DEATH OF A BACHELOR REVIEW.

Hello I'm Georgia and I have had this post in the making since January. Better late than never though, eh? (I feel like I say that far too often to actually believe it when I say it.) Panic! at the Disco released Death of a Bachelor on the fifteenth of January and here I am offering my unsolicited opinions on it. I'm a big Panic! fan so I was super excited and intrigued to see how the album would sound with Mr. Urie being the only original Panic! member left, and the sole commander for the first time.


1. Victorious - could there be a more let's-get-pumped song to kickstart an album than this one? The answer is NO, SIR. I can attest to the fact that this track is such a great one to strut to. I am often late for uni so listen to this on my walk to the station - it forces me to walk fast to the beat whilst simultaneously making me feel super cool in the process, which is really all any upbeat song needs to achieve. This song would fit perfectly on a pre-game playlist with its "LET'S DO THIS" attitude. It's about living carefree and triumphant and I'm really excited to hear this one live, I have a feeling it is going to be amazing.

2. Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time - this feels a little bit angry and a whole lot confused and I am a big fan. It's about waking up after some ~wild shenanigans~ at one those stereotypical massive LA parties we hear about. Brendon Urie manages to make me feel like I too was at this party he sings about, placing me right there with him in the moments of excess and intoxication. The bass line gives me major James-Bond-theme-song vibes (although I believe it is sampled from an old song from the seventies) but the sheer strangeness of the antics described reminds me of the weird stuff people get up to in their first year of uni, which means that in my head the song sits as some kind of constant altercation between Diamonds Are Forever and a messy Freshers' Week flat party.

3. Hallelujah - this track is an unusual modern pop/rock/gospel combination. Stylistically, in theory I feel like it shouldn't work. It shouldn't, but in practice it most certainly does. How? Brendon Urie, of course. Urie's powerhouse vocals push the song forward in its vivacity and overall it's just a good (though in my opinion definitely not the best), upbeat track on the album.

4. Emperor's New Clothes - I love how haunting this song feels, with its repetitive nursery-rhyme-influenced chants and melodies. Befitting Urie's giant voice, I could imagine this track to be a theme song for an ever-cloaked villain in a Broadway musical, gliding his way across the stage amongst crashes of thunder, billows of smoke and flashes of lightning. If this song doesn't get you pumped and feeling just a lil' bit evil then are we really listening to the same song?

5. Death Of A Bachelor - first up, let me just say that in my original notes for this song I wrote "what a range, DAMN", and every time I listen to the song I am reminded again just how true this statement is. Nonetheless, yet again, Brendon Urie proves me wrong whenever I think something shouldn't work "in theory". In theory, how could he channel such a persona as Frank Sinatra and create something even semi-believable with it? Well, my friends, in this very track he does just that. I'm not entirely sure how or why such a smooth, sultry, big-band style suits him so well, but it certainly does.

6. Crazy=Genius - am I getting Jungle Book vibes from this song? Yes. Am I also getting thundering thirties swing vibes? Yes. Does it somehow sound paradoxically modern and old? Yes. None of these things should make sense together yet - surprise, surprise - they really do. Its lyrics are fairly repetitive but oh sweet Lord of Music is it catchy, and it makes me feel angry in the most wonderful way. Also, there's this mildly creepy laugh that repeats itself very quietly at the beginning and at some point towards the end of the track and I just wanted to point that out to you all. I'm not sure what it does or why it's there but presumably my confusion is a result of that whole premise of crazy equalling genius, right? (By the way, I didn't really like this song at first but now I do so that's cool, music is cool.)

7. LA Devotee - for some reason this is one of the tracks that hasn't really stuck in my mind, though I don't really know why, because I've heard people raving about it. I think it could be because to me it feels the safest; treading a path well-trodden. Something that I think is awesome about Panic! is an incessant desire to take musical risks, and I don't think that is necessarily executed in this song.

