More Paramore

I’m a huge Paramore fan.
But I promise I will try not to make this review too biased.
“Ignorance,” Paramore’s first single on the new album “Brand New Eyes,” sounds like any other good Paramore song, upbeat and very catchy, just like all the songs on the band’s previous record, “Riot!”
So I thought “Brand New Eyes” was going to be just like the band’s previous work.
But I was wrong.
“Brand New Eyes” is a bit calmer, more personal. I was definitely taken by surprise, but it was refreshing. And overall I enjoyed it.
As I listened to it, I could tell the band members — who range in age from 19 to 24 — have matured.
It’s still the same band, plus new guitarist Taylor York. But the sound is more polished compared to previous CDs.
“Riot!” was a very successful album, and I was so relieved that the worldwide publicity from it didn’t affect the band’s creativity for “Brand New Eyes.” The lyrics are fantastic and so much more personal.
“We’ve been through a ton of stressful, pressure-filled situations since ‘RIOT!’ came out, and I feel like I’m a completely new person,” lead singer Hayley Williams says on fueledbyramen.com, the band’s label’s Web site. “I think making the record was part of the healing process. It was good for me both as a person and as an artist.”
There always has to be a downside, though. I didn’t find many, but I did find one. A few of the songs sounded the same to me, and sometimes I just couldn’t tell the difference between some of them. It’s always good to have a little bit of everything in an album.
I was also very impressed by a few songs. The opening songs, “Careful” and “Ignorance,” are classic, fist-pumping Paramore songs, making you want to sing right along.
“Brick by Boring Brick” is extremely catchy, and I find myself randomly singing it at times. “The Only Exception” and “Misguided Ghosts” are unlike anything I have ever heard from the band. They are more intimate acoustic songs, but I enjoyed them. The change is refreshing.
And I was absolutely blown away after I heard “All I Wanted,” the last song on the album. Williams’ powerful voice combined with Josh Farro and Taylor York’s guitars left me speechless.
The other two band members are Zac Farro, who plays drums and percussion — he’s the younger of the two Farro brothers — and Jeremy Davis who plays bass guitar.
If you don’t want to buy the entire album, I would recommend at least downloading those songs.
This album is great. It doesn’t disappoint. It’s like seeing the band in a different perspective, or through brand new eyes.

— Hannah Kivi is a sophomore at Riverside Christian School and a member of the Herald-Republic’s Unleashed journalism program for students.