Review Summary: Panic! sweat out their sophomore fever while remaining both odd and pretty
A return to form is an interesting thing. When a band manages to retreat from the precipice of an unwise career move or an ill-judged experiment, they will undoubtedly be met with either sighs of relief, or indifference. While the latter could well have been the case for Panic! At The Disco, its two remaining members, Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith, have managed to circle the wagons, as it were, and regain their footing at the eleventh hour. Vices And Virtues is, among many things, a comeback. Gone are the Lennonesque musings and vinyl-hiss hoedowns of the bands sophomore slump, 'Pretty.Odd', making way for the electronic, hook laden pop-rock Panic! built their fanbase on. Listeners will hear an instant connection to Panics debut, 'A Fever You Can't Sweat Out', the second that the first few music-box notes of opener 'The Ballad Of Mona Lisa' come tinkling to life.
Things progress steadily from here on in, with offerings that range from frantic clap-machine anthem 'Hurricane', to the brooding, soaring 'Trade Mistakes'. There's a bit of everything, and if Panic! have taken anything from 2008's 'Pretty.Odd', it's the variation. The electronic beats and strings that greatly shaped '..fever' are used here with much more focus and restraint, avoiding the overindulgence of the debut. Tracks like 'Sarah Smiles' and 'Always' are just as well rounded as any of the three singles, and there is virtually no filler to be found here. Songs that fail to pack the immediate punch of 'Mona Lisa' and 'Ready to go' will soon click after one or two repeat visits, as is always the case with a pop record.
Also, like most pop recordings, the production is clean enough to eat off of, which could be either good or bad, depending on how you like your music. A fair ammount of credit must be given to producers Butch Walker and John Feldman, both working the magic they brought to previous records by Fall Out Boy, The Used and....Uh.... Escape The Fate. Well, Two out of three ain't bad.
Overall, Panic! At The Disco have delivered a tidy, easily digested ten tracks with everything their fans could hope for, and a new-found maturity that may just broaden their audience. There are more hooks than a masochist's rec room, and in all honesty, that's all you could really aproach this kind of music for. By reclaiming the virtues of '...Fever' and losing the vices of 'Pretty.Odd', Panic! present us with their strongest album to date.
