Panic At The Disco - Pretty. Odd. (Decaydence/Fueled By Ramen)
UK release date: 24 March 2008
track listing
1. We're So Starving
2. Nine In The Afternoon
3. She's A Handsome Woman
4. Do You Know What I'm Seeing?
5. That Green Gentlemen
6. I Have Friends In Holy Spaces
7. Northern Downpour
8. When The Day Met The Night
9. Pas De Cheval
10. The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know
11. Behind The Sea
12. Folkin' Around
13. She Had The World
14. From A Mountain In The Middle Of The Cabins
15. Mad As Rabbits
At first I think that I must be listening to the wrong album. THIS is Panic at the Disco? What, really? It can't be, it sounds nothing like them! What's going on? This isn't their usual cheery emo-pop, and where are all the weird song titles?
And with that, we have just the effect they are going for with this Pretty.Odd album , after declaring to the New Musical Express in an interview that "emo is bullshit!"
With that statement, they not only caused delight in those who seem to despise Emo for some reason or other; but they also alienated and hurt the feelings of a lot of their previous fan-base, many of whom seem genuinely stunned by Panic's attempt at a Sgt Pepper style album.
One fan declared, "..every song on the album sounds like little kids circus music, including the lyrics ; "Singin' along with the clouds". "Another former fan said "In We're So Starving, Panic say 'you don't have to worry, we are still the same band', So either they were faking it on the first album, or they are lying to you.."
Yes, this IS a completely different sound for them, and it does takes a little getting used to- Especially if you were a fan of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, but it is not all bad. Pretty. Odd. does come with a few memorable songs and eloquent lyrics. Sadly though, it seems that getting rid of the exclamation mark in their name has also caused them to lose a lot of the energy and ,dare I say it, edginess that made them a step above the other bands in their genre.
Is the fear of being labelled an eye-liner wearing emo band so great that it is better to sound like a Saturday night cover-band? Surely it is better to be the best Emo band in the world, rather than another wannabe Beatles band?
Pretty.Odd really does sounds like they had heard The Beatles for the very first time and wanted to create a tribute record sounding as close as possible. What we are left with is a mess. The majority of songs have lost the previous endearing grandiloquent style that were to be found on the first album,which had made them stand out from the crowd.
In truth, this album is so bland it left me bored.
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