Blink-182, Weezer Rock FreeFest

By the time Public Enemy shook the west stage crowd with Flavor Flav crowdsurfing during "Fight The Power" under the late afternoon sun, the musical momentum at the Virgin Mobile FreeFest on Sunday (Aug. 30) had been building for five hours. It didn't hit its peak, however, until nearly 8pm with Weezer's mainstage opening salvo, a cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." The 19,000 who'd roamed the fest's three stages since the morning were on their feet cheering for all of Weezer's 14-song set until the long, carnival-like day finally made the crowd lose steam near the end of the energetic hour-and-a-half from headliners Blink-182 that followed.

Virgin founder Richard Branson's 2009 iteration of his annual Maryland music festival had taken a turn toward the recession-minded; this year the one-day fest featured free tickets and V.I.P. treatment for concertgoers who had done charity work. The bands on the bill eschewed their paychecks to play. Under the trees at Merriweather Post Pavillion, this message was telegraphed by a number of well-choreographed stunts and a zillion corporate sponsors with logos and giveaway tents everywhere. Between a midway lined with Kyocera's "lay-off" lounge (odd, for a fest lineup that clearly drew folks under 25) and well-attended Gibson and Converse tents, Blink-182's Tom DeLonge and Flavor Flav guest bartending unannounced in the charity oriented "Karma Bar," the branded skydivers parachuting over the venue and landing on the pavilion roof, and of course the 19 artists playing the three stages, the 12-hour event had the feeling of one big, slick non-stop fair.

The fans may have been out there trying to snag all the swag on offer, but it was also clear that most came for the music. Even at 1 in the afternoon, St. Vincent caught a large, appreciative crowd on the west stage as she did a solo cover of the Beatles' "I Dig A Pony," just her voice and black stratocaster, before her band joined her again for "Laughing With a Mouth Full of Blood." Simultaneously, Holy Fuck's quartet of dark-haired guys formed a semi-circle and bent to creating their throbbing beat on the dance stage out in the woods to another clutch of thousands.

Mates of State warmed up the main stage with their easy, poppy sounds ("Fraud In The 80s"), but festivities under the big roof didn't seem to really get underway until pop-punk New Yorkers Taking Back Sunday took their turn around 3pm to a chorus of high-pitched screams. They crammed fifteen songs into their hour-long set, drawing from their new album "New Again" ("Sink Into Me," "Lonely Lonely") as well as each of their previous sets, 2002's "Tell All Your Friends" ("So Last Summer"), 2004's "Where You Want To Be" ("180 By Summer"), and 2006's "Louder Now" ("MakeDamnSure"). Later, the band told Billboard.com that the next single will be ""Where My Mouth Is."

Soon the west stage emerged as the more informal, though no less popular, place to get rocked. The Hold Steady brought waves of sturdy verse chorus verse to the west while on the pavilion stage Jet strutted through songs from new album, "Shaka Rock," which debuted on the Billboard 200 last week at No. 5. The Aussie rawkers got their biggest surge from the crowd, however, when they pulled out their most familiar song, the Stooges-ey "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" from 2003.


Public Enemy captivated on the west stage come 5pm, with solider-dancers in camouflage uniforms moving in lockstep behind Chuck D and Flavor Flav's tag team rapping. The audience was thrilled mainly to see Flav, as they had chanted his name earlier during his bartending stunt. He really milked the attention too: sticking around after the set to play a few beats on the drum kit, giving out stickers and CDs and talking extensively to the crowd as roadies tore down their equipment to make room for The National, who were up next. "Thank you for making me No. 1 on TV," Flav said. "And good luck at school!"


After press photographers had to be warned about bodies surfing over the barricade onto their heads, it was no surprise that Weezer and Blink-182, under a bright moon, enjoyed the fest's biggest crowd and biggest cheers. Weezer, dressed all in red, followed "War Pigs" with "Hash Pipe," the first of many singalongs during their hit laden set ("Undone," "Say It Ain't So," "Buddy Holly"). They closed with the Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go," and the band had the lyrics on a sheet taped next to the setlist at thier feet.

