Panic!? At The Dive Bar

[Spinal Tapper]

So, just checked out the new Panic! At The Disco CD - came out a few weeks ago. Actually listened to it a few times over some time to get a better idea.

First off, let me start by saying, with the release of the first album, this band has always seemed to be an overly produced/engineered band. I actually really liked their first CD on a sonic level. Could listen to it start to finish - as far as bass goes, it doesn't really have much that stands out as far as "impressive playing"...

If anyone has ever watched a live YouTube clip, or God forbid had to sit through the torture of seeing this band play an entire set live, you know this band's first album was genetically enhanced for pop/radio friendly listeners to enjoy, and NOT to be reproduced live...or so we've seen.

On the other hand, the new album seems to be quite opposite. My first impression was: A lack of creativity and over-production to enable the songs to be more "playable" live.

Any thoughts? Any fans want to chime in here?
I have to tack on...as despicable as it may sound, I've actually read online reviews of this album comparing the band to The Beatles...may Zeus strike down bolts of lighting from his arse.

[RED5]

Originally Posted by Spinal Tapper

So, just checked out the new Panic! At The Disco CD - came out a few weeks ago. Actually listened to it a few times over some time to get a better idea.

First off, let me start by saying, with the release of the first album, this band has always seemed to be an overly produced/engineered band. I actually really liked their first CD on a sonic level. Could listen to it start to finish - as far as bass goes, it doesn't really have much that stands out as far as "impressive playing"...

If anyone has ever watched a live YouTube clip, or God forbid had to sit through the torture of seeing this band play an entire set live, you know this band's first album was genetically enhanced for pop/radio friendly listeners to enjoy, and NOT to be reproduced live...or so we've seen.

On the other hand, the new album seems to be quite opposite. My first impression was: A lack of creativity and over-production to enable the songs to be more "playable" live.

Any thoughts? Any fans want to chime in here?
I have to tack on...as despicable as it may sound, I've actually read online reviews of this album comparing the band to The Beatles...may Zeus strike down bolts of lighting from his arse.

"Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts" And every generation wants that "Beatles Comparo". U2 got it for "Boy" Oasis got a "next Beatles", Chris Cornell's "Euphoria Morning" should have gotten one. It's akin to political lies, once they're out there you can't call them back, and once they're out there?...at any rate?, I saw them on SNL and wasn't impressed.

[worker201]

I actually liked their first album. It was like a bunch of drama-nerds who loved showtunes got together to make a punk band, and the result was not the nightmare that description might invoke. Every song was about some cheating slut ex, a subject they tackled with dark sarcasm and dry wit. The over-production and studio engineering added to the dryness and the sarcasm, building into something that sounded original while still being true to band-of-the-week genre.

The new record, though, which I just sampled for the first time, has lost all that. Instead of being pissy and vindictive, they sound more like recovering drug addicts who are addicted to recovery, or those people who die and then come back to life, with their newfound vigor for life that makes everyone else's petty complaints seem shallow and demeaning. In short, I disliked it. It's not that I don't like happy or upbeat or optimistic songs - it's just that these songs ring hollow and have a pretension to them that turns me off.

No comment on the Beatles comparison, because I don't care for them either.

[Matt Till]

Saw 'em on SNL this weekend, they are clearly trying a "OMG weR3 da n00b BEETLEZ!" thing. I preferred it to the "closing the god damn door" pop emo stuff they were doing a year or so ago. Probably not going to rush out and buy it though.

[afinalfantasy]

They're terrible. Horrible, manufactured boy band with them holding guitars.

They covered Radiohead and destroyed Karma Police. Morons they are.

[FrizzleFry]

I see them as a "band" that tried to be clever/funny/new.. but blow.

[tommytoughnuts]

I think the new album is kinda cool. I was never into them before, but this new CD caught my attention as actually a pretty unique taste of a lot of different ideas. I enjoy listening to it very much. Maybe it seems very produced, but ever stop to think it might just be...polished? At any rate I think its just a cool little album.

Also, I think we need to stop being so sensitive towards covering/comparing things to The Beatles. There's no doubt that they were some of the great innovators of modern music as we know it, but they were only mortal. Hell, two of them are already dead. I love them dearly but they're still a group of guys playing music, and so is Panic At The Disco. You can't deny that the new panic album takes a many ideas from Sgt. Pepper's... So I leave you all with this quote: "good artists copy, great artists steal" - Picasso