User:Kiac/Brand New Eyes

Background and writing

"I was writing these lyrics, and they didn't feel good — some of it hurt, some if [sic] was like, 'Am I being too honest even with myself?' I had doubts that it was the right record."

Hayley Williams on the "doubts" she had with the initial writing of the record.

After the release of Riot! and a nonstop year, a blog post which stated they were having "internal issues" in early 2008, coupled with a week of cancelled shows, speculation arose that the band were going to breakup. Not long after, it was resolved and claimed to be an issue of the members never having time to talk about things such as how they "were all growing up, and sometimes, when you're growing up, you're not always growing together". Further struggles to write new material had singer Hayley Williams speaking of the doubts she had surrounding the writing of the record and meeting the expectations placed on the band after the success of Riot!. She was also concerned about lyrics that involved current issues, as opposed to resolved issues that she had written about in the past. "I was like, 'This isn't a feel-good song, because I'm writing about something I'm going through right now, and it's still painful,'" she continued. "And I confused that with actually not liking the songs, when actually I was prouder of them than I've ever been before. They're heavier emotions for me... I'm still going through some of this stuff, and these songs are really healing to me." The band as a whole treated the writing as a therapeutic experience, which helped them hash out old differences. Now that "all those words were out on the table", they were able to have their first real conversations in a longtime, resolving the internal struggles they had been facing, by going back to the reasons why they started the band and had wanted to play music in the first place.Consequently, Paramore decided to name the record Brand New Eyes because of the allusion to seeing things from a whole new perspective, "Just trying to let go of whatever we might have struggled with the past and just see each other in a new way," explained Williams.

Paramore spent six weeks in pre-production at Emac Studios in their hometown of Franklin, the first time they had undergone pre-production without the guidance of a producer. A visit from record producer Rob Cavallo reassured the band that they were on the right track with the album and that their new material had the potential to surpass the success of their previous work. Although it was originally planned to record the album close to home in Nashville, the band commenced recording in Calabasas, California with Cavallo at the end of March 2009. They then added to the original material written at home with additional tunes written with the help of Cavallo after the move to Calabasas. Paramore finished production by May 2009, in time for a tour in support of No Doubt.

Quotes

Drummer Zac Farro said, "I don't think we were aiming to be just more mature or whatever, but that's really cool to hear. I think there's a lot of new directions on the record. It sounds more like our live show to me, and the songs are just a lot deeper and have a lot more going on and everybody's parts are really special."

Bassist Jeremy Davis said, "we're all experimenting and trying to figure out how far we can go with it but still keep it Paramore," he said. "We've all been getting into different music ourselves, which is just going to be better in the long run. When we get into the studio, there's going to be a lot more different things going on."

Promotion and release

.. finished production in time for No Doubt...

And just in case you were wondering what other titles Paramore were kicking around for the album, well, you'll soon know the answer. Because the deluxe edition of Eyes will come bundled with a copy of Williams' lyric journal.

"We're taking the journal where I wrote all the lyrics and the meanings of each song, as we were going through the writing process, [and] we're putting that journal in a deluxe package of the record that will come out," Williams explained. "And the other album titles are in there, from the actual discussion where we sat down in our kitchen in Malibu and hashed it out.

First show on tour saw Williams lose her voice in the encore, only for fans to pick up the slack.

Laryngitis, LA show postponed, other shows delayed.

Other worldwide touring details.

Expected to be either Mariah or number 1.

UK Chart successes.

Reaction to #2 in US.

The band's third album is its first top 10. It's also the highest-charting set by a female-fronted rock band (not including acts such as Arcade Fire or Skillet, in which both genders share vocals) since Evanescence's "The Open Door" arrived at No. 1 three years ago this week.

Content

Go over early 'writing' refs.

Chartattack review

But she's also unashamed — or, more precisely, unafraid — to take stands on causes most cynics would snicker at: love ("The Only Exception"), brotherhood ("Looking Up") and self-empowerment ("Feeling Sorry"), to name just a few.

ELs

• (cover)