8. Golden Days - I like this song a lot, though I know some people have been referring it as one of the "filler" songs of the album, but there you go - each to his own I guess. I love the classic Panic!-style lyrics and images ("debonair" and "blood-red wine", for example. The chorus' lyrics almost verge on cliché but I dig it anyway), I love the storytelling of the verses and above all I love the anthemic chorus. Such a chorus, in fact, is required to be screamed at the top of your lungs with your friends. Sorry, I don't make the rules. The song makes me nostalgic but hopeful and invincible but mortal and I don't know if you've picked up on this but I am a big, big fan. There's somethin' about nostalgia and reminiscing that really gets me going, so an entire song dedicated to days gone by is right up my street. To me, the way this song rises and falls is incredible. It builds in momentum and peaks in crescendoes and then drops down to an urgent, suspenseful quiet, culminating in a final burst of deafening magic. It makes me feel powerful, like I'm about to ascend the throne or something. Okay, I'm done now, sorry. Was that too dramatic a response to a song? Maybe, but I think listening to Panic! brings out my theatrical side.

9. The Good, The Bad And The Dirty - I think this is most reminiscent of older Panic! stuff and that's fine, but it's not one of my favourites on the album. It's poppy and definitely catchy, but for me it's not quite upbeat/boppy/dramatic enough to be one of my favourites.

10. House Of Memories - somewhat ironically, this track isn't one of the more memorable ones. It runs in a similar vein to the previous track, where to me it seems like there is just a little something that is lacking - not bad at all, but not the kind of burst of genius Panic! have occasionally put out. It feels like a song I could hear on the radio but not pay a heck of a lot of attention to, you know?

10. Impossible Year - Urie has a huge voice, and it is undeniably showcased to excellence on this track, regardless of what else anyone may say about the song and its obvious Sinatra emulation attempts. It was an interesting choice to make this the album's closer, but I'd like to think it works. I don't think it's a song I'll be purposely seeking out to listen to but as a kind of grand finale of a whole work it definitely has an appeal. In fact, the track is in my opinion the musical embodiment of the act of a red velvet curtain dropping in a theatre at the end of a show.

Favourite song(s): Victorious / Emperor's New Clothes / Golden Days
Favourite lyric(s): "Eyes like broken Christmas lights, my touch is black and poisonous." (Victorious) // "You can set yourself on fire but you're never gonna burn." (Crazy=Genius)
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Essentially, with there being so many styles squished into an eleven-track record, there is likely to be something for everyone to listen to. You want a lively, chanting game before your football match? Listen to Victorious. You need a new theme song for your evil alter-ego? Try out Emperor's New Clothes. There is a vague string of Panic! uniformity amongst the semi-chaotic mix of songs, certainly, but almost each track could stand alone as completely separate to the album. There is no denying that Brendon Urie has created something impressive - a carefully-constructed, multi-genre-d compilation of tracks. It is paradoxically really modern-and-original, and incredibly reminiscent of older music (whether that is old Panic! releases or older styles). It is outrageous, eccentric, rambunctious, theatrical and it doesn't really make much sense and, well, it's a lot like Brendon Urie himself. This intricate, almost synecdochical relation to Urie is evident as the album truly feels like a musical extension of him. Above all though, the album is ambitious. I personally think it pays off, but as with all music, it is up to each listener to form their own opinions.

From what I've seen, this album has split critics and fans alike, and not in an entirely good or bad way. No two people seem to have the same favourite and least favourite tracks on the record, with everyone (myself included) offering vague analyses and opinions that actually illuminate just how eccentric and multilayered the album is. No one can agree, because the album does not lend itself to be fully agreed with, and that is a lot of its charm.

