Pretty. Odd.

Pretty. Odd: unexpected surprise

Taking a step towards new style is a risky move for any popular band. It is really hard to predict what effect it will produce. However, the game is worth the candle and it seems like American band Panic! At The Disco decided to take the risk. It wasn't really hard to suppose what kind of music Panic! At The Disco would produce to fill their sophomore disc with. Their debut album had enough strength to grow platinum and to deprive some major artists of several honorable awards. And it isn't the only thing Panic! At The Disco can be proud of. As it chanced, Panic! At The Disco along with such acts as Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance became the leaders of a whole new direction that has shaped by now into a substitute for pop-punk/emo, or, to be more precise, into a new branch, which sounds smarter, more artistic and even more mainstream. In a word, it is quite appropriate to suppose that Panic! At The Disco will continue working in the same borders. But nothing of the kind! Their new album Pretty. Odd turned out to be an unexpected surprise. The band, of course, sounds familiar but still it is quite obvious that their music has undergone some sizable changes.

Another side of Panic! At The Disco

In contrast to A Fever You Can't Sweat Out the new album sounds far calmer. The band decided to abandon not only the overloaded punky guitars but also the tempo expressiveness of their old songs. However, the paradox is that it is something one cannot notice at once. The first track We're So Starving, which plays a role of an album's introduction here, and the following Nine In The Afternoon keep listener in a condition of anticipation, as if something is about to happen. The melodic patterns and especially vocals remind you their first album very much and thus it activates a chain of associations where sonic attack stands as a one of the main links. However, it turns out that the band is not going to attack your ears neither in the next track nor in any other song on this record and it all leave you a slight perplexity. It is worth to admit that such effect may simply scare away some part of Panic! At The Disco's fans but on the other hand it forces you to pay attention to some other qualities of their new songs. Or, in other words, constrains to look on this band from another perspective.

Pretty. Odd is more pretty than odd

It may sound strange but it were The Beatles who became the main source of inspiration for Panic! At The Disco. The album is thoroughly marked with all possible details that remind you Sgt. Pepper Lonely Heart Club Band and its theatrical imagery. You may find these traits on the aforementioned and probably the best song of this album We're So Starving. Of course, strings and trumpets were used at their previous record too but in this very case the band paid a very special attention to these elements. Take a look at Do You Know What I'm Seeing or Mad As Rabbits for instance. However, despite such unexpected departure from their initial course it all seems like Panic! At The Disco feel themselves quite comfortable in new conditions. The melodies sound very natural and beautiful (She's A Handsome Woman, Northern Downpour) and arrangements and harmonies sometimes simply astonish with diversity. It may be true that the new Panic! At The Disco will disappoint some part of their old fans but on the other hand it will definitely find new ones. From the point of view of band's evolution Panic! At The Disco created more than just worthy record. They had enough boldness to enter new territory in contravention of commercial logic and managed to record on of the strongest pop-rock albums of this year.