The Final Riot! (CD+DVD) [Live]

 

 

Create your own review

I really enjoy Paramore's three studio albums, so I listened to "The Final Riot!" to get a feel for the type of live group they are. It was a bonus to get the DVD to see the live performances as well as to hear the band discuss the tour and themselves. "The Final Riot!" was released on November 24th, 2008 and was the group's second live album, the first being the limited release of "Live in the UK" which was released at the start of 2008.

It is a difficult choice, but I would have to pick "Riot!" as the best of the first three albums from Paramore. "All We Know" is a strong debut, but it has some weaker points, and "Brand New Eyes" has several of what I feel are their best songs, but it doesn't maintain such a high-level of quality on all of its tracks. This is a very impressive album, all the more so when one considers that it is only their second. It was released on June 12, 2007.

There are 15 tracks on the album, opening with "Born for This" and "That's What You Get" from their "Riot!" album. Next up is "Here We Go Again" from the album "All We Know Is Falling" before returning to their second album for live versions of "Fences", "Crushcrushcrush", "Let The Flames Begin", and "When It Rains". They then return to their first album for a nice version of "My Heart". Next up is a new piece called "Decoy" which fits in well with their other pieces. This is followed by "Pressure" from their first album, "For A Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic" and "We are Broken" from their second album. Finally they finish with "Emergency" from their first album followed by "Hallellujah" and "Misery Business" from "Riot!".

Overall, the group sounds good live, and their performance is very high-energy. On the other hand, putting out a live album based on two albums is a bit ambitious, even with the addition of a new piece ("Decoy") and the use of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as a lead-in for their own song by that title. Still, Paramore does a decent job of pulling it off. My biggest problem with the album is that there are too many sing-a-long sections. Most groups have the audience sing-a-long on one or maybe two pieces during a concert, but it happens on the majority of tracks on this album, though for very short periods. While this undoubtedly works in concert and isn't much of an issue when watching the DVD, it is distracting when listening to the audio CD.

The DVD is definitely a nice add-on, and gives a good feeling for watching the group in concert. I also enjoyed the documentary scenes, though I don't expect that I will watch that part of it much. The tracks are taken from the group's concert in Chicago on August 12, 2008. The band on this album is Haley Williams (lead vocals, keyboards), Josh Farro (lead guitar, backing vocals, bass guitar on "We Are Broken", Zac Farro (drums and percussion), Taylor York (rhythm guitar, glockenspiel on "We Are Broken"), and Jeremy Davis (bass guitar, percussion on "We Are Broken"). I'm rounding this one down to three stars, but it deserves three and a half.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See the customer review...

 

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Search Listmania!