Tours Through Discographies: Panic! At The Disco

  In like eighth grade, I became obsessed with the band fun.. In my quest of listening to all their music, I found they did a song called "C'mon", which was a collab with some band called Panic! At The Disco. I thought the singer guy from this band sounded pretty good, and then I found out that my best friend at the time loved Panic! At The Disco. In fact, they were like his favorite band. 

  So I started listening to Panic! more and became obsessed, and still am to this day. Liking Panic! and having that dude for a best friend got me into a lot of similar bands, which made me still obsessed with pop-punk and emo to this day. 

  Unfortunately, Panic! At The Disco has since broken up. Over time, the membership of the band dwindled down until it was just the lead singer (Brendon Urie) and Panic! At The Disco was essentially just his stage name. "Their" (his) last three albums were done in this situation, and then he decided to retire once his wife got pregnant so he could focus on his family. I'm just happy I got to see him live before he hung up the hat, though I do think it's quite likely that we haven't actually heard the last of Panic! At The Disco.

1. A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005)

   I'll admit that it took a while for this album to grow on me, but I'd call myself a fan of it now. Panic! had a thing in the early days where they tried a different thing with each album, and this one had like a baroque/mimes/Las Vegas kinda feel. It's definitely interesting, and there's a lot of bangers here. It's not their best work, but it's not their worst either, and it definitely did a good job of introducing the world to Panic! At The Disco. And if you've lived on this planet for any significant amount of time, you've definitely heard "I Write Sins Not Tragedies".

Favorite tracks: "Time to Dance", "Camisado", "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"

2. Pretty. Odd. (2008)

   The thing they tried with this album was a very folksy, cabin in the woods, Beatles-esque sound. It's quite charming, and I'm a big fan of this album. I might be confusing my Panic! lore a bit, but I believe this album was the product of the band spending a while in a cabin and taking a bunch of psychedelics. If you like those descriptions, you'll love this album. No other Panic! music sounds quite like the stuff on here. I admire the uniqueness of this one. A friend in high school told me this was his least favorite Panic! album because it's too weird. My reaction was just kinda like "but... that's the point. That's literally the title.".

Favorite tracks: "Northern Downpour", "Mad as Rabbits", "Do You Know What I'm Seeing?"

3. Vices & Virtues (2011)

   My favorite Panic! At The Disco album! Every track here is so great. Their thing here was kind of a steampunk feel almost, and this album is probably their one that's the most alternative rock of all seven. This album is also home to both my favorite Panic! At The Disco track and the first track I knew by them (not counting the "C'mon" collab with fun.). This is the album I'd point people to to introduce them to Panic! At The Disco. It feels like a great bridge sound-wise between old school Panic! and new school Panic!.

Favorite tracks: "Trade Mistakes", "Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind)", "Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met...)"

4. Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! (2013)

    This was their new one when I got into them, and for a long time it was my favorite by them. Now it's very strongly my second favorite. This is also the last Panic! album where they were a band. Every Panic! album after this one was released as essentially Brendon Urie using the band name as his stage name. While I do love this album with all of my superior vena cava, I have to put it slightly below Vices & Virtues because it's a little too synth-y and electro at points for my liking (though those aren't always bad things). But if you're more into that than I am, this one'd probably be your favorite! 

Favorite tracks: "This is Gospel", "Far Too Young to Die", "Collar Full"

5. Death Of A Bachelor (2016)

   This was Panic!'s first album as the solo act of Brendon Urie, and the first new album cycle from him that I got to experience as it happened. It's pretty well-loved from most people as far as I've seen, and for good reason. It's a very good record. One of my favorites from them, and part of that is because I've come up with a story for it that makes sort of a pretend concept album. Brendon Urie did a great job of showing us that even though Panic! was great as a band, he could handle things on his own. There's a lot of Frank Sinatra inspiration here, and some parts his voice is almost identical to Sinatra's, so as a Sinatra fan I really appreciate that.

Favorite tracks: "Death of a Bachelor", "Golden Days", "Emperor's New Clothes"

6. Pray For The Wicked (2018)

   If Death Of A Bachelor was Brendon Urie showing the world that he could maintain the Panic! name as a solo act, this album was him showing everyone that he was gonna use the name to try being a popstar. It worked; this album was crazy successful in the mainstream and the radio. Coincidentally, I also think it's the worst Panic! album. Not that I hate it, it's still good, but, you know. But this was the album my sister and I saw him on tour for so that kinda makes up for the album being less than stellar. This one was so big that even if you aren't particularly a Panic! fan, you've still definitely heard "High Hopes" and "Hey Look Ma, I Made It". But I should mention that this album has the closer that is not only my favorite Panic! closer, but my favorite closer by anyone.

Favorite tracks: "Dying in LA", "The Overpass", "Dancing's Not a Crime"

7. Viva Las Vengeance (2022)

   The last Panic! At The Disco album. I wrote a whole blog about this album specifically, so you should go read that one if you wanna see me going a lot more in-depth about it. A lot of people hate on it, because Brendon tried a lot of classic rock influences and recorded and sang a little differently, but I think it's a pretty solid album. It's on the back end of their albums quality-wise, sure, but it's still quite good. I think it serves nicely as a farewell album.

Favorite tracks: "Viva Las Vengeance", "Do it to Death", "Say it Louder"