Alternative rock group Panic! at the Disco has had a rocky past few years, considered by many to be a one hit wonder band for their song “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies.” However, with the March 22 release of their third full length album, entitled Vices & Virtues, Panic! seems fully capable of once again garnering top-40 radio play.
The band’s first CD, the electronic dance rock album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, was met with critical and commercial success in 2005. However, after the initial success and touring following the album, the group decided to go in a different musical direction. Pretty.Odd., their second studio album, was released in 2008 and described by the band as much more “simple” and “mellow,” and either coincidentally or intentionally sounded highly akin to The Beatles in terms of instrument choice and musicality. This drastic change in sound, in addition to the band’s decision to drop the exclamation mark from their name, resulted in widespread fan outrage and disappointing sales.
The motivation behind this drastic change in style was revealed when, in July 2009, the band issued a statement that two of their four members were leaving. A portion of the statement said that “we’ve creatively evolved in different directions which has compromised what each of us want to personally achieve.” This difference in musical goals, explained in later interviews, was largely between Brendan Urie, the vocalist, pianist, and rhythm guitarist, and Ryan Ross, the songwriter and lead guitarist. Ross, apparently responsible for the band’s shift in direction between its first two albums, desired a continuation of their retro-rock direction, while Urie wanted the band to return to its poppier roots.
The departure of Ross along with the band’s bassist John Walker is apparently responsible for Panic! at the Disco– whose exclamation mark was immediately reinstated in light of the split– finally being free to create their best album to date.
Panic!’s eerie, circus carnival atmosphere is back. The drum-heavy, polished-guitar and bell-and orchestra-sprinkled sound that fans of the first album raved about is back in full form and more polished and passionate than A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out dared to dream. Gone are the days of Brendan Urie and Ryan Ross standing together at flower-wrapped microphones wearing tweed vests and cooing soft ballads about rabbits and summer rain, and how everything is beautiful; compared to Pretty.Odd., this album is furious in its passionate angst.
It is not, however, whiny. Panic! at the Disco suffers somewhat from a widespread perception of them as an “emo” band, largely due to their being on the same record label that has featured such groups as Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is…, and Cute Is What We Aim For. This stigma is largely underserved, as, while Urie has been known to sport the occasional sideswept bangs and black eyeliner, the band’s lyrics and sound are hardly akin to the confessional, hopeless melodrama that emo music is renowned for. The lyrics on Vices & Virtues, penned for the first time by Urie as opposed to Ross, stand out less for the scenarios which they portray and more for their brilliant poetry and metaphor. As subjects range from adultery to true love, Urie never fails to wail out the words with clearly enunciated conviction. It is, above all, Urie’s voice that continues to give Panic! the powerful accompaniment that its instruments deserve.
Stand out songs on Vices & Virtues include its premiere single “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” in addition to the tracks “Sarah Smiles” and “Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met…).” The full album is worthy of purchase from anyone who enjoyed “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies” back in the day, or anyone who just enjoys some synthy pop-rock.