I am now going to head into the deep, dark (mildly pretentious) depths of imagery and all that jazz, because apparently after having studied as much poetry as I have, at this stage of my life I am now inherently incapable of listening to and reviewing an album without vivid images being thrust into my consciousness. Of course, as a university student it is my duty to try to articulate this, however badly I may do so. Let's get right to it... I don't know if I could call this a "concept album" as it contains such a diverse range of style and genre, but there certainly are recurring themes and motifs. Panic! have always had a knack for tapping into the dirty glamour of debauchery and decadence in certain times or places - they chose the baroque era on early albums, they did it with Las Vegas in Too Weird To Live, Too Young To Die! and on this new release Urie situates his intoxicating hedonism in both a classic and modern Hollywood. In fact, I can almost take the martinis, the expensive red wine, the whiskey (neat, obviously). Urie intertwines old jazz and swing melodies and beats with contemporary stories about parties of excess and what it's like to be young in a modern Los Angeles.

A newer Panic! idea in Death of a Bachelor, however, is the ongoing theme of liberation and metamorphosis. Throughout the album the listener feels a sense that, while Urie is fairly-newly-married and leaving his wild, carefree partying bachelor lifestyle behind, he does not feel trapped. Indeed, he feels quite the opposite - he now stands musically alone and in total creative control. I think everyone could have guessed that this album was never going to be a straightforward, one-genre kind of thing - Panic! have always merged styles, and this solo venture is no different. I get the feeling that with this album, Urie didn't hold back at all - no constraints were put on his creativity, which is why it sounds as wonderfully weird as it does.

I don't think Urie ever would/should claim to be the next Frank Sinatra, but we can definitely feel the latter's influence on certain songs, and that is okay. In my experience, I've found that often one sign of a good artist is an ability to draw from other artists - not steal, not fully emulate, but to be inspired by. I think Urie has succeeded in doing just that. Nonetheless, I do think it's important to note that, although the album has been influenced by other artists and eras, it should be wholly taken as an entirely new, original and modern Panic! At The Disco album. Yes, there are inspired melodies and sounds and images, but the album itself is Brendon Urie's first little solo music child, and regardless of whether it warrants praise or criticism, it is his and his alone, and that is a feat in itself.

Finally, I'm going to try to describe how Brendon Urie's voice sounds/feels to me. (Just FYI: I often find it difficult to describe things in a simple, concise way, so instead I annoyingly attempt to illustrate/encapsulate my point in more abstract terms. Metaphors, heck yeah!) The way I usually categorise voices in my mind is as comparisons to textures and materials. I've been thinking about it and on this album, I've concluded that Brendon Urie's voice is a combination of three things; the highest-quality sixteenth century velvet, the leather of an old briefcase from the thirties filled with hundred-dollar bills, and the smooth-yet-multifaceted lustre of a piece of granite... Wow. Was that evocative enough? Did my metaphor even work? You see, in my head those comparisons make total sense, but to everyone else it probably just sounds incomprehensible and pretentious as h*ck. If you want a simpler-but-more-boring summary/translation, I guess I could say that I think Brendon Urie is super duper talented and his voice is just, like, really good.

I can't wait to see Brendon perform in Paris in May as I know the entire show is going to be an insane amount of fun. He is a charismatic performer, and puts forth a unique, flamboyant, vibrant theatricality that, on anyone else, would constantly verge on parody, but for him is just the perfect way to give a show. Y'know what, on that note, and following all of these comparisons I've made throughout this review, I just want to mention that while Urie may have attempted to emulate his own idols on this album, he didn't need to. In just over a decade he has created his own truly individual persona - one that is inimitable.

Before I sign off, I want to apologise to you all for a) the wordiness of this review, and b) the sentence you are about to read...

If you haven't given the album a listen yet because you were concerned about what the first solo album would sound like, let me assure you that there's no need to Panic! - Mr. Urie does just fine by himself. (I truly am sorry for that.) (When I see an opportunity for a pun I make it.) (The moment was there, I took my chance.) (I hope Urie-d all of these.) (No? I will Disco away now.) (That one was bad. The other one wasn't.) (It's okay, I'm finished now. The puns took over.) (Pun-ic! At The Disco, I guess you could say...)

See you next time!

Georgia