Panic at the Disco has dropped the exclamation point in their name and along with it, dropped the teen angst circus act that made them so heavily criticized by listeners.
“A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out,” the band’s first full length CD that skyrocketed them into stardom, was criticized by people outside the scene as sounding like Fall Out Boy and praised by fans of the scene for being quite different than the typical pop/punk that was being released. Their newest album, “Pretty.Odd,” has solidified them as the latter.
The album kicks off with the laughable introductory song, “We’re So Starving,” which tells listeners: “Oh how it’s been so long, we’re so sorry we’ve been gone. We were busy writing songs for you. You don’t have to worry ’cause we’re still the same band.” Good joke Panic. The song is in no way telling of how the rest of the album sounds and should frankly be disregarded.
The next song, which has already taken over the airwaves as the band’s first single is “Nine in the Afternoon.” The song flows well and makes for a great first single. The main problem with the song is the lyrics, “Your eyes are the size of the moon cause it’s nine in the afternoon.”
After the upbeat “Nine in the Afternoon,” the band slows things down for the majority of the album. The only other songs that seem like they will be radio friendly are “The Green Gentleman,” which is slow paced but still has the catchy chorus that will succeed on the radio and “Pas De Cheval,” a song with a huge chorus that easily gets stuck in your head.
Other stand out tracks on the album include, “The Piano Knows Something I Don’t,” which starts out very slow, but give it a chance, because after the one minute mark it becomes entirely worth the listen. “Folkin’ Around,” demonstrates the versatility of the band with its very country sounding style.
If there were one major influence on this album it would be none other than The Beatles. The band even recorded the album at Abbey Road Studios in London. The production on the CD is extravagant with horns, bells and strings all making the songs much fuller. While Panic should be praised for maturing in their sound, they should be criticized for recording a far more boring record than what their potential shows.
Songs to Download: “The Piano Knows Something I Don’t”
Our Grade:
B
