Hi, I’m Stellar, and welcome to Stellar in Neverland, where we talk about music. We talk about other things on occasion, but mostly music. I was gonna do this post last week, but I skipped for reasons I talked about in that brief post I did last week. But now I’m here, and I’m going to review Pray for the Wicked by US alternative-rock-electropop-whatever-you-want-to-call-them band Panic! At The Disco. I haven’t done an album review since what, December? Plus I get to talk about a band who’ve pretty much defined my teenage years thus far, like it or not.
Before we talk about Pray for the Wicked, let’s talk about the band and how they’ve evolved. Originally I was going to write this lengthy intro, but halfway through I decided: Stellar, you don’t need all this exposition. I’ll sum up each album in a short paragraph instead.
A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out: It came out in 2005 and was polarizing to critics but beloved by fans. It went double platinum and is probably their most successful album, containing their biggest hit “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”. I was three at the time, so I can’t speak from experience, but I know Panic! were a love-it-or-hate-it thing early on in their career. Some thought OMG I LOVE PANIC! BRENDON URIE IS SO DREAMY!, and some thought oh my god you guys panic! at the disco is so gay. I discovered them years after this album came out, so I fell in love with the music before anything else. This album is a weird mix of electronica-infused pop punk and baroque-inspired pop. I love it and consider it my favorite Panic! album. Six of the album’s thirteen tracks are in my top 20 for the band, which is more than any of their other albums. (Which six, you ask? READ THE LIST.)
Pretty. Odd.: In 2008, the band dropped the exclamation point in their name (Panic! At The Disco became Panic At The Disco) and switched up their style. They went for a more psychedelic-Beatles-inspired thing on this album. It bamboozled everyone and wasn’t as successful as their previous album, but now it’s something of a cult classic. I think this album is good, but I prefer most other Panic! albums because this one’s style just isn’t for me. However, it has a couple songs (there are two in my top 10, and “Nine in the Afternoon” is pretty awesome too) that I love. While touring for Pretty. Odd., guitarist and songwriter Ryan Ross, as well as bassist Jon Walker, left the band due to disagreements over how their next album would sound.
Vices & Virtues: After Pretty. Odd., lead singer Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith continued releasing music as Panic! At The Disco. They took the band in a new direction: timeless-sounding, vintage-esque power pop. They released Vices & Virtues in 2011, and it was kind of a commercial failure. I think it’s probably their most underrated album and I’d recommend it to anyone who likes good, solid pop music. It does have “Let’s Kill Tonight”, which I’d consider one of their worst songs, but everything else ranges from pretty good to awe-inspiring. The only complaint I have is that the bonus tracks should’ve made the album proper, because they’re all pretty awesome. In a perfect world, “Bittersweet” would be track 2 instead of “Let’s Kill Tonight”, but I digress. One last thing worth mentioning about the Vices & Virtues era is that the band got a new bassist, Dallon Weekes. He originally joined only as a touring member, but he got promoted early in the era.
Too Weird to Live, Too Rare To Die!: With their 2013 album Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, the theme was Vegas-inspired 80s synthpop. This style appeals to my tastes the most of all the styles they’ve tried on. 80s throwback pop (both songs from the 80s and more recent songs that sound like they are) is like crack for me, so I really enjoy this album. It’s more mainstream, but it’s not really a sell-out, as songs like “Nicotine” and “This Is Gospel” are still traditional Panic! pop-rock. The thing that really appeals to me about this album is how cohesive it is, and it does what it tries to perfectly. Plus it has a little song called “Collar Full”, which may not be the best song they’ve ever made, but it’s certainly my favorite in their discography. This era brought the band back to success, with the album peaking at #2 and songs like “Miss Jackson” and “This Is Gospel” being some of their most famous songs.
Death of a Bachelor: In 2015, both Spencer Smith and Dallon Weekes left the band (the former left for good, the latter was just demoted back to a touring member), meaning Panic! at the Disco is basically just a Brendon Urie solo project at this point. With the band’s 2016 album, Death of a Bachelor, Brendon had complete creative control, so he made an album that sounds like the lovechild of Frank Sinatra and Queen. It’s my least favorite album of theirs, because sounds less like a cohesive album and more like a collection of random songs. It’s all over the place sonically and lyrically, and at times (specifically the song “Victorious”), it can be pretty obnoxious. But it does have its moments (like “House of Memories” and “LA Devotee”), and it brought them a level of success they hadn’t seen since the Fever era. They got their first #1 album and Grammy nomination, and I heard their songs on the radio a lot more than before. I became a fan of the band about two months after Death of a Bachelor came out. I had gotten into Fall Out Boy, the band who signed Panic!, a few months prior, and one of my friends played me a few songs from DoaB that I ended up loving.
