The Essentials: Paramore

By: Carlos Figueroa

I must start by saying that this is one of my favorite essentials up to now, as Paramore is one of my favorite bands. As we all know, Paramore is an alternative rock band formed in 2004 in Franklin, Tennessee with its members being lead vocalist and keyboardist Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Josh Farro, bassist Jeremy Davis, drummer Zac Farro, and rhythm guitarist Taylor York. The band currently has released 3 albums: All We Know is Falling(2005), Riot! (2007), and their latest album Brand New Eyes(2009).

A big part of the band’s characteristic sound is Hayley Williams’s voice (which in my opinion is one of the best female voices at the moment) but also her songwriting and especially her image, whether it is as the spunky red-head or the innocent-looking blonde, Hayley makes the band unmistakable. Also, the other band members keep up to Hayley exceptionally, providing some of the most amazing with amazing riffs, solos, and beats.

As a result of the mixture of glorious vocals and amazing lyrics with perfect sound, Paramore delivers excellent songs in each of their albums. From their debut album, All We Know is Falling we have songs such as “Never Let This Go” and “My Heart”, which are one of the album’s slower tunes, with marked beats and a wide range of vocals. Songs such as “Emergency” are the epitome of Hayley’s vocal capacity, as throughout the song she progressively passes from low, deep vocals to high, emotion-filled vocals, while songs like “Pressure” are characterized by amazing guitar riffs and a solid beat.

In the band’s second studio album, Riot!, the band simply gives us an avalanche of amazing songs, with songs like “Misery Business”, “Crushcrushcrush”, “That’s What You Get”, “Hallelujah”, “For a Pessimist I’m Pretty Optimistic”, and “When It Rains” being in the spotlight for their amazing lyrics (especially “Misery Business” and “When It Rains”), music and rhythm (as in “That’s What You Get”) , and vocals.

A song that deserves to be spotlighted is “Decode”, song that was released as part of the Twilight movie soundtrack. The song has an amazing riff, powerful drumbeats, and amazing vocals by Hayley, ranging from mellow vocals to high power vocals. Also, on a side note, the song’s lyrics and overall feel adapt very well to the movie’s plot, as it can be seen clearly in the song’s chorus.

Last but definitively not least, Brand New Eyes, the band's latest album, has some of the band's most solid songs and my favorite Paramore song: "Brick by Boring Brick". Now, this song is simply my favorite because it integrates melody, voice, and lyrics perfectly; it has awesome guitar riffs and solos, Hayley's power singing through most of the song, and lyrics I would kill for, especially because of simple hook (you know, "Ba da ba ba da da ba da") and chorus ("Well, go get your shovel and we'll dig a deep hole, to bury the castle, bury the castle"). This doesn't mean this is the only good song from the album, songs like "Ignorance", "Stuck on You", "Misguided Ghosts", "Playing God", and "The Only Exception" are also excellent.

Paramore is a band that performs solidly in all the aspects that make up a good band, while being very original and unmistakable, characteristics that make it deserve the place as an Essential.