Paramore Conspiracy Theories

The Old Paramore

Hey guys, I just wanted to talk to you all about the old and new Paramore, and what those things mean to me and others.

Someone recently told me that the reason I'm not in love with Hard Times is because I "miss the old Paramore," which actually couldn't be farther from the truth,  and I can explain why. 

My favorite Paramore era is Self-Titled, for many reasons, but a predominant one is that it is in fact nothing like the "old Paramore." In previous albums Paramore have singled out one emotion or sound to capture with an album, for example AWKIF was an angsty emo album, Riot! was a defiant pop-punk album, and Brand New Eyes was a sad, but also angry album about losing friends. Self-Titled was not that. Self-Titled was the first time they attempted to capture multiple feelings and genres, and were wildly successful doing so. On S/T you can hear anger, grief, happiness, sadness, triumph, hope. In terms of genres on S/T you can hear pop, rock, electronic, funk, emo, synth-pop. It is truly the most daring and versatile album Paramore has ever made. It is what represents "the new Paramore."

Now lets talk about After Laughter, and Paramore now considering themselves Genre neutral with this album. I watched the full Beats1 interview with Zane Lowe (available on Beats1 Youtube channel to watch), and he brought up the sound of the album constantly, meaning he has probbaly heard it already, as I'm sure other people in their close circle have. He kept talking about the tone of the album, but not in a way that suggested it would be another versatile album, in the sense that it would follow the synth driven 80s sound of Hard Times. Does that sound familiar? 

"In previous albums Paramore have singled out one emotion or sound to capture with an album."

If his hints at this are truly reminiscent of what the album will sound like, Paramore have actually reverted back to "the old Paramore," just not in the way we were all expecting, or some of us were hoping for. Furthermore this would mean that Paramore have not become genre neutral, it would mean they have actually picked a genre and stuffed themselves in that box, like they did with their first 3 albums. 

The genre neutral, versatile Paramore that Paramore are claiming to be these days is actually who they were during S/T. If Hard Times is what the rest of the album will sound like, they are actually, technically the "old Paramore" again. 

So no, I don't miss this the old Paramore, and if this album turns out to be like the first three albums in the way I mentioned before, it turns out I will actaully be missing the "new Paramore" for the next couple years.