Paramore Band • Page 74

I'm just a sucker for ballads in general

 

the album already smacks with them!

 

Ballads are almost always a skip for me haha. Give me the bangerssss!

 

You really can't cut any tracks from s/t IMO. Even the ones I don't love I think are still pretty important to the album

 

I want to preface this by saying that the self-titled is incredible in part due to its length, as I understand it was a part of their lives where they wanted to try as many different things as possible and reinvent what it is to be Paramore, however if I were to condense the album into a more traditional 10 song album, in which the interludes do not count, this would be my take:

1. Fast In My Car
2. Now
3. Grow Up
4. Ain't It Fun
[Moving On]
5. Daydreaming
6. Still Into You
7. Proof
[Holiday]
8. Part II
9. Last Hope
10. Future

Now the album is divided in three neat sections, the record as a whole being about life and the relationships we make while coursing through it. The first part of the record is about the macro scale, such as how life the universe always seems to beat you down (Fast In My Car, Ain't It Fun) or how we surround ourselves with harmful influences (Grow Up). But, despite all of that, we must persevere and fight for a change (Now).

The fade away from Ain't It Fun leads us to the first interlude, perfectly putting a bookend to the troubles we've talked about; we've moved on and approached the optimistic section of the record. Daydreaming injects us with the anthemic hope with an excellent fade away that sets up Still Into You perfectly. In fact, lyrically speaking, they compliment each other in how the narrator in Daydreaming tries to differentiate themselves with the people bound to day-to-day life, but Still Into You is about this undying love for someone despite the same type of fixation towards something. The difference between monotony and stability. Both SIY and Proof provide loud, gush your heart out songs, and would most certainly be the most joyful part of the record. This section would give a nod to the relationships we make with people, as opposed to the nubulous "the world is out to get me" topics the first half talked about (okay, Grow Up is about people, but eh).

It closes out that section though with Holiday, perhaps providing a metaphor to how good things come to an end, and bring us into the grand three-song-blow about hope and growth; the final relationship the album asks us to reflect upon is of ourselves. I've always been a big fan of this 3 song set up. My favorite record, Futures, does something similar with Nothingwrong -> Night Drive -> 23, albiet Last Hope is more anthemic, reminding me of what Foxing did with Won't Drown -> Lambert. Future closes it out as always it always does.

There's a lot of great songs I cut, such as Be Alone, that I'm crushed about. As well as the fact that the 3rd interlude couldn't make it (maybe you put it before Future? I kind of like the sequencing without it though). Perhaps an EP could've been made that started with Anklebiters and had track 2 be I'm Not Angry Anymore as a little joke? Anyway, that's my take on it. Again, this is not meant to be a statement on how the album would be better off with cuts. Although I do have the occassional issue with the album's length and direction, it has been argued above that it's part of the charm, and I can definitely agree with that. I'm just a sucker for theme and concise records. Thank you for reading/bearing with this lengthy thought experiment lol

 

Haha yeah I'm the total opposite for sure.

I've been listening to a lot of Avril Lavigne lately and I'll take a ballad like I'm With You or Head Above Water over that new song she did with Travis Barker any day

 

yeah, I still can’t stand the interludes. Not a fan of ukulele or little campfire ditty songs

 

I watched Jennifer's Body the other night and totally didn't realise Hayley had a solo track on there.

After hearing that I was in a b-sides/rarities mood, and remembered that Breathe exists.

 

I’m sorry, I thought I saw someone say to cut Fast in My Car, but I know that can’t be right

 

I wouldn't cut anything

 

I really liked the Riot bonus tracks that they put on the Best Buy versions of the album.

This "Breathe" song sounds like it was recorded during the AWKIF days.

 

It really just hit me now what a good song Escape Route is

 

There are so many cool firsts for the band in Fast In My Car alone. The pre-chorus and bridge introduces so many amazing sounds and textures that they haven't explored in the 3 previous records, especially those harmonies! Such an important song in the band's history imo.

 

Re: s/t my favorite is Proof and least favorite barring interludes is Crazy Girls. There’s nothing really bad there though

Proof chorus knocks me on my ass every time, and has one of the best bridges on the record

 

Crazy Girls rules

 

I'm Not Angry Anymore is really good too

 

Yeah I actually love the interludes, all three of them have really nice melodies

 

Is the S/T typically pretty hard to find on vinyl? I’m not seeing it any where I’ve looked so far

 

Paramore - Paramore (Vinyl, US, 2013) For Sale | Discogs

 

Thanks, I saw it on Discogs but was trying to avoid it and eBay if I could. Either way I bought it haha

 

few things better than the bridge in "proof"

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

this is gonna own

 

My 2 and a half year old is really into Still Into You, Hard Times, and crushcrushcrush. Or, really, into the music videos for them lol. He now knows crushcrushcrush by name so when he sees the thumbnail for it on youtube on our TV he now screams "crushushsush!!"