Next, Tom DeLonge launched Blink-182's set with "Dumpweed" and "Feeling This," peppering the set with jocular banter ("My name's so awesome it has it's own cock and balls!"). Blink got lots of singing along and plenty of hoots for drummer Travis Barker; the audience nearly drowned out the band during "What's My Age Again?." The crowd sustained their gleeful pushing and shouting for several songs, but as the band brought the fest to a close, just about everyone in sight seemed beat, facing a long drive home and a Monday morning. But hey, you could do much worse than to spend one of the last weekends of summer seeing free music under a perfect blue sky.

Source:Billboard.com

Collaborators Arctic Monkeys and Dizzee Rascal top albums and singles charts

Sometime collaborators Arctic Monkeys and Dizzee Rascal have topped the UK albums and singles respectively tonight (August 30).

Arctic Monkeys' third album 'Humbug' is Number One - it out-sold the rest of the Top Five combined - while the east London rapper has scored his third chart-topper in a row with 'Holiday'.

Both acts recorded 'Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend' together, and have released versions of the track on their own records.

The UK Top Ten singles are:

1. Dizzee Rascal – 'Holiday'
2. David Guetta Ft Akon – 'Sexy Chick'
3. Black Eyed Peas – 'I Gotta Feeling'
4. Calvin Harris – 'Ready For The Weekend'
5. Tinchy Stryder Ft Amelle – 'Never Leave You'
6. Little Boots – 'Remedy'
7. Beyonce – 'Sweet Dreams'
8. Esmee Denters – 'Outta Here'
9. Mr Hudson Ft Kanye West – 'Supernova'
10. Biffy Clyro – 'That Golden Rule'

The UK's Top Ten albums are:

1. Arctic Monkeys – 'Humbug'
2. David Guetta – 'One Love'
3. Calvin Harris – 'Ready For The Weekend'
4. Black Eyed Peas – 'The END'
5. Tinchy Stryder – 'Catch 22'
6. Paolo Nutini – 'Sunny Side Up'
7. Beyonce – 'I Am... Sasha Fierce'
8. Michael Jackson – 'The Essential'
9. James Morrison – 'Songs For You Truths For Me'
10. Florence And The Machine – 'Lungs'

Source:NME.com

Radiohead EP Release May Be Imminent

There is speculation that Radiohead will issue a new digital EP as early as Monday (Aug. 17), following the leak of a track online assumed to be a new song by the band.

Fan site At Ease reports that "These Are My Twisted Words" was posted on its message board and it has since appeared on YouTube. According to At Ease, the source file includes the title "Wall of Ice" and the release date Aug. 17.

Radiohead does not have a long-term label deal at present, releasing its 2007 set "In Rainbows" via its own Web site on a pay-what-you-want basis for the MP3 and following that with a full release in January 2008 via XL Recordings in the U.K and ATO/Red in the U.S.

In an interview with the Australian today (Aug. 14), multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood said: "Traditionally we'd be looking for 10 or 11 songs and putting them together, but that doesn't feel as natural as it used to, so I don't know what we'll do. Maybe we'll find four songs that work together and we'll call that a release. I don't know. No one knows how to release music any more, including us. How to put it together, in what format, how long. We're in the dark as much as anyone I think."

Radiohead is currently rehearsing for festival appearances including Leeds and Reading Festivals (Aug. 29 and 30) in the U.K.

Last week it issued the digital track "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)," with proceeds going to the British Legion, the U.K. charity that supports the armed forces and its veterans. Harry Patch, who died aged 111 on July 25, was Britain's last surviving veteran of World War I.

Source:billboard.com

Aerosmith Cancels Summer Tour

Aerosmith has canceled the remainder of its summer tour.

In a statement issued late Thursday, the band's publicist MSO said "it is with great regret" that the band is canceling the rest of its tour because of injuries that frontman Steven Tyler suffered when he fell off the stage during an Aug. 5 performance in South Dakota.

Tyler broke his left shoulder and needed 20 stitches in his head.

The statement said doctors have advised Tyler to take the time to properly recuperate from his injuries.

"Words can't express the sadness I feel for having to cancel this tour," guitarist Joe Perry said in the statement.

Perry said he wanted to thank the band's loyal fans for sticking by them, adding that the band hopes "we can get the Aerosmith machine up and running again as soon as possible."

The statement said ticket refunds for the remaining tour dates will be available at the place of purchase.

Earlier Thursday, Tyler released a lengthy statement thanking the Sturgis, S.D., police department and others who helped him after the fall. The 61-year-old also thanked the band's crew, the helicopter that evacuated him "for getting me outta there before I bled to death" and the doctors and nurses who treated him.

