10 years ago, Paramore unleashed their self-titled, fourth studio album into the world. Featuring standout singles “Ain’t It Fun” and “Still Into You” amongst the 17-track collection, the self-titled album acted as a reintroduction of the group after the departure of guitarist Josh Farro and drummer Zac Farro.
While the group previously leaned heavily into pop-punk and emo sounds, their self-titled release injected the tracks with more experimental vibes and dabbled in new wave and funk compositions.
Now, to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the album, vocalist Hayley Williams has shared some insight into the album that was destined to either make or break Paramore. In a post on socials, Williams pens, “10 years ago we put out a record that took a lot of guts and self-determination to make. Mainly because after losing 2 members of the band there was so much discourse around whether or not the band could make anything worthwhile—let alone stay together.”
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Williams admits, “The story of Paramore has been rife with reality show-style drama. Well, until the last 6 or 7 years. It’s really great to be able to look back from where we are now, knowing the story didn’t end when some said it would.”
“If all that led to our Self-Titled album hadn’t happened, we’d be the most boring band of all time,” Williams continues. “If we hadn’t been forced out of our trauma-bonded comfort zones, we would’ve never known what we might be capable of.”
“Thank you Justin Meldal-Johnsen for expanding our musical vocabulary and believing we could be more than a band from one specific scene. And thank you Carlos de la Garza for engineering the shit out of the album. Thank you Ken Andrews of Failure for mixing it, singing backups on it, and being a musical hero to us.”
“Taylor [York] and I wrote these songs having no idea if people would accept a reformed, more liberated version of Paramore. Our fans not only accepted but championed our rebirth. Thank you for allowing us the room for creative risk and for keeping this story going. We love you. Paramore forever.”
Happy 10 year anniversary to Paramore’s self-titled album!