Paramore - Brand new eyes

Brand new eyes came out in 2009 and this review is being done in 2017. Why? Although I have always been aware of Paramore since their second album “Riot” came out in 2007.  I had only listened to “Misery Business” and that was it. I liked it, but I never looked in to their stuff further. That was until this year when their fifth album “After Laughter” came out. I was hooked and bought their back catalogue.

That of course included this album, “Brand new eyes”. It starts off with “Careful” which really does lay it down and shows off singer Haley Williams fantastic vocal range. If there is ever a song to test your own singing and see how good a singer Haley is, just try singing along to this song!  “Careful” is such a ferocious, hard hitting opener and is certainly my favourite track off the album.

This is an album full of singles “Ignorance”, “Brick by boring brick”, “Only Exception” “Playing God” and the previously mentioned “Careful”. All great tracks, but in terms of guitar work “Playing God” is hard to beat, lead guitarist Josh Farro produces one of the best intros on the album.  Most of the album, Paramore deliver their pop-punk sing along goodness which will have had many bobbing up and down at their gigs and singing along to what are their anthems now. “Only Exception” throws a bit of a curve ball here as it’s a more laid-back acoustic track but at the same time still shows off William’s incredible vocals and adds a different dimension to the album. Another track “Misguided ghosts” which appears later in the album is also an acoustic track which again works well.

Three of my favourite tracks off the album which are not singles are “Turn it off”, then then tracks number 7 and 8 double punch of “Feeling Sorry” and “Looking up”.  “Feeling Sorry” has in my opinion the best lyric off the album “but I don’t see you around anymore…………your days are numbered at 24”. But that’s the thing with Paramore, they have the great lyrics and the amazing music to go with it. “Looking up” has such a positive vibe to it as it is just so upbeat. Another lyric I love from this one is “Honestly can you believe, we crossed the world while its asleep”.

Having listened to all Paramore’s last five albums, I can firmly say this one comes out on top for me. It is a complete album with not a bad track on it. This album at the time certainly acted as a stepping stone for them and they just seem to be getting bigger and bigger while keeping things fresh by keeping on pushing the boundaries of their music. They themselves must look back on this and realise that “Riot” was no fluke. These guys are the real deal which can be seen now (in 2017) more than ever.