āHey, the_respect_wanter in London, you got this!!!ā
Might have to listen to After Laughter then, didnāt think it would be running away with it like that
Riot is good pop punk, enjoyed the S/T a good amount as a slightly more āmatureā sound, Aināt It Fun is excellent
3/5
Put it this way, if Paramore were involved in HGATR300 last week, thereās a very real chance I wouldāve thrown all 10 at them. They are brilliant.
Like most people in the UK, the introduction was Misery Business. I actually skip it quite often when Iām listening Riot! because itās almost too big to fit between Hallelujah and When It Rains - both of which I adore but they gently soar rather than banging their way out of the speakers like MB. Above all else though, Misery Business put everyone else in the sphere of pop-punk on notice, Hayley Williams has a voice for the fucking ages,
I think I rated Riot! as my second favourite album of 2007 (behind Burialās Untrue), which caused some raised eyebrows on the old Hope of the States board. Itās held up beautifully though. I then went back to All We Know Is Falling, which has some really good songs and the ingredients are all there. It might however be one of the worst produced guitar records Iāve ever heard. Seriously, it sounds like it was recorded by the band crammed into a chest freezer rolling down a hill.
They were back a couple of years later with Brand New Eyes which is absolutely my go-to Paramore album. Itās perfect. The overall length, the sequencing, the only exception and itās oh so endlessly replayable. I canāt articulate much more about it.
When they released Now as the first pre-album single I was pleased but a little underwhelmed. Little did I know that Paramore would follow it with gospel, post-rock blowouts, drum solos and the kind of absolute sing/scream to the stars, tattoo the lyrics on your own eyeballs, life-affirming songs that are easy to attempt and so hard to perfect. Songs like Last Hope. Seriouslyā¦
After Laughter is a step even further away from their pop-punk roots but itās still absolutely wonderful. It bounces and bursts in colour in ways that are quite different to what came before.
All We Know Is Falling - 6/10
Riot! - 8/10
Brand New Eyes - 10/10
Paramore - 10/10
After Laughter - 8/10
And then Hayley went solo and it justā¦ doesnāt do much for me?
Come back Paramore please.
5
Also, @Funkhouser are Hope of the States on the list?
Going to abstain I think. Tried brand new eyes and the self titled once each and think I enjoyed them but for some reason never revisited.
Might stick one of them on today and pass down my judgment.
Misery Business is fun.
Never knowingly heard them. When did they hit the āsceneā? I mean Iāve spotted them on Reading/Leeds lineups over the past 10(???) years, but Iāve only ever glanced at that to see how far out of touch I am with the kids more than anything.
I did listen to that recent Hayley Williams album, although I didnāt know who she was. Didnāt do much for me.
Erm, of course they are.
adds seminal indie band to hgatr list
Love their self titled album and like their others but not as much. Great live though. 3/5 for me overall but 5/5 live.
They had quite an organic growth, first album had a few singles which got decent airplay but nothing groundbreaking, then Misery Business came out in like 2007 and it was huge and they just went from there
The second solo album this year was superb too. Contender for my album of the year again.
Paramore remain one of my favourite bands. They take just enough from Jimmy Eat World and The Smiths with a dash of modern indie, and dollop of classic pop, and swish it all around into this delicious black smoothie with crunchy purple candy. Melancholic, snarky, and aināt it fun!
Did they ditch misery business completely because of the lyrics or just change the offending lines?
Theyāve been on there since the start tbh, waiting for the right time.
I assume from the photo that this would be a 1 if I knew them but Iām trying to grow as a person so Iām going to stop voting low for acts Iāve no intention of listening to and abstain instead.
They ditched it, which makes it rather disappointing that itās still the go-to song for DJs across the land, and also seems to be the favourite song on the poll too.
The last tour they played it on, Hayley gave a speech about it and Iām reasonably sure, sheād stopped singing the worst line long before.
They completely changed the lyrics and renamed it āGood 4 Uā, and released it under a pseudonym, Olivia Rodrigo
Good 4 u is better
Yikes. Just had a Google of the lyrics.
Have heard it loads of times over the years (almost never just sticking it on on my own which might be why) and had never really picked out anything other than the chorus
I agree tbh, Iād say Misery Business was one of my least favourite Paramore songs, never really liked it