Panic! At the Disco's recently released album has been skyrocketing in the charts, hitting #1 on iTunes charts on January 17th, just a day after it dropped. It's an interesting way for the performer, Brendon Urie, to take the spotlight and showcase his vocal range--including a rather impressive falsetto. Not quite ready to listen to it yet? That may not be the case after you see what's in store.
Victorious, the first song, was released as a single before the album and did fairly well. It's almost a party anthem, in essence. It's without a doubt, a song that can get you moving and can hype you up for anything that lies next. And it sets a very high bar energy-wise and impact-wise for the rest of the album. It fits really well on its own, and I personally cannot imagine it anywhere else in the order of the album other that song-number-one.
The first song ends and immediately we are met with an equally strong riff and the line "Alright, alright.....alright, alright," in a key we haven't really heard Brendon's voice before. Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time keeps up with the rather dance-like music, but with less of the party-anthem tone that Victorious has. If Victorious is the wild night, pre-gaming before the party, Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time is the party itself.
Hallelujah, another single previously released, is the third song. The energy isn't as high as the previous two, but that's not such a bad thing. This is a song I have listened to countless times, especially for Brendon holding that note right before the song gets two minutes in. The only bad thing I can say for this song is Brendon's dancing in the music video. Buddy....come on. You can do better.
The placement of the next one surprised me, but was completely fitting and perfect to follow Hallelujah. Emperor's New Clothes. Hallelujah alludes to heaven and holiness, and Emperor's New Clothes is the exact opposite. This was also a single, but here, instead of Brendon asking for forgiveness for his sins, he accepts them, and is transformed into this devil-like creature. The song is very stylistic and on the same energy-level as Hallelujah. I absolutely love how Brendon hits both the highs and lows in his vocal range here. This is one of my absolute favorites. (Watch the music video for a special nod to a previous album).
Ok, here's the title song. Death of a Bachelor. Where do I even begin with this song? How about where has this falsetto been the entire span of Panic's fame? Brendon has been hiding this from everyone and it is beautiful. I have nothing bad to say about this song. It gives me chills to the core to hear this voice get so deep and then so high. It's the embodiment of falling in love at a fancy 5-star restaurant, and yet is kind of bittersweet, if you listen to the lyrics.
Crazy=Genius follows, keeping in time with the jazz and trumpets that were introduced earlier and showcased in Death of a Bachelor. Death of a Bachelor is the fancy dinner, and Crazy=Genius is the dance floor. The energy is on it's way back up, not quite to the level of Victorious, but it's up there. The tune is reminiscent of a modern-twist to a 1920s charleston song. I appreciate the continuance of Brendon reaching extremes with his voice.
LA Devotee is the last single in the placement of the album. I don't quite think it fits here, but energy-wise it does. It has a pattern in it with it's catchy chorus and rhythmic repetition and riffs. This sounds a lot more like mainstream pop than anything Panic has ever done in my opinion. That's not a bad thing, and I think Brendon's voice is very versatile in the way that it can cover this many musical motifs and genres in the span of one album, and this song solidified that opinion.
Golden Days gives me chills at the chorus. The song begins flowing very smoothly from LA Devotee, and then the bridge and chorus hits, and I feel like I'm in 2007 again. There's a riff that's very reminiscent of the very early stuff that most pop-punk bands produced, which is so fitting when you consider that era is exactly what this song is about. And here Brendon is again holding a note that sends shivers down my spine. The energy is falling down but I would not make this song high energy. This is one of my favorites.
The Good, The Bad, and The Dirty begins with only Brendon's vocals. It's slightly jazzy, and slightly pop-punk, which is the motif in this album. This song is only a step up from the energy of the previous song, and while on it's own it would underwhelm me until it hits the second minute, in the context of the album I think it's a good fit.
House of Memories and we get Brendon's falsetto again. Brendon, why did you wait until 2016 to just pull this out like it's nothing? You can't do that. The energy is pretty on par with what I'd expect at this point. Brendon's voice is so perfect in this song. He goes from high to low from line to line and it feels very natural and is very nice on the ears, especially when it get combined with piano. This on it's own is a good song, and it only gets better in the context of the album.
Impossible Year starts off with a piano riff that would give me goosebumps on it's own, and then Brendon's voice comes in, and it's deep and dark, and you can hear how his voice has aged since Pretty. Odd., which is what that piano reminds me of. It's very classical-style music, again, a song you would hear at a fancy 5-star restaurant. There's trumpet and strings, and honestly, it's the perfect end to this album, but I can't help, as he sings "There's no sunshine, there's no you and me, there's no good times, this impossible year," if he singing about working alone, without his former bandmates, or what? What inspired this song that is honestly the embodiment of sobbing? That's my biggest question about this album.
It's very interesting to see how he works without the other former-members of Panic! At the Disco, and I'm very excited to see how this album is received by different people. It's out now on Spotify and iTunes, so go listen to it if you want to hear just how amazing it is for yourself.
