always seems to bring interesting fills, and he makes these songs more bearable.
It’s actually in the softer, quiter songs where Paramore gets it right. There’s “The Only Exception”, which everyone already heard but I think no one knows why it’s such a hit. It’s not because it’s well-written, deep, catchy or that Hayle gives a notable performance (Although there is more sincerity in that, and that’s refreshing). It’s because it’s an ultra-sweet love song that acknowledges the modern cynicism around the subject. I think that is why it became such a hit. It was for people who were cynical about romance, yet still wanted it. It’s not a bad reason to love a song. It may not be catchy, but it captures the right atmosphere and I like it.
Then you have “Misguided Ghosts”, the folky song here. Many bands do it, so it’s not that special. What is special is that it’s surprisingly good. It has a good melody, Hayle finally gives a good vocal performance where she doesn’t sound too cheesy/annoying/like an angry teen, and the guitars create a great atmosphere. It also has some cute lyrics. It still sounds like teenage poetry, but cute one. After that, there’s the mandatory epic closer in “All I Wanted”. Hayle does sound a little clumsy on the louder parts, but this is just me nitpicking. It’s a very good song. It’s catchy, has cute teenage lyrics, a catchy riff and works great as a closer and leaves a good taste in my mouth. This is weird. None of the loud songs are good, and by ‘good’ I mean songs I would listen to them outside of the album. Yet, all the slower ones are really enjoyable.
Paramore doesn’t sound lost on Brand New Eyes. They sound like a big band who knows they’re, want to continue to be big and not let their music become dull. The music may be familiar pop-rock, but Paramore does have enough personality. Too bad they didn’t write one single good hook outside of the slow songs. They can make great pop. “For a Pessimist…” and “Crushcrushcrush” from RIOT! are great, and there is not one single rocker in here that comes close to these. They do a great job when they turn down the volume, so I guess they should become a folk band. Or better: An alt-country band complete with a banjo and album titles like The Southern Wasteland!
Highs: The band has attitude, the softer song work
Lows: Hayle can get annoying, some tracks consist of the band being angry, needs more hooks
Rating: 2.5/5
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