Tyler said thunderstorms delayed the band's set by an hour, then fuses blew and the audio systems failed shortly after the concert began.

"Well, I wasn't gonna go hide under the big top and play 'ROCK STAR' and wait for everything to be fixed," Tyler said. "I wanted to go out to the crowd to continue the show."

He said he was doing "the Tyler shuffle" when he slipped and fell off the edge of the stage.

"I just want to say that I' m plain grateful that I didn't break my neck," he said. "In truth, after thousands of live shows, falling off the edge four times ain't too bad."

Source:billboard.com

Alien Ant Farm, Saxon, Chester Bennington's Dead By Sunrise for Sonisphere

Alien Ant Farm, and Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington's new side-project Dead By Sunrise have all been added to the line-up for this year's Sonisphere, which takes place at Knebworth on August 1-2.

The bash is headlined by Metallica and Linkin Park, and fans of the latter will be able to see Dead By Sunrise perform their debut UK show at the festival, when they play the Apollo Stage on Saturday night.

Alien Ant Farm are expected to air their cover of the late Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal' during their show on the Apollo Stage, also on the Saturday.

The full line up for Sonisphere is:

Airbourne
Alice In Chains
Alien Ant Farm
Anthrax
Architects
Avenged Sevenfold
Blackhole
Blakfish
Bullet For My Valentine
Cancer Bats
Coheed And Cambria
Corey Taylor (Acoustic Set)
Dead By Sunrise
Dear Superstar
Dirty Little Rabbits
Exit 10
Fact
Failsafe
Feeder
Fighting With Wire
Fin
Flood Of Red
Fucked Up
Glamour Of The Kill
Heaven And Hell
Heaven’s Basement
Hundred Reasons
Killing Joke
Lamb Of God
Lauren Harris
Limp Bizkit
Linkin Park
Mastodon
Me VS Hero
Metallica
Nine Inch Nails
Oceansize
Pepper
Rise To Remain
Rolo Tomassi
Saxon
Skindred
Sylosis
Taking Back Sunday
Telegraphs
The Ataris
The Crave
The Dead Formats
The Defiled
The Used
The Wildhearts
Thunder
Twin Atlantic
Young Guns
Zebrahead

Source:NME.com

Alice In Chains Reunion 'Gives Way' To New Album, Tour

Armed with its first album in nearly 14 years, Alice in Chains singer-guitarist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney tell Billboard.com the band's new album "Black Gives Way To Blue," which is due out September 29 on Virgin/EMI, doesn't stray too far from the Seattle band's influential catalog.

"It's nice to sound like yourself," laughs Kinney. "It's not really that hard, actually. I know people are blown away that we really sound like ourselves, and I understand the apprehension, but it's not really that big a stretch to sound the way that you sound."

Adds Cantrell, "We were just hoping to make the best record we possibly could and we did that. Sean and I talk a lot about when you do a record you've been working on it a long time and you're pretty sick of it by the time somebody else hears it. You're already thinking of the next thing. And we're still listening to this. It's still like really exciting to listen to and that's really good."

The group has booked a brief European run in August with a month-long Stateside tour in September. Cantrell hints more legs are due to follow.

"We're not going to stop touring when the record comes out," Cantrell laughs. "That would be like an old pattern we're trying not to do again."

While the album's lead single hasn't been announced, new track "A Looking in View" is currently streaming on aliceinchains.com. Other new songs include "Your Decision" and "Check My Brain." Kinney says the vibe of the 11-track album, which is its first effort with new singer-guitarist William DuVall, continues in the Alice in Chains tradition of tackling different styles and sounds, from the hard rock nature of "Dirt" to the acoustic-minded "Jar of Flies."

As far as the recording of a new album, the band's first since its 1995 self-titled effort and the 2002 death of original singer Layne Staley due to a heroin/cocaine overdose, nothing was for certain when the band members reunited in 2006.

"It's been a really slow process," Kinney says. "As long as it felt genuine and it came from the right place, and we all were cool with it, then we'd take another little step. Two years ago we really weren't talking about doing a record. We were on tour and we've been playing and jelling together and Will (DuVall) was getting incorporated into how things are going down. But we always had a jam space backstage where riffs and stuff started happening."

