Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor Album Review

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Panic! At The Disco have had a huge line-up change over the last few years and with Brendon Urie now being the only remaining original member, a brand new album was always going to pick up the ears of music critics. If 2008's effort Pretty. Odd. didn't make it obvious enough, Urie is keen to creep out from the stubborn shadow of emo pop-punk their revolutionary debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out created.

And we'll give him his due. Urie's valiant effort towards art rock across the band's discography is to be commended, but on every album the re-invention of Panic! At The Disco wasn't quite complete.

And then came their brand new LP, Death Of A Bachelor.

This album is an album of two halves. With the one half bringing back-to-back energy through tracks such as Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time, the nostalgia of early Panic! At The Disco is always a welcoming sound for long-term fans of the band.

The other half contains an abundance of triumphant anthems including the chanting, gloriously tongue-twisting verses of Victorious.

But from here on, Death Of A Bachelor brings a Sinatra-esque style of music which is unlike anything the band have ever produced before. Brendon Urie's tremendous vocals shatter any preconception anyone may have had about the band and their music.

With Crazy = Genius being an ingenious swing track, and Impossible Year being influenced by big-band music, the album comes to sophisticated finale which shows the transition the band has had from the emo pop-punk band that released I Write Sins Not Tragedies ten years ago.

The distinct sound of the second half of the album is a cutting-edge movement for Panic! At The Disco. With Urie being able to take full control of the song-writing due to the line-up change (which appears to be a move for the better), the maturity of the band's sound has improved dramatically between Death Of A Bachelor and previous album Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!

With Urie using his extensive musical appetite to draw influences from a range of genres, the album is a thrilling ride, yet still maintains the idiosyncratic sound that Panic! At The Disco fans know and love. With very few flaws across the album, and with the eccentric frontman showing off the best of his vocal ability, Death Of A Bachelor is innovative and with this new line-up, we're excited to see what is coming next.