Over the past two years, Paramore, the rapidly emerging pop-punk quintet from<br />Tennessee, has been building a near-deafening “next big thing” buzz. Driven by riveting<br />live shows and the undeniable charisma of their frontwoman, 18-year-old Hayley<br />Williams, they have captivated an increasingly rabid following. Confronted by the<br />double-edged sword of overwhelming early praise, Paramore has risen to the challenge<br />and recorded an album that happily delivers on all the claims made on their behalf. With<br />their new Fueled By Ramen collection, “RIOT!,” they announce that they have the talent,<br />the passion, and the songs to take themselves to the next level.<br />The band’s rise has been the result of consistent hard work since Hayley first met Josh<br />Farro (guitar, age 20) and his younger brother Zac (drums, age 17) while they were<br />together in school four years ago. After adding Jeremy Davis (bass, age 22), Paramore<br />was formed in 2004. They played their first show in Nashville, and were soon building a<br />local fanbase. After just a few months of gigging, the band had their first big break in<br />early 2005, when Fueled By Ramen founder John Janick saw them at a gig in Florida.<br />He was instantly struck by their presence and their dedication, and he immediately signed<br />the band to the label. As Hayley says, “Fueled By Ramen has been amazing to us. So<br />many kids started checking us out because our name is on their roster. It’s like a big<br />family; we all share such a massive unit of fans.”<br />Upon the release of their debut album, “ALL WE KNOW IS FALLING,” in the summer<br />of 2005, the music community began taking immediate notice of the band. The New<br />York Times and Spin hailed the album, singling out Hayley as a star in the making. Nonstop<br />touring throughout 2006 with bands such as Straylight Run and Simple Plan,<br />combined with show-stealing festival performances at Warped and Bamboozle, continued<br />to build the momentum. The year culminated with a sold-out headlining tour of North<br />America in the fall of 2006, as well as successful tours of both Europe and Japan.<br />The accolades continued as 2006 came to a close. After an overwhelming response to a<br />U.K. tour at the end of the year, Kerrang! readers voted Paramore as the “Best New<br />Band” and Hayley as the #2 “Sexiest Female.” NME named Paramore one of the ten acts<br />to watch in their “New Noise 2007” feature, proclaiming Williams as “young, articulate<br />and with plenty to say.” Some bands would begin to get nervous with those kinds of<br />accolades. Not Paramore. “I love getting all the ‘Next Big Thing’ notices,” says Hayley<br />with a grin. Josh continues, “The first few years everything was new to us and we made<br />a name for ourselves as a band in a lot of places. But with ‘RIOT!,’ we’re really ready to<br />blow people’s minds.”<br />It only takes one listen to “RIOT!” to see the depth of the band’s growth in the past two<br />years. Produced by David Bendeth (Hawthorne Heights, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus,<br />Killswitch Engage), the music has taken on a richer, deeper, more intense tone, without<br />sacrificing any of the melodicism that has been their trademark. As Hayley explains,<br />“For us, the title ‘RIOT!’ literally means an unbridled outburst of emotions. When we<br />were writing, it seemed like our thoughts and emotions were coming out so fast that we<br />couldn’t control them. It felt like there was a riot within us. So the album takes our<br />passion to a new level; it’s just all raw energy.”<br />That raw energy and passion is evident in “Misery Business,” a song that has its origins<br />in a message Hayley put on the band’s Live Journal page, asking her fans to post what<br />they’re ashamed of. “I found that people really were reaching out to someone to spill<br />their guts to,” she recalls, “So I did the same thing lyrically in the song and let everything<br />out. It’s more honest than anything I’ve ever written, and the guys matched that emotion<br />musically.”<br />The wryly titled “For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic” stems from what Josh reflects<br />as “putting your faith in someone and they blow it.” But in the writing of the song, he<br />saw that his faith in his bandmates was not misplaced: “I wrote the music specifically to<br />be awesome live and to be extremely energetic. It all came out at once. I showed it to<br />Hayley and she just nailed it lyrically. She completely got the feeling I wanted the song<br />to have.” And “Hallelujah” serves as one of the album’s true anthems. As Hayley<br />recounts, “It’s one of the oldest songs we’ve got, but we wanted to save it for this record,<br />and it’s the perfect home for it. It’s a claim of victory for both ourselves and our fans.”