Music Review: Death of a Bachelor
Imagine an album written with a crazy, party-filled, neon-lit-Los Angeles aesthetic. What you’re imagining is not far from Panic! at the Disco’s newest album, Death of a Bachelor. Although it was released at the beginning of 2016, there are several reasons why I’m discussing it now. Actually, there are eleven reasons, and coincidentally, there are eleven songs on this album.
To discuss each musical masterpiece of four minutes or less in full wouldn’t be enough, so I’ll just give you a little taste of how each song is going to change your life.
- “Victorious” starts with a cheerleader-esque shout that kicks off the beginning of it all. It’s the perfect pump-up song for literally any moment of your life. Feeling down? “Victorious” is gonna make you feel like today is your day, no matter what.
- Panic! took a sample of The B-52’s “Rock Lobster” and revamped it to create “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time”. A more sardonic party song, lead singer Brendon Urie talks of a night gone strange and the lifestyle of a true bachelor.
- “Hallelujah” is the “real talk” trackĀ of Death of a Bachelor. Urie sings of growing up and finding his true identity, echoing his own struggles living in a Mormon household. “All you sinners stand up, sing hallelujah” echoes throughout the chorus.
- The music video alone for “Emperor’s New Clothes” is enough for Panic! to win every award on the planet. As Urie sings of phantoms and stealing royalty, he’s flung to a hellish landscape and transforms into a horned demon. Honestly, it’s so much better if you just go watch it.
- My favorite song will forever be the title track, “Death of a Bachelor”. Urie was influenced by jazz singers like Frank Sinatra, and this piece echoes all of his efforts. It also shows off his vocal range and his ability to go from party boy to esteemed bachelor.
- “Crazy=Genius” is just what it sounds like: absolutely crazy. An entire horn section and a warped circus vibe, along with lyrics like “you can set yourself on fire, but you’re never gonna burn,” just add to the absolute oddity of it all.
- All you Coachella girls and California lovers, “LA Devotee” is gonna be your cup of tea. The entire vibe of this song screams the desert Hollywood party aesthetic, and the drums behind it all keeps the beat going and going until, unfortunately, the song ends.
- To say I haven’t been screaming the chorus to “Golden Days” for the last two weeks would be a lie; the syncopated beat and the accompanying electric guitar could raise the dead. Urie sings of a party lost in time, and the golden days he’ll always remember.
- “The Good, The Bad, and The Dirty” remains a song I still don’t know how to describe. You’re going to want to crank the chorus and sing until you lose your voice, that’s for sure. Urie gives some advice of experience: “If you wanna start a fight, you better throw the first punch, make it a good one.”
- The first line of “House of Memories will break hearts”, and the chorus is going to beckon nostalgia like no other. You’ll want to be sad but you’ll also want to belt this out at full volume.
- It’s a strange thing, to choose a song for an album to end on. “Impossible Year” is a slow piano ballad of what I assume is Panic!’s own impossible year. More Frank Sinatra vibes, more heartbreak, and voila, Death of a Bachelor in full.