Paramore have soared to new heights after supporting Taylor Swift on the Eras tour. We thought we’d have a little celebration of the band’s back catalogue and present five of Paramore’s finest moments...
It’s been years since pop rockers Paramore’s self-titled album, an album born out of a painful couple of years of infighting that took them into arenas all over the world and promoted them to festival headliners. It was their first album since founding members Josh and Zac Farro had left, the former doing so with an angry open letter to the band and singer Hayley Williams that accused her of being manipulated by management and treating the rest of the group as her solo project.
After touring and promotion duties for that LP were complete the band talked up taking a break and returning to the world in a more stable manner than they’d been allowed last time. But it didn’t work out that way.
Before writing and recording was in full swing the band lost another founding member, this time bassist Jeremy Davis quit the group, launching a lawsuit not long after over royalties.
There has been some positive change in the camp though. Drummer Zac Farro is back, after initially only agreeing to play the drums on the new album, he is now back full-time alongside Williams and guitarist Taylor York.
‘Pressure’
Released when Williams was just 16 and the rest of the band not much older, the band’s debut album All We Know Is Falling is a traditional pop-punk record, with ‘Pressure’, the album’s lead-off single, its highlight.
‘That’s What You Get’
2007’s Riot was the band’s breakthrough record and is stuffed full of bouncy pop punk goodness and big melodies. But, for all the sugary choruses and buzzsaw guitars, there’s a bite in Williams’ vocals that gives the record a spiky underbelly. Best shown on ‘Misery Business’ and the brilliant ‘That’s What You Get’.
‘The Only Exception’
2009’s Brand New Eyes is perhaps the band’s darkest record, full of jagged edges and brooding choruses. But ‘The Only Exception’ is, as its title suggests, an exception to that. A sweet little song it remains a rock-solid choice for a wedding first dance.
‘Monster’
The first song after the departure of the Farro brothers, this is an angry shot across the bows set to a huge riff. It’s glorious.
‘Still Into You’
2013’s self-titled album saw the band hugely expand their songwriting horizons. From the quirky indie pop of ‘Now’ to the gospel-influenced ‘Ain’t It Fun’, it saw the band try all sorts, but they’re never better than when they’re writing a powerhouse pop-rock song.
So there you have it, a few of our favourite Paramore moments to celebrate the new fans finding them through the Eras tour... What are yours? Shop our Paramore range here.
