It’s 2006 and Panic! At The Disco have bursted onto the mainstream pop-rock scene and no one could have prepared for the impact this band would have over the next twelve years. Even with a constant changing line up there are two things that haven’t changed and that’s Brendon Urie’s vocal and lyric impact as well as the adoring fanbase they have captivated. Their sixth studio album ‘Pray For The Wicked’ hears them continuing the heavier pop directed sound their last record ‘Death Of A Bachelor’ introduced along with a slicker production full of horns, trumpets and strings. Kicking off the album with ‘(Fuck A) Silver Lining’ they launch straight into that experimental sound and will have you singing along willing to this mediocre track. Luckily it gets a little better with the try-hard anthem ‘Say Amen (Saturday Night)’ which warms you up for the feel good ‘Hey Look Ma, I Made It’ which injects pulsating synths and guitar riffs to the already established pop-rock sound. This makes the epic ‘High Hopes’ possible as it builds towards the empowering feel and production that this song embodies. It comes by no surprise that this song is quickly climbing the charts and receiving heavy radio airplay because it really is one of the best feel good tracks of the year. They continue this feeling with ‘Dancing’s Not A Crime’ which is future single worthy whilst ‘One Of The Drunks’ experiments with vocal synthesisers and gives you a cool new sound for the band which is ultimately catchy. ‘Roaring 20’s’ revisits their retro sound their last album perfected but sadly the rest of the album is a little forgettable. ‘The Overpass’, ‘Old Fashioned’ and ‘Dying In LA’ don’t have the same stamina the rest of the album has whilst ‘King Of The Clouds’ has been hyped up so much that even it is a little below average. However the good outweighs the negative and what this album successfully delivers is a whole lot of energy and good vibes that will be brought to life in their upcoming live show. 12 years later and they still have the quirky spark that they enthusiastically introduced to us with ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’.
You can purchase a copy of Panic! At The Discos new album from Sanity https://www.sanity.com.au/products/2370017/Pray_For_The_Wicked