Panic At The Disco - Pretty. Odd.

So, the new Panic At The Disco album "Pretty. Odd." was released on March 29th. I don't speak for anyone but myself when I say it lives up to its title. Basically, Panic At The Disco (also known as Panic or PATD) seem to be trying to re-create The Beatles. Obviously they missed the memo that told us all it's not 1967 and they are not Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, although they did record strings at Abbey Road. How very inventive. 

While they were ripping off their sound, I think they also took some hints from "The Idiots Guide To Writing Lyrics Like The Beatles" because the lyrics of this entire album are as shabby as those in The Beatles entire discography (let's face it, they weren't blow-your-mind-amazing lyricists) and the sound was new and inventive when The Beatles did it, now its pathetic and aggravatingly regurgitated.

The album opens up with a song called "We're So Starving". However, the potential directions for this album from the opening track greatly diminished in the first 4 bars. Call the police! It's Beatle-mania. 
"Oh, how it's been so long,
We're so sorry we've been gone,
We were busy writing songs for yooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu."
Oh Brendan Urie how you spoil us with your lyrical prowess.

"Nine In The Afternoon" is just as well written. 
"It's nine in the afternoon
Your eyes are the size of the moon
You could cos you can so you do..." 
Now if I had to find something remotely decent about this album, it would be this song. It's catchy, albeit in the way that makes you want to stab your ears out with a screwdriver every time you hear it because you just know that it's going to be stuck in your head for an ungodly amount of time. The video for it is definitely not a strong point. I think the video is possibly the major downfall of this song. It shows that they really have no original ideas for this album. Other than perhaps changing their image from teen heartthrobs to weird creepy-looking men running around in the street in butt-flap underwear and fake moustaches. Not their best idea thus far I must admit.

Skipping ahead to their last song, the aptly titled "Mad As Rabbits". Now this song, is completely and utterly schizophrenic in nature and inexplicable in lyrical content. The only song in their history sung by both Brendan Urie and guitarist Ryan Ross, but possibly their only song that can have no possible meaning buried anywhere in the complete mess that is called song. For example, the second line is
"Don't you remember when I was a bird
and you were a map?"
No, sorry, can't say that I do. Is it possible that you were, I don't know, high?

The truth about this album is unfortunate. It proves that the target audience for popular radio don't listen to lyrics and just care about a good beat and a catchy melody. It has huge commercial value because some people seem to have lost the ability to think for themselves and not give in to popular culture, if they even had that ability in the first place.

Now I could continue and go through every song on this album. But let's face it, the first two songs set you up for an album of mindless entertainment that is sure to appeal to the visible and generic psyche of scene kids all over the world, but if it weren't for the popularity of their previous album "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out", it is highly unlikely that any single from this album would get any radio airplay at all. Unfortunately, they have another hit on their hands, but they lost the fans who can formulate their own opinions when the year became 2006 and Panic became over-commercialised, over-played and didn't up their talent to match record sales. Despite their producer Rob Mathes describing the album as “the most significant music project I have done in a while in that it is young and intense, adventurous and endlessly creative" and working with them "made me look at music the way I did when I discovered early records by The Who and Brian Eno-period David Bowie when I was 16." this album has nothing new to offer anyone with any musical taste beyond the Fueled By Ramen and Decaydance record labels.

That said, if you want to pay $25.00 for 15 songs of crap with hopeless album artwork, go right ahead. Just don't make me say I told you so.