Nearly a full decade after Panic! At the Disco first arrived on the music scene, the band has grabbed its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with “Death of a Bachelor.” The album knocked Adele’s “25” out of its top spot, and according to Billboard, the set also gave the band its best debuting sales week for an album with 169,000 pure sales.
Panic’s frontman singer and band mastermind, Brendon Urie could hardly contain his excitement last month telling Billboard,
“It’s cool 'cause in the past I was writing most of everything, but this time it was actually all me and I got to record every instrument on this album, except for the horns, which was a huge deal for me. I did drums, background vocals and the background vocals I was playing different characters, I was doing operatic Queen stuff for songs like ‘Victorious’ and ‘Emperor’s New Clothes.’ That was just a lot of fun. And again, Sinatra creeps back in there, so there are a couple of songs I wrote trying to do like a Nelson Riddle arrangement.”
The band’s debut album, “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” was released on Oct. 15, 2005, and included the hit single, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.” Panic! At the Disco has released three other albums in addition to their first and most recent, and has undergone band reconstruction with Urie being the only remaining member.
With Queen and Sinatra influence on its side, “Death of a Bachelor” features 11 bold and decadent tracks, but here are three crowd favorites so far:
"Victorious"
Brendon Urie’s fearlessness as the mastermind and solo vocalist of Panic! At the Disco shines through with this flamboyant song. Think toned down, pretty screamer with a dash of Daft Punk computerization and you have “Victorious.” And it works. He has created his own swagger in this track and it is nothing short of perfection.
"LA Devotee"
This song is dedicated to all the girls will star-struck eyes and Hollywood lure. The circus Panic! created and visualized in their 2005 hit and music video, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” is not lost in this track. Urie chants, “Drinking white wine in the blushing light, just another LA Devotee. Sunsets on the evil eye, invisible to the Hollywood shrine, always on the hunt for a little more time.” Tread carefully ladies, the palm tree lined city of dreamers sits atop quicksand.
"Hallelujah"
This upbeat, confessional song peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s top 15-charting hits in Hot Rock Songs back in May of 2015 and has kept its popularity until the full album’s release this January. We hear Urie urge listeners to, “All you sinners stand up, sing hallelujah (hallelujah!), show praise with your body, stand up, sing hallelujah (hallelujah!). And if you can't stop shaking, lean back, let it move right through ya (hallelujah!)” With the jazzy beginning and hard hitting instrumental at the chorus, Urie has listeners everywhere up, swaying side to side while clapping their hands.
Our Favorite: "Impossible Year"
We see Urie step far outside his musical box and channel is inner Frank Sinatra with this track. The single ballad on the album showed us the musical depth within Mr. Urie and what is potentially in store for future albums. It’s no secret Urie has a large admiration for the jazz singer, and this track perfectly emulates his passion and comes out as a nice tribute for Mr. Sinatra.
Death Of A Bachelor Tracklist:
1. Victorious
2. Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time
3. Hallelujah
4. Emperor's New Clothes
5. Death Of A Bachelor
6. Crazy=Genius
7. LA Devotee
8. Golden Days
9. The Good, The Bad And The Dirty
10. House Of Memories
11. Impossible Year
