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Paramore


Ghost

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I gave the record a go. I'm not a Paramore person, I had All We Know Is Falling and thought that was pretty 'meh' and I've found most of their music to be 'meh', I can at least appreciate on this record that they've essentially reinvented themselves, and the strong 80s feel throughout is pretty cool. I think if this is them trying to 'sell out' and do pop music, than they're doing it a damn lot better than the actual current pop artists. Hard Times knocks the crap out of TayTay Swift to me. 

Theres no massively strong tracks to me on the record so far however. I love Hard Times, as has been mentioned, and Rose Coloured Boy is surprisingly fun but for the most part the rest are fairly forgettable. I've only listened once though, will give it a few more go's. 

Personally I find them going pop much less of a shame because to me they were never anything more or better. This is good pop music, I can live with that.

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9 minutes ago, Scott. said:

Is it all poppy dancey or are there rock songs on it?

Little rock sparks on some spots. I mean, if you search for guitars, there are some in there. Pretty much 80s and modern pop influenced, though.

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On my first listen, I actually think it's kinda good.

Standout tracks include "Hard Times," "Rose-Colored Boy," "26," "Pool," and "Idle Worship."

For being such an upbeat record, most of the lyrical themes are pretty sad. In fact, the lyrics aren't too bad--they shine in some places but are generic in others. The only lyrically positive song imo is "Grudges," and by its title you wouldn't expect that.

I like the 80s vibe and I like that they tried to change it up a little bit with what type of pop they were going for from track to track. Hayley's vocals are the highlight, of course. 

I agree that "No Friend" is an experimental track, and its lyrics are the most complex on the record, but it fell flat to me because you can barely hear the spoken word over the instrumentation, and it feels rushed and unfinished. I can kinda see where they were trying to go with it, though. It feels dark.

Overall a solid effort and a fun pop record. 6/10 right now, may improve after some more listens. 

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Haven't listened enough to give a good take on it. But from the start I loved the theme of this record. On the surface it seems like a poppy upbeat album but there's so many dark thoughts underneath all that, kind of like making people think you're fine when you're definitely not. It's cool because sometimes the upbeat sound cracks (intro to Fake Happy, 26) before it gets right back into it. Someone mentioned this was like the anti-self titled record because the last one was optimistic and this was a lot more pessimistic.

Right now I'd say Rose Colored Boy and Caught In The Middle are some of my favorite Paramore songs, and I also like Fake Happy. Can't wait to listen more!

Also I think of No Friend as an outro to Idol Worship instead of as a song, which makes more sense to me. I think they even registered it under the name "Idol Worship Outro" before changing it.

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I have different feelings with this album.

First of all, I was really disappointed about the don't-look-back departure that the two first singles suggested. I was like: ok, enough of this for me. But I gave it a chance, and the record ends up not sounding as forced as I expected (in fact, I think that if they would have gone to try to replicate their old rock sound, they'd end up soundigmore forced). Moreover, the LP makes me want to hear it again from time to time. Which, for me, is a weird thing this days, as modern albums tend to sound with no punch at all (for me), they just don't resonate over time, and usually don't make me want to have more listens. So, when an album sticks to me is like... "eureka!!!".

It's not perfect and, as some of you pointed out, there are artists that are doing this kind of music probably much better than Paramore. So, when they try to sound 'tropical' or exotic influenced pop (like on the first song), I'd rather have Vampire Weekend first album; when they try to sound like a modern alt-rock band with electronic sparks, I'd rather have The 1975, and so on. But, maybe, what provides some kind of charm for this LP is the blend of it all with a little bit of 'ole Paramore' flavour in the mix, which is very subtle and maybe only present due to Hayley's voice.

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On 13 May 2017 at 9:57 AM, Ghost said:

I have different feelings with this album.

First of all, I was really disappointed about the don't-look-back departure that the two first singles suggested. I was like: ok, enough of this for me. But I gave it a chance, and the record ends up not sounding as forced as I expected (in fact, I think that if they would have gone to try to replicate their old rock sound, they'd end up soundigmore forced). Moreover, the LP makes me want to hear it again from time to time. Which, for me, is a weird thing this days, as modern albums tend to sound with no punch at all (for me), they just don't resonate over time, and usually don't make me want to have more listens. So, when an album sticks to me is like... "eureka!!!".

It's not perfect and, as some of you pointed out, there are artists that are doing this kind of music probably much better than Paramore. So, when they try to sound 'tropical' or exotic influenced pop (like on the first song), I'd rather have Vampire Weekend first album; when they try to sound like a modern alt-rock band with electronic sparks, I'd rather have The 1975, and so on. But, maybe, what provides some kind of charm for this LP is the blend of it all with a little bit of 'ole Paramore' flavour in the mix, which is very subtle and maybe only present due to Hayley's voice.

The difference for me, with that argument, is that I will never listen to any of those bands, but I'm happy to listen to Paramore do a similar sound. I'm not even a fan of them but the singles are more approachable to me than say the 1975. even if they're doing that genre 'better', your there for the songwriting itself, not the style - thats my argument, anyway.

As for the record as a whole, Told You So has grown on me, I really like Rose Coloured Boy and Fake Happy but as for the others I can't really tell them apart, only listened to the record once or twice though. Might listen again.

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4 hours ago, Kay said:

As for the record as a whole, Told You So has grown on me, I really like Rose Coloured Boy and Fake Happy but as for the others I can't really tell them apart, only listened to the record once or twice though. Might listen again.

Those were pretty much the first songs I liked too. Caught in the Middle and Idle Worship were the easiest to single out after those songs for me.

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The more I listen to the record, the more I go back and forth on it. 

Some other songs are sticking better now, Pool and Idle Worship and Caught In The Middle are growing on me. I am a little annoyed at some of the formulaic nature of some of the songs (specifically the first three) but its nowhere near as blatant as - say - California, so I don't mind so much, and I will probably never like Hayley's voice. I've always found her to be kind of grating, and I will always subconciously blame her for the slew of girls fronting bands trying to emulate her. but, as much as I'm not a fan of her voice, I do really appreciate some of the vocal choices she's making in certain tracks - She's displaying quite a range of skills and emotions vocally and I can appreciate that. Also I am quite surprised at how pretty good the lyrics are - it's not something I've ever thought about with Paramore but there's some fantastic lyrics on this record, so fair play. 

It's May, and this is basically the only record I've genuinely enjoyed this year so... good for them haha

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Surprisingly solid performance. I love the crap out of this record, more I hear it the more I love it, dancing in the kitchen to it and everything. Genuinely prefer it to California Deluxe. considering I have never liked Paramore this is pretty weird haha

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Hard Times was a killer song right out of the gate!

I really like this record and it has grown on me since first listen. I was never ashamed for liking Paramore but this new direction is great!

 

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14 hours ago, Kay said:

Surprisingly solid performance. I love the crap out of this record, more I hear it the more I love it, dancing in the kitchen to it and everything. Genuinely prefer it to California Deluxe. considering I have never liked Paramore this is pretty weird haha

I feel the same way I never liked Paramore but my brother told me this was more 80's style which I fucking love and this album is fantastic glad I gave it a listen. I would agree it's better than Cali Deluxe

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