I haven’t heard any of the songs from Pray for the Wicked yet because I purposely avoided them for this post. This is the first First Impressions post that can truly be called a First Impression, because I have heard about 30 seconds of “Say Amen” and NOTHING ELSE. What do I expect? With Brendon having creative control once again and with the success of Death of a Bachelor, I’m expecting it to be similar in style to that album. I’m also hoping Pray for the Wicked is better than Death of a Bachelor because it’s his second time doing this, which means he can learn from what he did wrong on that album (lack of cohesion, some songs are loud and obnoxious) and make improvements. Lastly, Brendon had a stint on Broadway last year, appearing in the musical Kinky Boots, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some show-tune elements come into play, nor would I be surprised if the Broadway training helped Brendon’s (already great) vocals improve even more. As per the usual, I’m going to talk about each song on the album and give each a score out of 10. When that’s finished, I’ll give some final statements on the album as a whole, score the whole thing out of 10, and list my favorite and least favorite tracks. So I’m done with my rambling: here is Pray for the Wicked by Panic! At The Disco. At least in my opinion. You might disagree and that’s fine!
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| On an unrelated note, I think this album cover is pretty sweet. I like how it looks like he's a giant, towering over the city buildings, and I think the hand-painted font is cool. Not my favorite Panic! album art (I'll always be partial to that of Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die), but it's pretty cool. Panic! At The Disco's album covers are pretty consistently awesome for me. |
1. “(F**k a) Silver Lining”
I believe this song and “Say Amen” were the first two songs released from the album, but I haven’t really listened to either until now. The intro to this one caught me really off-guard. It has a slow, dreamy, oldies-inspired intro with a deep voice that says “Ode to the old and to the new, we rededicate this song to you”...and then Brendon Urie starts dropping f-bombs. It’s a weird intro, but the song itself is pretty good. It wouldn’t sound out of place on Death of a Bachelor, and the chorus (especially the “it’s just cherries on top” part) are insanely catchy. The lyrics are about how he wants nothing but the best in life, and they have a playful shoutout to Beyonce and her Lemonade album. One thing worth mentioning is Brendon’s insane high notes in the song’s outro. The band’s music as a whole can be love-it-or-hate-it depending on your tastes, but I think Brendon Urie’s talents are undeniable. 8/10
2. “Say Amen (Saturday Night)”
This was Pray for the Wicked’s lead single, and I’ve heard maybe 30 seconds of it. Do you ever have a song where it’s like, you like it a lot but there’s that one element that prevents you from loving it? That’s “Say Amen” for me. The melody in the verses has a Broadway-ish feel that I’m totally on board with, the chorus is bombastic and fun, and Brendon sounds great as always. That one high note at the end is awesome. This might be one of their best songs ever...if it weren’t for that damn high-pitched sample that appears throughout the track. Apparently it’s sampled from a song called “Aphasia” by the Budos Band, and it just gets on my nerves. It’s annoying and repetitive, and I’d enjoy the song so much more if it wasn’t there. That sample prevents me from wholeheartedly embracing the track, but I can’t get too mad at it since it doesn’t take up the entire song. Still, it would’ve been a 9 or higher without that sample. 7.5/10
3. “Hey Look Ma, I Made It”
As you can probably guess from the title, this song is Brendon celebrating his success in the music industry. Lyrically it’s sort of a sequel to “Silver Lining”. There are some good lines here, like “In the garden of evil, I’m gonna be the greatest”, but there are some lyrics where I can’t help but think, “Brendon, you know I love you, but why would you write that?” The two big ones are “I’m a hooker selling songs and my pimp’s a record label” and “If you lose, boo-hoo”, which are corny and juvenile, respectively. This one has a catchy chorus, but it’s not as catchy as the previous two. Sonically, I would describe it as a lavish, jazzy party. I can dig it. This is probably my least favorite of the three songs I’ve heard, but it’s still fine enough. Blame (or whatever the positive version of “blame” is) Brendon’s confident vocals for holding the song together. 6.5/10
4. “High Hopes”
This was the second single released from the album. It’s sort of like “That Green Gentleman” from Pretty. Odd. in the way it’s so damn positive and just puts a smile on your face. I’d say the message of this song boils down to “dream big and expect the best, cuz then you’ll get the best”. It’s inspiring to see how Brendon’s come so far from dreaming big, and it can give you the motivation to make your dreams come true like he did. The chorus is really catchy even if it does feel like it repeats a lot, and the lyrics are pretty good. My favorite line is “Burn your biographies, rewrite your history”, which is not only good advice, but also makes sense in the context of the band, who is constantly rewriting their history and changing. For lack of a better term, this one’s a bop, and I hope it does well on the charts. If it gets the right promotion, it could be really successful for the band. 8.5/10
