"Monster" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band formed in Franklin, Tennessee, in 2004. Since 2017, the band's lineup includes lead vocalist Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of ...

. It was released on June 7, 2011 for digital download. It is also the second single from the ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' OST, which was released on June 14, 2011. It is the first song to not feature former band members

Josh Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J *Big Josh, stage name for America ...

and Zac Farro, who separated from the band in 2010. The song won Choice Rock Track at the

2011 Teen Choice Awards The 2011 Teen Choice Awards ceremony, hosted by Kaley Cuoco, aired live on August 7, 2011, at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California. This was the first time that the ceremonies were aired live since the 2007 show. Ratings The show ...

. On March 24, 2016, the song was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), for sales exceeding 500,000.

Taylor York Taylor Benjamin York (born December 17, 1989) is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Paramore. Biography York was born the youngest of three boys on December 17, 1989, and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. His ...

performed the drum parts for the track.

Composition and release

James Montgomery of MTV noted the number of times that the word "you" is used in the lyrics of "Monster" because of its subjectivity. He suggested that the song is about former members of the group Josh and Zac Farro, since they left the band in 2010 and it is the first track without them. According to Jon Blistein of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', the song has elements of grunge, such as loud-soft dynamics, big vocals, and loud, crunchy guitars. Around the release of "Monster", Williams commented on the track: "We're back for the attack! And we are so excited to be a part of the Transformers album. Tell your friends… Paramore is still a band." The song impacted radio on June 21, 2011. A video companion to "Monster" was recorded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and was uploaded to YouTube on July 18 . The single cover was described by Becky Bain, as containing the three members of Paramore,

Hayley Williams Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American singer and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist and only constant member of the rock band Paramore, which she co-founded in 2004. Williams was born and raised in Meridian, Miss ...

Jeremy Davis Jeremiah Clayton Davis (born February 8, 1985), also known as Jerm, is an American musician, songwriter, and rapper. He was the bassist for the Rock music, rock band Paramore until his departure in December 2015. Early life Jeremiah Clayton Dav ...

and Taylor York, standing in a dark tunnel where a light at the end faces the band.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Shane Drake Shane C. Drake is an American music video director and producer originally from Redding, California. He has directed videos for many artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Avril Lavigne, Trivium, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at th ...

, who has directed some of Paramore's previous music videos. On July 15, the band's official website posted a video via YouTube of a 19-second clip previewing the music video. It was premiered on MTV.com July 18 at 12:00 Midnight and at 6am on MTV 2. The video opens with Hayley, Taylor and Jeremy unconscious and floating on water. Hayley opens her eyes and begins to sing as the video cuts to the band performing in a concrete room while kicking and punching the walls. Other scenes show each of the band members alone and wandering through an abandoned hospital building. The kicking and punching from the band performing causes violent explosions around the members in the hospital and all three proceed to run away. The three eventually meet up in a foyer and continue running away together before ducking into the concrete room in which they were performing earlier. The video was shot in an abandoned hospital called "Linda Vista" in Los Angeles, California. Linda Vista Hospital is known for its many appearances on ghost-hunting television shows. According to Hayley Williams "It was not just good acting, it was fear. Genuine fear."

Commercial performance

Its first appearance was week 24/2011 in the UK Singles Top 75 and New Zealand Top 40. Its peak position was number 21, on the UK Singles Top 75, it stayed there for 1 week, and 23 in New Zealand Top 40. "Monster" also debuted and peaked at #36 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2011 singles 2011 songs Paramore songs Fueled by Ramen singles Warner Records singles Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo Songs written by Hayley Williams Songs written by Taylor York Music videos directed by Shane Drake Songs from Transformers (film series)