Paramore
Riot!

Release Date: 2007 | Tracklist

PARAMORE – RIOT!

First of all, I would like to point out that I know I am one of only 10 people to rate this album a 5. I understand that there will be plenty of people disagree with my rating, and do feel free to say so, but first let me explain.

In 2005, with the release of the band’s first album, All We Know Is Falling, I didn’t like these guys. Being the uneducated pop-punk hater that I was at the time, I distanced myself from what I would later come to know as an excellent record. However, a year later, I began to realise the quality of their music and found myself drawing to what was essentially some of the best pop-punk I have ever heard. The news came soon after of a new album, described as an ‘explosion of emotion’ by the band and a progression in their sound. That album is ‘Riot!’

Riot! features all the aspects you would expect from Paramore, had you heard any of their previous efforts - catchy melodies, hard-hitting rhythm and strong vocals from one of the most talented young singers in rock, frontwoman Hayley Williams. The vocals shine throughout the album, showing astounding control and impressive range for such a young age. This, of course, is not to take anything away from the other members of the band. Drummer Zac Farro and bassist Jeremy Davis provide a backbeat that stays not only strong and tight, but also shows creativity throughout. However, maybe what makes Riot! so good is the relentless hooks of guitarist Josh Farro. By no means a technically talented guitarist, Farro provides the melodies that range from fun and upbeat to slow and somber, whilst staying catchy at all times.

Don’t expect huge amounts of diversity in this album, though. It’s certainly not breaking any new ground, and doesn’t really ever divert itself from punk influenced pop-rock. Riot! simply perfects a formula that has been used by so many other bands before. The band seems to have ditched all of the darker elements that were shown at times on their debut, All We Know Is Falling, in favour of a sound that mainly revolves almost solely around pop-punk anthems and uplifting, rather than depressive, slow numbers. What little experimentation the band do use on the album mainly comes in the shape of the of use of electronics, particularly in second single ‘Hallelujah’, which contains the use of synthesizers and electronic drumming to add depth to the track, and third single ‘crushcrushcrush’, a song that clearly shows the band’s dance influences.

Though the album is dominated by more upbeat songs, the album does contain two ballads, one of which: ‘We Are Broken’, is piano based, showing another aspect of their sound. The only other song on the album that really varies from the sound is ‘Fences’; a cabaret-esque song that sounds like Panic! At The Disco with talent. Other than that, the songs really do just stick to extremely catchy riffs and double time drumming with soaring vocals, sometimes incorporating group chanting, such as in ‘That’s What You Get’ and ‘Born For This’, or vocal distortion, like in the chorus of ‘Let The Flames Begin’.

The only element of the music where the band really lets up is in the lyrics, should you care. Though some are not half as bad as others, none of the lyrics really show any improvement on those of their peers, though I doubt that they were really intended to in the first place. Despite this, Paramore have created an album that they deserve to be proud of. This is the pinnacle of modern pop-punk, showcasing everything good about the genre, and compacting it into a solid 39 minutes, and not a weak track in sight.

Pros
- Extremely catchy
- Incredible vocals
- No bad tracks, songwriting is very strong.

Cons
- Lyrics
- Uh….
- ….

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3.5 great

Rank: #173 for 2007