Paramore

by Ben Welch

From preciously talented teenage upstarts to globe-trotting megastars, Paramore have established themselves as one of the foremost bands in mainstream rock music. Combining muscular guitars and driving rhythms with an irresistible pop sensibility, their blistering live show and endlessly dynamic front woman Hayley Williams has taken them from club shows in their hometown to sell-out arena dates across the world - and earned them a fiercely dedicated fan-base along the way. But with their success has come the pressure of growing up under the media's scrutiny. Small-town kids from Tennessee thrust into international stardom, they have had to negotiate their adolescence alongside the demands of a gruelling tour schedule and numerous line-up changes. This test of character brought them to the brink of collapse. And yet, from this adversity Paramore returned with their most confident, accomplished and deeply personal album to date - Brand New Eyes. This unauthorised book is the first to tell their story and details the early years forming the band, their explosive debut record, the strident, platinum-selling follow-up Riot! and their status in late 2009 as the 'next major rock act' in the world.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2009

Reviews

[Pernille · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, Paramore is my absolute favorite band. That can mean to things; either I can hate the book because it presented the whole band wrong, or I can love the book. And I really did love it.

Even though I'm not that familiar with the band's past, there were a lot of things I already knew. And there were a lot of things that the book straightened out for me. Like former band members, how Jeremy left the band, the relationship between Josh and Hayley and so on. It was really interesting, not to mention inspiring, to read about. I especially enjoyed the parts about the pre-production process, and how it was when they went into the recording studio. Also, I really liked reading about the writing process, how Hayley pushed herself so hard with every lyric to get it right, and how hard it was to pour out her feelings like that.

What amazes me, is that the book is both unofficial and unauthorised, but still I felt like so much of it was true. Which it hopefully is. And even though it was based on different interview and som inside sources, that didn't bother me at all. I'm not sure I would have thought it was so heartfelt if the author had been close to the band for such a long time because a lot of people think it's easier to put up an act than to be honest. This may seem a little backwards, but I think it would have been hard for any band to have an author or journalist so close all the time.

Another thing I liked, is that it focused on Paramore as a band, since I'm used to magazines and interviews mostly being about Hayley. I loved reading about they're albums and how they worked together to make it work. I loved to read about the tours. I also loved to read about their problems, even though it was heartbreaking reading about them struggling so hard and never get to settle it once and for all.

I'll say that this is a book worth reading. Even though it is, as I said earlier, unofficial and unathorised, it's still well written and full of information about not just Paramore, but about different festivals, band and people too. You actually learn something by reading the book, as well as you'll enjoy it.

[Elias Meza Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned nothing new on this book, Paramore is one of my all time favorite bands so I knew much of things on the book, good book regardless though.

[Sindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice one, so many memories of my fangirl-moments around 2007/2008 came back while reading. A lot of interessting side-notes, but some made it hard to get trough and not get lost in them.

[Piper Winchester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I dug out from my late teens.
Paramore have been one of my favourite bands since I was 17.
I wish there was an updated version but still nice, enjoyable and informative

[finola🪻 · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the greatest book of all time. they just dont write books like this anymore!

[Tiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paramore: Grace, by Ben Welch is only the best book ever. It is a book about a sick band named Paramore. This just talks about the bands' life in early stages of the band. Also how they've become so big and took this all in. They first started out in their late teens, not expecting anything to start from this, to one of the top rock/ alternitives bands out. Hayley Williams, the lead singer, explains how shes so blessed to have this and happy. Their internal conflict is trying to make their fans happy, wether its make ing good songs or by playing awesome shows. Their external conflict is nothing.

This book makes a text to world connection. A lot of bands start of small and then make it to big sucess. They start with no money and small gigs. Now they sell out arenas and constantly get promoted.

I'd rate this book 5 stars because it really goes into the life of Paramore. Each bandmate really takes a step and realizes what they've become. It's amazing. I'd reccomend this book to everyone, just becuase Paramore is the best band ever.

[Kelcea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was brilliant!
It gave me an insight into my favourite band, also clearing up my misconceptions and really showing the band to be very hard-working, awesome people. It has really made me appreciate them more, and I feel closer to them than ever.
Another aspect of the book that also stood out was that, as well as talking about paramore, it also gave background into other features of their lives, for example during the 'Warped Tour' segments of the book the author gave a brief but detailed history of the Warped Tour; another piece they temporarily detailed was the beginning of female-fronted bands and its history.
Overall, the author really delved deep into the lives of paramore and other effecting moments in a well-written and well-researched biography.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book because it was about Paramore, but I didn't like it because of how the writer seemed to have criticisms about pretty much everything. And when you're writing a book for Paramore fans, criticising a lot of their work and such really does not work. However, I did enjoy learning about their early days and the inside story, so much so that I was able to overlook most of the criticism. So I gave this book a 4 because Paramore are my favourite band.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is awesome, I'm a massive Paramore fan and this book is a simple easy read.

[meri · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book had much information on the band i didn't yet know, but the author annoys the reader stating his opinions as facts (mostly about which song is good and not).