Like any other person I have my obsessions, music being my main drug of choice. And if anyone has kept up with their emo stage from their middle school days then, like me, you’ll have cried about yet another Panic! At the Disco era ending, with their last concert recap video airing on YouTube earlier this week.
The sixth album from the alternative rock band came out about a year and a half ago and has been skyrocketing and making history ever since. The album has been certified platinum in the United States and gold nearly everywhere else. Two of their songs, High Hopes and Hey, Look Ma I Made it, have held the number one spot on the Hot Rock Song Chart for 53 consecutive weeks, surpassing Imagine Dragons who held that title for 52 weeks with their songs Thunder and Whatever It Takes.
I’ve followed Panic! for quite a while, really getting into their music right around my freshman year of high school. I hadn’t really found a niche of music that I really felt connected to and when I found this I knew it was my thing, probably like some of you as well. I preordered the Pray for the Wicked album weeks before it came out, already having loved the singles that had been released beforehand. This album, I feel, spoke to me in a whole new level. The music itself wasn’t overly dark or vulgar like a lot of what we hear today. It’s upbeat and has just enough of an edge to make everyone happy.
Three songs on the album that I listened to on repeat and that don’t get enough recognition., in my opinion, are Roaring 20s, Dancing’s not a Crime and Dying in LA. Each of these has a different feel and in all honest are some of front man, Brendon Urie’s best work, among other songs.
Roaring 20s is one of the more upbeat songs on the album. It gives a very off a very sexy vibe that makes you want to dance and it has, of course, a very 20s era feel to it. Whether this song is in reference to the year 2020 that is approaching or in honor and memory of the 1920s, the original Roaring 20s, we don’t know. But it’s still a great song.
Dancing’s not a Crime. This song is something else. It has a vibe that is so strong to it. The message of the song is fairly self-explanatory, although I’m sure it can be up for debate. This isn’t the type of song you sit through, this is a song you have to move to.
Dying in LA has a special place in my heart. Brendon Urie tends to do one kind of song like this on his more recent albums and they always tend to be beautiful and heartfelt. This is a piano acoustic song and it speaks about losing yourself for something you thought you wanted in a world where nobody seems to care about you or know your name. It is a more depressing song, much like Urie’s “Impossible Year,” from his 2016 album Death of a Bachelor. He seems to save the beautifully sad songs for the last track on the album. I have a deep love for piano and this song takes the cake when it comes to the album.
This era is exceedingly special to me. Not only do I love the album but the Pray for the Wicked tour was the first concert I’ve ever been to. It rocked me from head to toe and if I ever get the chance to see Brendon Urie and Panic at the Disco in concert, I’ll be jumping at the chance.
Check out the album, even though you’ve probably heard High Hopes on repeat on the radio, it’s worth the listen.