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20:12 · 3,992 words of transcript · watch on YouTube
- The structural problem was there before the first record. Atlantic signed Hayley Williams alone, envisioning a solo pop artist, and she resisted because she wanted to be in a band rather than the next Avril Lavigne.
▶ 00:01:30
- The label nearly cut the band concept entirely after the first demos, with members as young as 14, and only new songs changed their mind.
▶ 00:02:24
- Jeremy Davis quit days after they arrived in Orlando to record, giving two hours' notice, so the debut was built around his leaving, down to the title All We Know Is Falling and the empty couch on the cover.
▶ 00:02:39
- Riot is still their best selling record at over 3 million copies, peaking at 15 on the Billboard 200 with a Best New Artist nomination, carried by Misery Business, That's What You Get and Crush Crush Crush.
▶ 00:04:42
- A relationship between Williams and Josh Farro had started before the debut and ended during the Riot touring cycle, and the fallout fed directly into the tension the band spent the next two albums working through.
▶ 00:05:20
- By early 2008 they had cancelled shows and nearly broken up after halting a European tour, which is when the Farro brothers first started thinking about leaving.
▶ 00:06:50
- Writing Brand New Eyes was described as being in a torture chamber, with Williams sitting on songs she knew had to come out and no idea how to sing them to the people they were about.
▶ 00:09:07
- When the Farro brothers left in December 2010 they published their own account days later, saying the focus on Williams came from her managers and parents, and pointing out that she was the only member signed to Atlantic.
▶ 00:10:28
- The self-titled 2013 album was meant to feel like a new band's debut, 17 tracks shifting toward new wave and pop rock, and it became their first number one with Ain't It Fun winning best rock song at the Grammys.
▶ 00:12:28
- The low point came after Davis left for the third time and sued over credits and revenue, with Williams going through depression and divorce and privately quitting, leaving Taylor York as the only member. She says the band would be over without him.
▶ 00:13:13