Paramore: Brand New Eyes review
Paramore: Brand New Eyes (2009)
Paramore - "Brand New Eyes"
Tracklisting
“Careful”
“Ignorance”
“Playing God”
“Brick by Boring Brick”
“Turn It Off”
“The Only Exception”
“Feeling Sorry”
“Looking Up”
“Where The Lines Overlap”
“Misguided Ghosts”
“All I Wanted”
Despite making it through a rocky period in the band’s history (nearly breaking up and all!), pop rockers Paramore are back with their 3rd full length album appropriately named “Brand New Eyes“. The record’s sound is comparable to an amalgamation of their previous efforts (2005’s “All We Know Is Falling” and 2007’s “Riot!”) with some matured twists. The album opens with track “Careful” which is pretty much the usual Paramore fare containing catchy riffing and melodic vocals (courtesy of singer Hayley Williams) which maintain the band’s pop sensibilities that were perfected on their earlier work. Songs such as “Playing God” (surely one of the album’s future singles?) wouldn’t feel out-of-place on the record’s predecessor and contains the sound which made the band successful in the first place. Amongst the catchier pop tunes exist slower numbers, most notably the acoustic track “The Only Exception” where the band strip things down and allow Williams’ vocals to shine.
The musicianship is pretty much the same as before with the main focus being placed on catchy riffs, power chord laden choruses and the occasional down tempo ballad. It’s hard to say that there is a noticeable progression on the new record, but the lack thereof doesn’t dilute what is recorded nor does it lessen the listener’s experience. It would, however, be interesting to see what the band could come up with if they chose to experiment a bit more and offer something a little less predictable. “No we’re not the same” proclaims Williams on first single “Ignorance“, I can’t help but remain unconvinced.
Overall fans of the band won’t be disappointed as the album gives them what they’ve come to expect. However, this may also be one of its shortcomings. It seems a fairly safe record with little to no risks. Although, having said that, the pop punk genre was never known for its revolutionary approach to music and is more about making something catchy and fun… and under this criteria it most certainly delivers. Overall “Brand New Eyes” is well worth a look! (pun most certainly intended)
3/5
Released: September 29th
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