Finally, both Alice in Chains members said the spirit of Staley remains with the band. In fact, without going into specifics, there apparently is material on "Black Gives Way To Blue" that deals with their former singer.

"He's always a part of my everyday life," Kinney says. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of him. And there's a lot to address, with all of that stuff coming to the forefront. A lot has happened since 1995, a lot has happened in our lives and we've never talked about it or discussed it publicly. So some of that is what's addressed here. That's the way we operate, it's about what really happened in life. We're not really the fast cars and chicks songs. It's basically what's happened in life, but a lot has happened since the last record. And it's on this record."

source:billboard.com

Slayer Ready For 'World Painted Blood'

Headbanging icons Slayer have slotted a "late summer" release for their ninth album, "World Painted Blood," following the quartet's co-headlining slot on this year's Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival. It follows 2006's "Christ Illusion," which itself came five years after its predecessor, "God Hates Us All."

"I figured, and I'm sure the other guys figured, that if there was another five-year gap this would probably be our last record," guitarist Kerry King tells Billboard.com. "If we're going in five-year gaps, that means two records in 10 years. I think we all didn't want to wait that long. Not that we didn't have ideas -- we toured, put out DVDs and box sets and had a lot of other stuff going on."

Slayer recorded "World Painted Blood" in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman (Metallica, Slipknot, the (International) Noise Conspiracy), who was recommended to the band by executive producer Rick Rubin. An October 2008 session yielded the punk-flavored "Psychopathy Red," which was released as a limited-edition red vinyl 7-inch in April for Record Store Day, then Slayer returned to the studio from January to March. The group finished 13 tracks -- six by King, seven by fellow guitarist Jeff Hanneman -- 11 of which will appear on the album.

"I like when Jeff writes as much as he did for this record," says King. "When you have one guy doing most of the writing you only get one perspective. A lot of Jeff's stuff has a very punky vibe this time; the stuff I write sounds thrashy but with a hint of punk, and when Jeff writes the stuff is more punk with a hint of thrash. It works together well."

"World Painted Blood" also marked the first time Slayer created material in the studio rather than coming in with songs fully prepared -- a process that made King skeptical at first.

"I was kind of thinking, 'Man, this could be the first record in a long time that's got a little bit of filler,' " he acknowledges. "But I think every song came out great. I was concerned some would sound similar, and every one is completely different. It's cool how it worked out." Song titles include "Beauty Through Order," "Unit 731," "Playing with Dolls," "Public Display of Dismemberment," "Americon" and the title track.


King expects that Slayer will only play the already widely disseminated "Psychopathy Red" during its Mayhem Tour sets when the tour starts on July 10. King says some Australian dates are "on the bubble," as well as shows in Europe and Japan before the group returns to North America in early 2010.

Source:billboard.com

Angels & Airwaves' Prog Rock 'Love' Album, Film To Be Released For Free

Even as he prepares for blink-182's summer reunion tour, guitarist Tom DeLonge is deeply ensconced in the next project by his other band, Angels & Airwaves -- an album and film project called "Love" that should be out before the end of the year.

DeLonge tells Billboard.com that "Love" -- which will be released for free thanks to corporate underwriting -- is "the biggest release of my life, the pinnacle of my creativity" and likens it to Pink Floyd's "The Wall" in the scope of its ambition. "It's super conceptual and highbrow in many ways, very artistic, very Stanley Kubrick," he says. "But it's not a rock opera. It's a very modern version of what could happen when you blend the film industry and the music industry together in a very, very arty, kind of cool way with professionals involved all along the path."

DeLonge says the "Love" movie -- which began life as a documentary about Angels & Airwaves recording its 2006 debut album, "We Don't Need to Whisper," and expanded from there -- "blurs the line between full-fledged live action and documentary with these epic kind of...meditative sequences where the sound design and the music and the picture all bend together to create a sonic experience as much as a visual one." The script, meanwhile, "tells a story of human life and destiny but at the same time really makes usual moments of life extraordinary. It's a circular narrative in many ways, where it kind of sums up the human race in a time capsule."

The music of "Love," DeLonge says, will have a prog-rock kind of flavor. "It's like blending Radiohead and U2 together with these kind of Pink Floyd movements," he explains. "Things happen unpredictably and take you to these epic soundscapes. It's very much in the spirit of Angels & Airwaves, but it sounds way, way more thought-out and way more ambitious."

