Riot! is the second studio album by American
rock band
Paramore, succeeding their debut album
All We Know Is Falling,
and was released in the United States on June 12, 2007 and in the
United Kingdom on June 25, 2007. The album was certified Platinum in The
US by the
Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) and in Ireland by
Irish Recorded Music Association, and Gold in the UK.
Riot! produced 4
singles: "
Misery Business", "
Hallelujah", "
Crushcrushcrush" and "
That's What You Get".
"Misery Business" is included in the video games
Saints Row 2,
NHL 08,
Rock Band 3 and
Guitar Hero World Tour (the latter featuring a computer-generated replica of lead vocalist
Hayley Williams), while "That's What You Get" is included as a playable song on
Rock Band 2. "Crushcrushcrush" is featured on
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades and is available as a downloadable track for play on the three
Rock Band games. A cover version of the song is also featured on the game
Ultimate Band. The album cover also resembles the cover artwork of
No Doubt's album
Rock Steady. Riot went Platinum on July 11, 2008.
Music
Recording and production
The album was produced by David Bendeth. Lead vocalist, Hayley Williams, explained the album was called
Riot! because, "For us, the title ‘
Riot!’
literally means an unbridled outburst of emotions. When we were
writing, it seemed like our thoughts and emotions were coming out so
fast that we couldn't control them. It felt like there was a riot within
us. So the album takes our passion to a new level; it’s just all raw
energy."
According to guitarist
Josh Farro, Riot! was recorded by Paramore as a trio. Whilst
Jeremy Davis
was credited as playing bass on the album, he was in fact kicked out by
the band for a lack of work ethic. Paramore's touring guitarist
Taylor York contributed to the songwriting for several tracks on the album.
The track "For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic" comes from what
lead guitarist Josh Farro reflects as "putting your faith in someone and
they blow it." Farro composed the song and gave the demo to Williams.
Farro is known as saying "I wrote the music specifically to be awesome
live and to be extremely energetic. It all came out at once. I showed it
to Hayley and she just nailed it lyrically. She completely got the
feeling I wanted the song to have."
During production, Paramore held an online contest entitled "The Last Song You'll Ever Sing" where fans submitted videos on
YouTube for the opportunity to sing back-up vocals on the track "Born for This". The winner was Mary Bonney of McLean, Virginia.
Songs
The album has yielded four singles, with "
Misery Business" being the first. Its origins came from a message Williams posted on the band's
LiveJournal,
asking fans to post what they're ashamed of. "I found that people
really were reaching out to someone to spill their guts to," she
recalls, "so I did the same thing lyrically in the song and let
everything out. It's more honest than anything I've ever written, and
the guys matched that emotion musically."
The song became an instant hit, eventually receiving heavy rotation on
MTV and other music television networks.
The album's second single was "
Hallelujah".
As Williams recounts, "It's one of the oldest songs we've got, but we
wanted to save it for this record, and it's the perfect home for it.
It's a claim of victory for both ourselves and our fans."
The album's third single was "
Crushcrushcrush" and was released January 15, 2008, in the US and the January 23 in the
UK.
The album's fourth single, "
That's What You Get", was released just over a week after Paramore canceled their European tour to work on "personal issues",
amidst media speculation of the band breaking up. Williams explained
that, given the fragile state of the band, they all thought it best if
they kept the shoot low-key, surrounding themselves with their friends
and family, keeping it simple. Williams added, "We had tons of friends
there, and it really just felt like a hangout session. And Marcos
[Siega, the director] was so cool about it. He said, 'Bring your
friends.' We shot it in some of our friends' houses, and it just felt so
real... and I think it's the first time in a video you're gonna get to
see who we really are."
The track "Born for This" contains the line "we want the airwaves
back", from the song "Liberation Frequency" taken from the album
The Shape of Punk to Come by the influential Swedish hardcore band
Refused.
Williams has explained that this song was written "about the fans" and
"that the whole pre-chorus is actually inspired by that one line of the
song."
Release
Riot! was released in the United States on June 12, 2007, following the debut of "
Misery Business" on the radio. It entered the U.S.
Billboard 200 albums chart at 20 in late 2007.
Riot!
sold 42,000 albums in the U.S. in its first week and three months later
the album hit its peak at 15 on the Billboard 200. The album achieved
some success in the UK reaching #24 on the albums chart sales to date
250,094. The album was certified Platinum on July 11, 2008.
The hit single "
Misery Business" has also been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
The album was re-released in late 2007 as a U-MYX MVI CD/DVD. In
New Zealand, the album peaked at number 15, and was certified Gold on February 1, 2009, shipping over 15,000 copies.
Reception
Critical opinion for
Riot! was generally positive. Jason Lymangrover of
Allmusic
gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and commented that, "Ultimately, this
disc has enormous crossover potential, and will probably appeal to those
who are fans of the genre, and for those who aren't, there's a good
chance of it becoming a guilty pleasure."
Stylus Magazine gave the album a B+ and said, "
Riot!
is immediately appealing because it focuses on sounds that have been
neglected by the genre's front-runners. This is an uncomplicated album
of strikingly uncomplicated music, entirely lacking in 15 word song
titles."
Gareth Dobson of
Drowned in Sound
gave the album 4 out of 10 stars and said, "At 38 minutes long, it's
mercifully brief, but still manages to feel like a double album for
those who endure it. That is, those who don't manage to forget that it's
on the stereo at all. People, get your pop-punk thrills somewhere else.
At least somewhere where there are actual thrills to be had." Despite
mixed and lukewarm reviews,
Riot! found itself in several "must have" lists that were compiled by various music publications, networks and other media.
Riot! Tour
Williams said, "We're hoping to do one more tour across the States
before we really get started with all the (European summer) festivals.
Of course, I want to do more Warped Tour dates, 'cause it's, like, my
favorite tour ever. We'll see what works out and hopefully just have
another great year."
After the album release the band went on an American tour, following it up with a world tour. After their fourth single from
Riot! was released the band canceled their European tour to work on "personal issues."
Track listing
All songs written and composed by
Hayley Williams and
Josh Farro, except where noted
.
Charts
Certifications
Personnel
