To get those of you who aren't familiar with Panic! at the Disco caught up, Panic! was formed in 2004. The four boys started working together straight out of college; Brendan Urie the vocalist/lyricist/front man, Spencer Smith on drums/percussion, the bassist John Walker, and Ryan Ross lead guitar/lyricist (also vocalist on their second CD Pretty. Odd.). Their first CD, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, was delivered with a pop-punk/emo-core feel. Although it was not immensely popular when it first came out, it resulted in some of the most incredibly committed fans that I have ever seen. The intensely unique lyrics and the catchy hooks that Urie and Ross placed in all the songs on this album is what makes it one of the only albums I have yet to become bored of. It really never gets old; I could listen to it for a week, on repeat, and still be in love with it. But it wasn't until a few of their music videos for songs off of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out started being released, that Panic! at the Disco became increasingly popular with the emo scene. They were known for their over-the-top, theatrical approach to their videos and concert performances. After a long break to write and record their next album, Panic returned only to cause incredible controversy over parting with their ever-so-famous exclamation point. Ryan Ross, who wrote all the songs for their second CD, had apparently embraced his inner Beatle and popped out fifteen psychedelic tunes that would become known as, Pretty. Odd. Now, you see, by this time Panic! had gained quite a large following from their uniqueness, creativity, and their lack of maturity in a way. When Panic! became Panic it was a sign of their growing maturity, and that made everyone, well, panic... (Yeah I know, bad pun, but I had to! I couldn't resist!) People literally did not know what was happening to their once favorite, young and crazy, band. But the true PATD fans knew it was still the same band, especially since Brendan Urie sang it to us on the first track of Pretty. Odd. entitled, "We're So Starving." The Pretty. Odd. CD is very, very good, but not as fantastical as Panic!'s first album. It lacks the enticing lyrics and bold beats that Panic! produced with there first album. Although I am not as in love with this release as I was with the first one, I still will never fail to be a fan of every member of Panic(!) at the Disco. This is slightly hard now as Panic has split right down the middle over "musical differences." So, Panic! at the Disco now consists of Brendan Urie and Spencer Smith, and, in case you didn't notice, they have regained they're beloved exclamation point. Ryan Ross and John Walker are now the band known as, The Young Veins; basically they have a Beatles' cover band feel to them. Even though they do sing their own songs, it seems as though they may have stolen something from the Beatles... If you want to understand what I mean a little bit better I encourage you to look up their video for a song of theirs called Changes, you may notice there's something that seems similar to an important moment in Beatle history. With that said I would like to make it perfectly clear I do enjoy listening to music by The Young Veins and I am happy for Ryan and John, but I might love Panic! just a small amount more (alright to be honest, I'm quite happy to have Panic! at the Disco back. Sure I cried a lot when I found out they split, but I realize that it obviously was for the better). I am hopeful for both bands as they are working on their new careers! And that concludes the history portion of my blog, now to move on to what I really wanted to talk about.
It seems as though Panic! at the Disco's rejuvenated career is off to a wonderful start! They have performed a few shows in Europe to get the word out for their new CD, which has recently been put up for pre-order, in case anyone would like to know. I am so extremely looking forward to the masterpiece that is Vices & Virtues and I do not base this solely on the fact that they have regained that b-e-a-utiful exclamation point in their name, but also from the sounds I have been wanting and missing from Panic on the sample tracks I have recently heard. The one thing that has reminded me of what Panic at the Disco was missing when it dropped it's exclamation point was the..... How do I describe this video? It was so amazing and incredible!! It was everything you look for in a Panic! at the Disco video; it was fantastic, crazy, over the top, well directed, beautiful, haunting, intense, and it leaves you wanting to watch it again. It is sheer awesomeness! I, myself, have already watched it at least twenty-five times. It is just that wonderful. Oh, I should probably tell you the name of the video... I got so caught up thinking about it I almost forgot! This wonderous video is for a song called, "The Ballad of Mona Lisa." The title alone screams beauty and creativity to me; it was written by dear Mr. Brendan Urie before the band split and he just left it sitting on his computer not expecting anything to come from it. Well, eventually he sent it to one of his producers, who loved it, and it has set the bar way up high in the sky for this new CD!! I am so confident that Spencer and Brendan will make this album the best of Panic(!)'s career so far! They have been co-writing pretty much everything and they just kept writing and writing until they had far too many songs for the album, so now there are bonus tracks and B-sides. I am so ready for this!! Fellow Panic! fans be prepared for greatness!
Well, I hope this post didn't sound too much like an over excited fan... But this blog is just as much about my feelings on these subjects as it is about informing you of great music, my dear readers! I have been following Panic(!) at the Disco's work since about 2006/2007 and I don't think I have ever been more excited about their work than I am now, from everything I've seen or heard I know this is going to be one of the best works they have created. It is unfortunate that it came after the split, but I'm not going to let that make me less enthused about it! Thanks for reading this post that I will call an intense, yet quite informative, rant about the lovely Panic! at the Disco. Thank you, and goodnight, oh wonderful readers!!
dude nice
ReplyDelete@Chad Dude, thanks.
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