5. “Roaring 20s”
Time to be honest: the first ten seconds or so of this song are unbearable. It starts off with this loud, obnoxious, and extremely high-pitched saxophone that hurts my ears. Other than that, the song’s pretty good. Lyrically, the song is about Brendon’s Kinky Boots stint and the anxiety he felt going on Broadway. It’s a good example of that show-tune vibe I was expecting the album to provide, complete with a dramatic tempo change. I like how the “roaring 20s” in the title refers to both the 1920s, the decade which the song sounds like, and how Brendon was ending his twenties when he took on the Kinky Boots role. There’s also a reference to the book Lord of the Flies (which I read in English last year!) and some good SAT words like “tourniquet” and “inebriate”. Once again, Brendon’s vocals are probably the highlight, because his vocal style is just naturally really good for Broadway-style music and he approaches the song with tons of gusto. This isn’t one of the better songs I’ve heard from the album (because of that damn intro), but it’s still solid. 7/10
6. “Dancing’s Not a Crime”
For every album I listen to, I try to guess which song’s gonna be the best based on the title. My guess for Pray for the Wicked was “Dancing’s Not a Crime”, and honestly...I’m not sure if I’m right or not. Let’s start out with the positives. Brendon sounds great as always, dipping into his falsetto in the chorus and generally sounding like he’s having a blast. I like the catchy, energetic chorus and the use of horns. I also like the main lyric “dancing’s not a crime unless you do it without me” and how the song is just a light-hearted banger you don’t really need analyze to enjoy. Sometimes you just need one of those. However, there are some negatives. The biggest one is the pitch-shifted vocals that appear throughout. They kind of give me flashbacks to “Young and Menace” by Fall Out Boy, if I’m being honest. It’s not as bad as that song (Can any song use pitch-shifted vocals to a worse effect than “Young and Menace”?), but the fact that I’m even suggesting it to be in the same ballpark as the song I have indirectly called FOB's worst ever should raise a few eyebrows. Another problem I have is the part where he says something about “throwing shade”. I’ve never spoken about this, but using modern slang in music is a pet peeve of mine. It makes the artist sound like they’re trying too hard and it will inevitably come off as dated ten years from now. So all in all, “Dancing’s Not a Crime” has a lot of good qualities but some really bad qualities that prevent me from giving it anything higher than a 6.5/10.
7. “One of the Drunks”
And we go from one song which uses pitch-shifting to its disadvantage to another. This album’s making me realize that I kind of hate pitch-shifted vocals, if I’m being honest. The pitch-shifting isn’t as annoying as it was on “Dancing’s Not a Crime”, but it still ruins any potential the song had for me. And that’s a shame, because this song could’ve maybe been a nice throwback to the Too Weird to Live era. It weirdly reminds me of “Can’t Fight Against the Youth”, a bonus track from that album I like quite a bit. Also, the vocoder at the end could’ve been cool but it’s a little too distorted to the point where I can’t understand what it’s saying. Lyrically, this song is about the dangers of alcoholism, and it had potential, but I’ve seen this theme done better. “Swimming Pools” by Kendrick Lamar and “Chandelier” by Sia are two songs that talk about this topic in a much more affecting way. This song’s lyrics are kind of repetitive and generic, and the song is overall probably my least favorite on the album thus far. At least “Dancing’s Not a Crime” was upbeat. 6/10
8. “The Overpass”
The opening of this song assaults you with horns, so to speak. I dig it, though. The horn melody reminds me of the one in “Confident” by Demi Lovato, which is a good thing in my book. This song has more of a rock vibe than the others on the album, but it mixes it with an old-school funk and soul vibe. It’s my favorite on the album so far. I see the lyrics as being about a secret lover Brendon hasn’t talked to in a while, and how he wants to meet up with her at an overpass, where no one can see them be themselves. This song has the best lyrics on the album thus far, because most of the other songs are Brendon bragging and this one’s about his love for another person. My favorite thing this song is the interplay between Brendon and an uncredited female vocalist (at least I think it’s an uncredited female vocalist. I can’t tell if it’s a girl or just him using his falsetto tbh) in the verses. It’s playful and fun. I would say the only negative about this song is that the line “everything about you is perfect, down to your blood type” is kind of creepy, but that’s just me nitpicking. This song is great. 9/10
9. “King of the Clouds”
This song’s intro is acapella, in what Genius says is a homage to “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. I’m fond of spontaneous acapella moments in music, so I enjoy the intro. I also like the outro, where Brendon shows off with some pretty solid vocal runs and subtle falsetto. I just wish everything in between the intro and outro was better. “King of the Clouds” has a dreamy vibe that feels like you’re floating on a cloud (naturally), but the chorus is too repetitive for me. The most noteworthy thing about the lyrics is that they’re all things Brendon said when he was high, which is an amusing idea, but I don’t think they should’ve actually gone through with it. Yeah, when you’re drunk or high, you can say stupid and occasionally hilarious things, but I don’t get why he’d essentially troll the listener by making the lyrics stupid/funny. The vocals are also pretty good up until the worst moment in the song, which is (surprise surprise) the pitch-shifted vocals! I sound like such a broken record complaining about pitch-shifted vocals, but I find them really grating and not a good fit for Panic! At The Disco at all. 6.5/10
