A common formula of elitism in music seems to be frowning upon success, and instantaneously dismissing anything remotely mainstream. Yet even a look at the past year in music is enough indication that such views never yield results, with commercial gems such as Metric and Brand New releasing some of the year’s strongest work. It really must suck being a cool, label-clad, anti-MTV buffoon.
An even better instance of this, can be seen with Paramore – a seemingly young band that debuted in 2005 with All We Know Is Falling, and has since achieved worldwide recognition with their sophomore effort, Riot!. More relevant than their success, however, is the band’s keenness in distinguishing themselves from standard pop-punk that dominated the 90s, such as Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World, and the fact that they are certainly capable of such a feat. In fact, with each consecutive album it’s difficult to decide what plays the greatest factor in their progression – Hayley Williams’ constant improvement as a vocalist, or simply the entire band as maturing songwriters.
2009’s Brand New Eyes marks the biggest step thus far for the Franklin natives, standing out as both their most aggressive and emotional release yet, while simultaneously overflowing with a newfound confidence. Structurally, it is nearly flawless; the album opens and closes superbly, and maintains a fine balance in the mixture of fast and slow tracks. The latter also applies to the songs themselves, as tracks on their previous two releases were generally straightforward and would go in one direction or another, whereas songs like “Brick by Boring Brick” and “Looking Up” are far more multi-faceted, and seamlessly transition from section to section. Also, “The Only Exception” and “Misguided Ghosts” reveal a side of Paramore never seen before, in that both are acoustic tracks – the latter being particularly reminiscent of Thrice’s Air and Earth material – and Hayley’s typically powerful vocal style is fairly toned down to suit the mood of the music.
Though it wasn’t quite as apparent on previous albums, the red-haired frontwoman truly shines on Brand New Eyes, and easily stands out as its defining element. Sure, Williams’ vocal coach played a large part in her drastic improvement, but most of her performance is complimented by her ability to be creative. Rather than her vocals aligning the music, as is commonly the case with pop punk, it is vice versa – a wise move on the band’s part, for it would be a shame to not fully utilize her range and dynamic vocal ability. Perhaps the best example of this is the stunning “All I Wanted”, which is not only Hayley’s strongest vocal performance by a long shot, but easily the most emotive and powerful Paramore track to date.
Not only do Paramore seem comfortable, musically and as a band, on Brand New Eyes, but such ideas are referenced throughout the album. A few lines on “Looking Up”, for instance:
“Honestly, can you believe we crossed the world while it’s asleep? I’d never trade it in, ‘cause I’ve always wanted this, and it’s not a dream anymore”
“I can’t believe we almost hung it up, we’re just getting started”
Besides being a statement of contentment with their current status as a band, the latter line particularly seems a reference to the near-split of the band, prior to releasing All We Knowing Is Falling – a conflict brought on by the departure of bassist, Jeremy Davis. All We Know Is Falling was obviously a hard time for the band, and Riot! a recovery, thus Brand New Eyes is not only the band’s strongest effort yet, but just what it suggests – a brand new way of seeing things after all they have endured.
(8.7/10)
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