Panic! ‘Death of a Bachelor’ offers unique mixture of pop and rock (Review)

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Death of a Bachelor was released on January 15. It features hit singles “Hallelujah” and “Victorious”. (Courtesy of the official Panic! website)

Last year, fans were shocked when Panic! At the Disco’s founding member Spencer Smith officially left the band, leaving Brendon Urie as the only member of the original lineup.

This incident didn’t stop Panic! from releasing music. On April 20 of last year, the rock band released their first single “Hallelujah” for the band’s fifth album, Death of a Bachelor. “Hallelujah” debuted at number 40 on Billboard Hot 100 which became the band’s second top-forty single and also the first in nine years since “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” in ’06.

According to Enterainment Tonight, Urie drew lyrically inspiration from his relationship with his wife and was musically influenced by music legends Frank Sinatra and Queen.

The album itself consists of 11 songs that are different from each other. Each song has a unique mixture of pop & rock sound with eccentric lyrics that makes this album remarkable.

“Crazy=Genius” is a 1920’s-inspired song wrapped with fun and eccentric lyrics.  “L.A. Devotee” lyrically describes driving fast past the flashy, glamorous city of Los Angeles.

In “Death of a Bachelor” Urie shows off his Sinatra-styled voice over a trap-influenced beat.  This combination is completely strange at first but Urie brilliantly made the song work.

Death of a Bachelor is one of the first albums released in 2016 and gained moderate critically acclaim from The Rolling Stones who gave the album 3 out 5 stars and Metacritic who gave the album 65/100.

Panic! will be going on tour this summer to support their fifth album. The tour will be stopping by Scranton, PA on June 26 at the Pavilion.