Source: Promo Image
The rock world was up in arms last month with the shock departure of Paramore founder member and longtime bassist, Jeremy Davis. That got us thinking, should a band with next to no original members still go by the same name? If you want to get all pedantic about it, they’re are technically not the same band. However, some of the biggest names in rock are guilty of members coming and going: Slipknot, Nightwish and Gallows just to name a few, but where should the line be drawn, should replacement heavy bands still claim to be the same band as they were before?
Obviously, sometimes the reasons for replacement members can be the result of great tragedy. For instance, the death of Slipknot bass player Paul Gray in 2010 shocked us all, but eventually did lead to a replacement having to be brought in. The same happened with Joey Jordison in 2013, which left Slipknot with two new members by the time of their immense 2015 comeback with .5 The Gray Chapter. Frontman Corey Taylor has gone on record stating that Paul was an incredibly large part of the Slipknot songwriting process, having always contributed extremely creative material to their music across their previous 4 albums, so it could be argued that the music hasn’t been the same since his death could it not? Personally, we believe Slipknot to be more than a band, but a frame of mind. An understanding. With Corey at the helm, Slipknot’s rosters has indeed had a few alternations, but they will always be nine, and will always be Slipknot. Their reasons for being a band have remained the same, so why should their identity ever change?
Now, Slipknot was a good starting point. However, there a more bands out there that take this subject to greater extremes. Take Gallows for example, they parted ways with their original frontman Frank Carter in 2011, and Frank took a lot of the band with him. His unique vocal style is what brought us to love Gallows, defining them as British hardcore punk. Now for me, the Gallows we loved has gone, with Wade MacNeil now on vocals, Gallows have become a different band entirely as far as we’re concerned. Don’t confusing my last statement with bashing what Gallows have become, although we do think they have evolved into something vastly different from where they started off.
So let’s go back to what started this off, Paramore. 10 years on from their debut album All We Know Is Falling and lead singer Hayley Williams is the only original member left standing, not only that but now Paramore is reduced to mearly a two piece? Now how has that come to be? Maybe through differences in the bands sound? You only have to look at the discography to see that. Maybe it’s an age thing we don’t now. However, we don’t believe that Paramore even exist anymore. Not just because we kind of drew the line at Brand New Eyes, but the band are literally not there. Hayley is brilliant, but Paramore is not a two piece act. We really do think that the identity of Paramore should be put to bed, and remembered for what it was. Hayley should continue as a solo artist, with her remaining Paramore bandmate Taylor York playing as part of her backing band. The fundamentals for Paramore to continue just aren’t there anymore, anyone who’s seen them live before wouldn’t feel the same seeing them live now.
