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Paramore from Tennessee formed in 2004. The band members are:
Haley Williams (vocals, keyboard)
Josh Farro (guitar, background vocals)
Jeremy Davis (bass guitar)
Zac Farro (drums)
Their music has been given several labels, surprisingly even some punk genres, but pop is most fitting. After all they are built to produce and hit the charts.
Other than the USA and UK their success is fairly modest, which is no surprise as these are the two main markets that sell low quality products for exorbitant prices and actually manage to find buyers.
In 2005 they released their debut album All We Know Is Falling. Before they started recording Jeremy Davis left the band for personal reasons but returned 5 months later after being asked to by the band. The theme of the album fittingly is about Jeremy Davis departure and the void he left according to the band.
The album fared decently well in the UK, #8 and made the Heatseekers Charts but failed to reach the Billboard 200 in the USA. Other countries seemed to take no notice of Paramore. Understandably.
On their debut album they sometimes leave the impression that they actually got some talent, but they only show it sporadically.
Haley Williams singing lessons either didnt pay off or she has decided to follow her own style. Guitar and drums sound basic and overly repetitive. If you put your ear very close to the speakers you may even hear a bass guitar every now and then.
I couldnt help but feeling very tired the more I listened to the album.
The length of the album is an incredible 35 minutes and 47 seconds. This alone tells me that the album has been produced with the least amount of effort solely to sell and make money.
They released three singles; Pressure, Emergency and All We Know.
In 2007 they released Riot! which has often been mocked Rot! I couldnt agree more. I bought this album to see what the hype is about but only got the confirmation of my theory that anything with a huge PR and marketing machinery is desperate to sell and rip off.
USA, UK and New Zealand are the only countries where it had some sort of success yet it reached Platinum status.
Some of the melodies have become catchier but the music has become poorer and poorer. I have yet to see a busker with less skill and the drums sound like theyre from a toy store.
I dont really want to go into the lyrics but lets just say that Haley must have had more bad luck in love at her sweet age of 18 than the average person would have in 5 life times. But this is what you get when someone writes about something they have no clue of yet.
The album is exactly 3 minutes longer which makes it even less effort if you consider it has one song more than the previous album. But lets face it both albums should be freebies rather than goods for sale on a shelf.
They released four singles; Missery Business, Hallelujah, Crushcrushscrush and Thats What You Get.
In early 2008 the band cancelled a few shows in Europe to work out their personal issues, according to a message on their website. Apparently Josh Farro had voiced his anger about the medias focus on Haley. He may be right but honestly this is what Paramore is about. Get a seemingly pretty girl and put a few Sideshow Bobs around her. Skills dont matter; just make sure they look pretty-ish. Seeing that many teenage girls understand bisexuality as a trend and must-be to fit in rather than a sexual orientation, you have a recipe for success; a band that appeals to both sexes.
Apparently a split did not take place as the band is working on a new album.
For my final verdict I would like to quote my former friend and DJ Little Jeff who passed away too early. When a clubber requested McFly he took the microphone and said something like This is a rock club and I dont play Mac F***ing Fly here. I think this quote is applicable for Paramore as well!
www.paramore.net
16-08-2008, 22:27
Geschreven door music_critic 
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