10. “Old Fashioned”
If you to remove the horns (which I’m pretty sure are in a different key than the rest of the song), you’d get something that sounds like it’s from Vices and Virtues. The melody on the chorus is classic and the song just overall has that retro pop-rock vibe found on that album. The throwback to an earlier Panic! is appropriate, considering the lyrics are about reminiscing about the best times of your youth. I will say it’s hypocritical to have a song that is in part about drinking (hell, the song is named after a popular cocktail) three songs after a song about the dangers of drinking, but I digress. This is one of my favorite songs on the album, but it’s not perfect. That “get boozy, boozy, boozy” bridge is pretty awkward and even a little cringeworthy. 8.5/10
11. “Dying in LA”
After ten mostly upbeat, catchy songs, we end with a downer piano ballad about how LA can be misleading. Many people come to the city because they want to be famous and they love the glamorous facade, but all they find is rejection. It’s also about the struggles and sacrifices people make to be famous. I’m normally not huge on Panic!’s ballads, but I really like this one. Lyrically it’s one of the best songs Brendon’s written and his vocals are restrained but still packed with emotion. The stripped-back instrumentation is gorgeous, and I actually really like the outro. Sonically this song reminds me of the piano version of "This Is Gospel", and that is 100% a good thing. This album has had some of the worst Panic! songs I’ve heard (not saying much since I really like this band), so it’s nice that the album ends on a high note. 8.5/10
So...that’s Pray for the Wicked for you. I’m not gonna say this album is a huge disappointment or it’s the worst album I’ve ever heard, but it’s easily my least favorite Panic! album to date. Comparing it to their last record, it’s more cohesive, but is an overall weaker collection of songs. Death of a Bachelor was my least favorite Panic! album before this one, but at the very least, it had songs like “LA Devotee” and especially “House of Memories” which were indisputable 10/10s. Pray for the Wicked’s best song is a 9/10, which is nothing compared to the highlights of the band’s previous works. Some of the musical elements (every time a high-pitched, chopped up vocal sample comes into play on this record, I feel like a hole is being drilled through my brain) can be pretty obnoxious, the lyrics can be embarrassing and feel like they’re trying too hard, and far too many songs are Brendon bragging about how great he is. One or two bragging songs is fine, but it’s excessive and tiring when he’s doing it in Every. Freaking. Song. It’s like they took “Victorious”, an obnoxious song about how amazing he is, and stretched it out into an entire album. Once again, there are good songs, but overall this album doesn’t do it for me as much as the band’s past works have. I really want them (or just Brendon) to go into another direction on this album, but I’m not sure if they/he will. Overall I give Pray for the Wicked a 6.5/10. If you’re a diehard Panic! At The Disco fan, you’ll love it, but if you’re looking to get into the band, choose a different record. I’d recommend either Fever or Vices as a good starting point :)
Best Songs (or at least my favorites): “The Overpass”, “Old Fashioned”, “Dying in LA”, and “High Hopes”
Worst Songs (or at least my least favorites): “One of the Drunks”, “Hey Look Ma, I Made It”, “Dancing’s Not a Crime”, and “King of the Clouds”
This was a lot more negative than I expected, considering it’s a new album by one of my favorite bands. But reminder: just because I love an artist doesn’t mean I think they’re incapable of releasing less-than-stellar music, nor does it mean I’m going to blindly say every song they’ve made is wonderful. I love Panic! At The Disco because they’re responsible for a bunch of my favorite songs ever and I think Brendon Urie is an extremely talented and charismatic individual. But as the legendary prophet Miley Cyrus once said, nobody’s perfect, and frankly, expecting anybody to be 100% perfect all the time is ridiculous. And more importantly: a true fan of an artist (or really anything) enjoys the majority of their faves’ work, but can admit when they screw up. The fact that Pray for the Wicked was not my favorite album does not take away from the fact that I still really love a crap-ton of Panic! At The Disco songs.
So on that note, I know this post was somewhat negative, and I’m hoping next week’s post will be more positive. As for what next week’s post will be, I have no idea on that. I kind of wanted to review the new Drake album because it’s a huge commercial success and a lot of people are talking about it, but then I realized it was 25 songs long. I can’t handle that much Drake. And besides, I already know that there won’t be a single song on that album I’ll like more than “Nice For What”, which is still my Song of the Year™, in case you were wondering. So anyways, I’ll see you next week. Peace!
Stellar
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