DeLonge says the group is still figuring out mechanisms for delivering the film and album and are also planning a tour to support the project. All of this, of course, is going on while he rehearses for the blink-182 tour, which begins July 23 in Las Vegas.


"It's gonna be a really busy time -- It's fucking crazy, actually. I don't know what I'm doing," DeLonge says with a laugh. "But I'm totally down and excited to figure out how to make it all happen, 'cause in my life both of these (bands) can be a very necessary thing."

Source:billboard.com

Aerosmith To Play Entire Classic Albums On Summer Tour

Aerosmith plans to play more than one album in its entirety on tour this summer.

The Boston rockers performed all of their 1975 classic "Toys in the Attic," save for the album-closing "You See Me Crying," during the first two concerts of the trek and issued an official statement to that effect on Monday. But guitarist Joe Perry also told Reuters during the weekend that the group plans to switch in a couple of weeks and play 1976's "Rocks" in its entirety. He did not say whether the group would stay with "Rocks" or alternate the albums in their set for the duration of the tour -- or even work in another of the band's albums in its entirety.

Perry also said that frontman Steven Tyler found it too difficult to sing "You See Me Crying" right now but is working on it and may add the song in future shows.

Aerosmith comes home on Tuesday to play at the Comcast Center in suburban Boston, when ZZ Top will jump on the bill for the remainder of the trek, which wraps up Sept. 16 in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Perry also predicted an early July return for guitarist Brad Whitford, who sidelined after surgery to relieve internal bleeding after hitting his head while getting out of his Ferrari earlier this month. Perry said the bleeding "built up pressure and gave (Whitford) this whoopin' headache. He's not prone to getting migraines, so knew something was wrong. He went right in, they did what they had to do, and now he's getting better."


Whitford currently plans to return for the July 7 show in Raleigh, N.C. Bobby Schneck, who's worked with Green Day and Weezer, is currently filling in.

As previously reported, when Aerosmith hits the road this summer, fans in Rhode Island and New Hampshire will have a new way to win backstage passes, front-row seats and an extra few million dollars to spend on concessions. The group and singer Steven Tyler's publisher, Primary Wave Music, struck a deal with the gaming technology company GTECH to launch a band-branded series of lottery games based on "Dream On" and other songs from Aerosmith's catalog.

Source : Billboard.com

Download Festival headliners pull out

Download Festival's Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage headliners Ghost Of A Thousand have pulled out of this weekend's (June 12-14) event.

The Brighton band were due to headline the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage on the Saturday (June 13) of the festival, but have pulled out due to urgent family matters.

A statement from the band apologised to fans, saying: "We are all very upset and will make it up to everyone that wanted to see the band very soon, thanks for your understanding on this. We'll see you soon."

NME.COM will be bringing you coverage of all of today's highlights including the action from both the Download and the Isle Of Wight festivals at NME.COM/festivals. Head there now for all the best news, blogs and pictures straight from the festival sites.

Ghost Of A Thousand's forthcoming headline tour is unaffected, and the following dates are scheduled to go ahead as planned:

Liverpool Barfly (July 1)
Carlisle The Brickyard (2)
Glasgow King Tuts (3)
York Barfly (4)
Sheffield Corporation (5)
Birmingham Eddies (6)
Cardiff Barfly (7)
Plymouth White Rabbit (8)
Exeter Cavern (9)
Cumbria The Canteen (11)
Milton Keynes Crawford Arms (13)
Oxford Bar Academy (14)
Southampton The Joiners (15)
London Barfly (16)

Source:NME.com

Green Day Takes Top Spot On Billboard 200

Green Day bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with "21st Century Breakdown," selling 215,000 in an abbreviated three-day sales week. The Reprise/Warner Bros. set saw an off-cycle release on Friday, May 15 in order to more closely align its world-wide street dates. Nielsen SoundScan's tracking week ends on Sunday.

"Breakdown" gives the band its second chart-topper, following 2004's "American Idiot," which debuted with 267,000 after a normal-length's week of sales. Both "Breakdown" and "Idiot" were hampered by not being stocked in Wal-Mart stores, as the big box giant declines to stock albums that carry parental advisory stickers. (Neither album was available in an edited version.)

"Breakdown's" sales figure will perhaps grow on next week's chart, when it will have a full seven-day week's worth of sales reflected on the tally. However, Eminem's "Relapse" -- which was released yesterday (May 19) -- will presumably give the rapper his fifth consecutive No. 1 album.

