Panic! At The Disco - Pray For The Wicked (Album Review)
Brendon Urie is now the only member of this "band" and he certainly delivers something on this short, fast-paced new album. It all sounds perfect for a party, great feel-good non-sense music but when you stop and listen to it as an album you realise it clearly has some serious flaws, being rushed in the production department with over the top lavish beats, melodies and an excessive use of horns. It essentially feels like a modern EDM/Tropical House album played live. Their are essentially no electric guitars here at all and it leaves a lot to be desired from this "alternative" band.
Sure, every song is incredibly catchy, but unfortunately that is a result of simple, repetitive choruses that follow the trend of being a couple of words sang a couple of times. Almost every song is Brendon bragging about how far he's come and the highs he's reached. It's a shame that nowhere on this album is a song with an interesting and forward social commentary or moment of note that doesn't somehow loop back to Brendon.
Songs like 'Silver Lining', 'Old Fashioned' and especially 'King Of The Clouds' are so rushed in terms of production, sound obviously basic, messy or chaotic in terms of the latter.
The only songs I can say I thoroughly enjoy here are 'Dancing's Not A Crime', a simplistic but fun pop song; 'Say Amen (Saturday Night), an entertaining theatric jam; 'High Hopes', an inspiring retrospective and my personal favourite 'The Overpass', an epic journey of a song that pulls off what the album tries to achieve in a different but successful way.
Overall I'd have to give this fun, lightweight and theatric but ineffective, over-produced and lyrically bare album a 6/10, a score that really would only change if half the songs were replaced. Edit: This album has, over even more listens, become quite frustratingly bad. Such a huge change in my opinion has made me reconsider my rating entirely. 3/10.
Rated from worst to best:
11. Old Fashioned
10. King Of The Clouds
9. Silver Lining
8. Roaring 20s
7. Dying In LA
6. Hey Look Ma, I Made It
5. One Of The Drunks
4. Dancing's Not A Crime
3. Say Amen (Saturday Night)
2. High Hopes
1. The Overpass
https://open.spotify.com/album/6ApYSpXF8GxZAgBTHDzYge?si=jfYI4FqYTjef_Nb1IDDI_w
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/pray-for-the-wicked/1361152002
http://www.deezer.com/album/66313782
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