Panic! at the Disco - Death of a Bachelor (2016)
With this album, Brendon Urie finally shafted drummer Spencer Smith and plays everything on this album that isn't a brass instrument. At this point, I think it's really ridiculous to continue on with the name "Panic! at the Disco" when it's not even just a case of only one remaining original member, but ONLY ONE FUCKING MEMBER in general. This is more of a Brendon Urie solo album than anything else, but luckily enough for the listener, it's not as shitty as "Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!" was in the way that this isn't a synth-pop autotune catastrophe. In fact, there's moments on this album, such as "Crazy=Genius" that remind me of the latter-half of "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out"! "If crazy equals genius, then I'm a fuckin' arsonist!" Brendon Urie sings on the track but I'm not sure if I agree. Hell, the most ear-catching moment to me was the beginning of "Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time" with those opening guitar licks, but turns out they're just sampled from the B-52's song "Rock Lobster" so I sighed and let the rest of the album play out, hoping for the best.
Truth be told, there are some interesting moments on this album, definitely a step-up from the previous album, with some mild hip-hop elements appearing in "Emperor's New Clothes" and even some smooth Frank Sinatra-esque flavor in "Impossible Year", which gives off the impression that this album wasn't just left on auto-pilot like the previous album at times seemed to be, with some actually quite well-composed songs that seem to have a lot going on in them. "LA Devotee" in particular succeeds as a pretty catchy pop tune with jazzy elements provided by the brass section, and I'd go as far to say that Brendon Urie's vocal talents are the best they've ever been on this album, with him being no stranger to belting out a chorus at the top of his lungs, but one thing he's definitely no stranger to is FUCKING TALKING ABOUT LAS VEGAS. It felt like 90% of the last album was about Las Vegas' nightlife, and wouldn't you know it: So is this album! What happened to the days of clever wordplay, psychedelic imagery and general sarcasm? Oh yeah, Ryan Ross left. It's just the Brendon Urie show at this point. Hell, it sounds less like a band (haha) and sometimes more like an album you'd pick up after watching a lounge performer's gig at a Las Vegas nightclub, which is.. Yeah, it's disappointing and can be hard to get past, but there certainly are some good tunes on this album, regardless.
I have to admit, now that it seems like Brendon Urie's mostly gotten his synth-pop fix in and over with, the jazz elements on the album actually quite compliment his voice well and are generally welcome in these pop tunes. Some good tunes that I may not be itching to put on my "Best of 2016" list, and may not even return to years from now, but as of right now, they're interesting and well-done for what they are, and isn't that more than we could say about the majority of "Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!"? I mean, at least there's no "The End of All Things" on this album, right?! Maybe that should be a compliment for virtually every other album in existence, though.
7/10
________________________________________________________
Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