In non-Green Day chart news this week, Cam'Ron's "Crime Pays" (Diplomatic Man/Asylum) cashes in with a No. 3 debut, selling 43,000 copies. That gives the rapper, who has been absent from the chart since 2006, his fifth top 10 album. Paul Wall's "Fast Life" (SwishaHouse/Asylum) enters at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 with 22,000. His last set, "Get Money Stay True," bowed at No. 8 with 92,000 in 2007. He topped the tally with "The Peoples Champ" in 2005 when that set opened at No. 1 with 176,000. Roots rock singer/songwriter Steve Earle achieves the highest charting album of his career as his "Townes" set (New West) bows at No. 19 with 18,000. The effort is comprised of 15 songs written by the late Townes Van Zandt.

New rock band Parachute lands at No. 40 with its debut album "Losing Sleep" (Mercury), starting with 11,000 solely from sales through the iTunes Store. The digital retailer got the set one week early -- all other physical and digital retailers bowed the album yesterday (May 19). Not coincidentally, the set's song "Under Control" was promoted as a free single of the week in the iTunes Store, which likely garnered a lot of consumers to snap up the economically priced $6.99 album.


Elsewhere in the top 10 this week, the "Hannah Montana: The Movie" soundtrack (Walt Disney) holds at No. 2 with 68,000 (down 17%); Lady GaGa's "The Fame" (Streamline/KonLive/Cherrytree/Interscope) moves up two slots to No. 4 with 41,000 (up less than 1%); Rascal Flatts' "Unstoppable" (Lyric Street) slips one position to No. 5 with 33,000 (down 44%); Bob Dylan's "Together Through Life" (Columbia) falls one rung to No. 6 with 31,000 (down 40%); Taylor Swift's "Fearless" (Big Machine) stays put at No. 7 with 30,000 (down 25%); Chrisette Michele's "Epiphany" (Def Jam) falls from No. 1 last week to No. 8 this week with 29,000 (down 65%); Rick Ross' "Deeper Than Rap" (Maybach/Slip-N-Slide/Def Jam) falls four slots to No. 9 with 26,000 (down 24%) and Ciara's "Fantasy Ride" (LaFace) rounds out the top 10, at No. 10 (26,000; down 68%), after its No. 3 opening last week.

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending May 17) totaled 5.82 million units, down 10.5% compared to the sum last week (6.51 million) and down 21.6% compared to the same sales week of 2008 (7.43 million). Year to date album sales stand at 136.4 million, down 13.3% compared to the same total at this point last year (157.3 million).

Source:billboard.com

Paramore Road Testing 'Mature' New Sound

Paramore's third album is finished, and the group is chomping at the bit to play the new material -- even though most of it will stay on ice until the as-yet-untitled set is released this fall.

"It's hard going back to your old stuff after we've been strictly focusing on new material for the past three months," drummer Zac Farro tells Billboard.com. "You're excited about (the album) 'cause it's done and you just want to go out and play those songs. But there's a lot that has to be done to set it up, so it doesn't come out for awhile and you're just going back and playing your other two records when you just want to play all the new stuff."

Farro says that Paramore is including two songs from the new album -- the follow-up to 2007's platinum "Riot," recorded in Los Angeles with Rob Cavallo producing -- in its opening sets for No Doubt, including the likely first single "Ignorance."

"A lot of people have told us that (the album) is a very mature sound," Farro says. "I don't think we were aiming to be just more mature or whatever, but that's really cool to hear. I think there's a lot of new directions on the record. It sounds more like our live show to me, and the songs are just a lot deeper and have a lot more going on and everybody's parts are really special."

As for pressure to follow up "Riot's" success, Farro says that "there's always gonna be pressure. We tried to push that aside and just make a record we loved. The fans might not like it, and they might think it's too different and whatnot, but at the end of the day we love it and that's the best we can do."


The drummer expects Paramore to do "some heavy touring, like we always do" once the new album is released. But don't expect to see the group, whose "Decode" was a hit from last year's "Twilight" soundtrack, to be haunting subsequent editions of the series.

"We don't want to be, like, the vampire house band," he explains. "It was really fun to be a part of that, and great exposure, but I think 'Twilight' was it for us. We don't want to seem like we're trying to get in every single movie they put out."