<br />That connection with their audience is most evident in “Born For This,” a song that was<br />specifically written for their fans. “We wrote it as a message to them,” Hayley explains.<br />“They’re going to take us to the next level. Everything they’ve done has helped us so<br />much… it’s really kept us going.” And to drive that point home, the band held an online<br />contest for fans, with the winners getting to sing gang vocals on the song.<br />“Next big things” come and go, but it is obvious that Paramore has something special –<br />both talent and staying power. “RIOT” is the band’s declaration of ambition, musical<br />growth, and dedication. “We all have such a love and passion for this music,” says Josh.<br />“We’re lucky to have made such a connection with our fans that we’re making a<br />difference in their lives.” Hayley concludes, “We want everyone to hear this album. We<br />want to take it as far as we can. ‘RIOT!’ is everything we ever wanted to say on one<br />album. If it all ended today, this is what we’d want to be remembered for.” http://www.imeem.com/paramore Delta 0 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Paramore Riot! http://www.imeem.com/paramore/playlist/SchubnHG/riot_music_playlist/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:22:56 -0000 nNfuY2v-9B Paramore Paramore Videos http://www.imeem.com/paramore/playlist/88xZpF9X/paramore_videos_video_playlist/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:18:18 -0000 Hp5phiNoQu Paramore http://www.imeem.com/paramore/video/fPstJXh-/paramore_emergency_music_video/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:16:39 -0000 <div><a href="http://www.imeem.com/paramore/video/fPstJXh-/paramore_emergency_music_video/"><img width="100" height="75" border="0" src="http://srv0110-05.oak1.imeem.com/g/v/2177f1bfaff952f2adb086fc7c075db0_00010.jpg" title="Click to play this video"/></a></div> vvW1ne450d Paramore http://www.imeem.com/paramore/video/Xi7-EBeE/paramore_misery_business_music_video/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:16:39 -0000 <div><a href="http://www.imeem.com/paramore/video/Xi7-EBeE/paramore_misery_business_music_video/"><img width="100" height="75" border="0" src="http://srv0110-05.oak1.imeem.com/g/v/a36e580e0f8d813d893c32c1cccd659d_00010.jpg" title="Click to play this video"/></a></div> GW7XtgUjqw Paramore http://www.imeem.com/paramore/video/8BZuGO6f/paramore_pressure_music_video/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:16:39 -0000 <div><a href="http://www.imeem.com/paramore/video/8BZuGO6f/paramore_pressure_music_video/"><img width="100" height="75" border="0" src="http://srv0110-05.oak1.imeem.com/g/v/0c1dd7be0c29777e4a96d0f8646dbec1_00010.jpg" title="Click to play this video"/></a></div> Bvh3fUXzEU Paramore http://www.imeem.com/paramore/video/4kjbj6OI/paramore_crushcrushcrush_by_paramore_music_video/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:15:37 -0000 <div><a href="http://www.imeem.com/paramore/video/4kjbj6OI/paramore_crushcrushcrush_by_paramore_music_video/"><img width="100" height="74" border="0" src="http://srv0110-05.oak1.imeem.com/g/v/cdc1a12a2a3f1b58c365b528e49db01e_00010.jpg" title="Click to play this video"/></a></div> fB80v9mQhg Paramore http://www.imeem.com/paramore/music/jF3yqiMi/paramore_fences/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:14:36 -0000 <div><a href="http://www.imeem.com/paramore/music/jF3yqiMi/paramore_fences/"><img border="0" src="http://icons.imeem.com/jF3yqiMi.jpg" title="Click to play this song"/></a></div> cOf3MH_hcX Paramore http://www.imeem.com/paramore/music/kFXXA3yb/paramore_born_for_this/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:14:36 -0000 <div><a href="http://www.imeem.com/paramore/music/kFXXA3yb/paramore_born_for_this/"><img border="0" src="http://icons.imeem.com/kFXXA3yb.jpg" title="Click to play this song"/></a></div> pO52N2HSpn Paramore http://www.imeem.com/paramore/music/pU_1pZy7/paramore_let_the_flames_begin/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:14:35 -0000 <div><a href="http://www.imeem.com/paramore/music/pU_1pZy7/paramore_let_the_flames_begin/"><img border="0" src="http://icons.imeem.com/pU_1pZy7.jpg" title="Click to play this song"/></a></div> V1FNUajm31 Paramore http://www.imeem.com/paramore/music/qonyzQ0x/paramore_crushcrushcrush/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:14:35 -0000 <div><a href="http://www.imeem.com/paramore/music/qonyzQ0x/paramore_crushcrushcrush/"><img border="0" src="http://icons.imeem.com/qonyzQ0x.jpg" title="Click to play this song"/></a></div> AtAvC2UTdF