Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a mixed bag of influences = a very interesting and refreshing listen, October 17, 2005
I got this album after my sister played a couple of mp3s for me. As an architecture student, I often sit in front of my computer or drafting table for 10 or more hours at a time, and many times I just put one album on repeat and listen to it about 20 times. I did this with "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" this weekend, and I am listening to it right now.
The word that I think sums the album up most accurately is: "compelling." After listening to the album over and over and over again, I have come to respect the achievement of this band and this album in a way that I respect the work of very few bands; the members of Panic! manage to absorb and, in a critical way, digest and re-produce many varied musical precedents into a strangely fresh form.
I am stunned that nobody in these reviews has mentioned the influence of the band Refused, specifically the album "The Shape of Punk to Come." The radio static fading in and out between techno fills, blending between songs, was done to amazing effect almost exactly seven years ago on "The Shape of Punk to Come," and in one sense one could say that Panic!'s album falls short of the promise of such an obvious influence, as Refused set the bar for all progressive punk/rock/rhythm/techno fusion forever, yet due to their obviously varied pool of influences, comparing Panic! and Refused is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. I think what Panic! has borrowed from Refused (complete variety through a mix of analog and digital musical techniques with an unrelenting, rhythmic energy) is completely effective in establishing a foundation upon which Panic! has succeeded in crafting an alarmingly listenable and compelling album.
2. In the first song, "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide is Press Coverage," the plea: "Sit tight, I'm going to need you to keep time, come on just snap snap snap your fingers for me," is delivered over a simple acoustic guitar line and a thin electronic snare beat, which leads quickly into crunchy electronic guitar with live drums. This plea is a perfect one to open this album with, compelling the listening to follow closely, as just within this single song the music bounces back and forth between pop and darker punk influences, techno, and folk with an effortless grace.
3. The thing that stands out most starkly to me in the second song, "London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines," is how the melody ("make us it, make us hit, make us scene...") of the chorus sounds exactly like a Coheed and Cambria melody, but I haven't been able to find the exact song it's reminding me of. Overall, I find the choice of topic and the content of the lyrics to expose a certain degree of immaturity, but I suppose that's to be expected from such a young band.
4. I love the opening synth/guitar (?) line of "Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks." It reminds me of NES games from fifteen years ago. Then the heavy vocals filter... so Cher!
5. The imagery and tone of "Camisado" strongly recalls Brand New's "The Quiet Things that No One Ever Knows"; a young and masculine lyricist waxing poetic about the violence native to living fast and loud and the inevitable pause the spectre of death presents to such a mind. Overall not as effective as Brand New's song in dealing with the subject matter, but, again a bit like comparing apples and oranges, as "The Quiet Things" is a classic, driving Brand New anthem and "Camisado" is more nuanced and painted with techno florishes. It's most successful moment is during the filtered drum breakdown beginning at 2:02, its abrupt transistion into its quiet, contemplative repetition and drumroll back into the chorus. But, again, the formula was also successful in "The Quiet Things," and several other Brand New (and Blink 182, for that matter) songs, with a contemplative bridge building up to an anthemic final chorus. Panic! could learn a bit about vocal harmony from Brand New.
6&7. "It's Time to Dance" and "Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off", though very different songs, make sort of a mini rock opera in the middle of the album for me, as the lyricist manages to arrange two different songs, one with estrogen and the other with testosterone as subjects of their respective choruses, next to one another in order on the album. Excellent, haha...
8. Ah, the Refused influence finally makes itself indisputable. However, radio static and techno aside, I must say that the piano solo on "Intermission" is quite remarkable for a pop/punk/whatever band to have pulled off; most of the bands that I have known personally or have listened to a good deal tend to stay quite close to the guitar & bass & drum arrangement, and for a baroque-ish waltz to spring up in the middle of this album is pretty rad. Not to mention the artful accellerando and sloppy notes towards the end which are eventually overpowered by a THX-ish digital flourish of noise... so interesting, if unpleasant to listen to. It's things like this, the creation a tension within the listener, a fretfulness caused between enjoying the intellectual operation within the song and the actual cacaphony of the sounds being made, in Panic!'s music that brings it closer to art than most bands would even understand.
9. "But It's Better When We Do"... What is this?? A ska song? WTF? More diversity, craziness...
10-13. "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" is a great song, as are the last three songs, as varied in their influences and as skillfully written as the rest of the tracks. I find the cello on "Build God, Then We'll Talk" particularly welcome, reprising the most recognizable melody from "The Sound Of Music" (????!!!!) to cap off the most diverse pop punk album ever written.
And in conclusion, I feel I need to emphasize part of the last point: in terms of overall content, tone and production, this ultimately comes across as a pop punk album, and this is the reason I have given it 4 stars and not 5. I feel that, while there is an obvious maturity to the skills that were necessary to create something that fuses so many musical influences so seamlessly, there is also a nagging immaturity to the overall feel of the album, a sort of ansty teenager feeling that I feel is only holding this talented band back from truly breaking new ground, musically. As Brand New really managed to mature as a band with Deja Entendu, I eagerly look foward to Panic!'s next album, when the product will hopefully fulfill the promise made so obvious with this exceptional debut.
|
|
|
313 of 397 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well Done. , January 6, 2006
Panic! At the Disco is a new band full of Las Vegas scene kids clever enough to think of such clever, mature, maybe even funny if you read it without the music, lyrics. Brendon Urie's(Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard, Piano, Accordion, Organ) voice is very extraordinary and just makes this type of music more fun to listen to. Of course with Ryan Ross'(Lyrics, Guitar, Keyboard, Piano, Accordion, Organ) very clever lyrics nothing would be possible. But no one can forget Brent Wilson(Bass) and Spencer Smith(Drums, Percussion). Their music is great to dance to and is good for parties. If you actually got this far through my review and didnt switch to another one, Thanks. Now lets get to the main part.
01.Introduction- 10/10: It's an introduction. You cant really demand too much of it. I personally thought it was a good one too.
02.The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage- 10/10: Great song. Catchy lyrics. Great beat and rythm. The acoustic guitar and the singer fuse well together in this song. Right away the song demands you to tap your toes and snap your fingers, and this song makes you do just that. You might even break into a dance.
03.London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines- 10/10: Another Amazing song. Fast lyrics but not in your face. Greath rythm and beat that makes you want to bob your head and stomp your feet. The lyrics just hang onto you and dont let go, demanding you to sing along. Panic! At the Disco is the only band full of 19-year-olds that can say "We're are just a wet dream for the webzine" without sounding stupid.
04.Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks- 8/10: I'm sorry but this was one of my least favorite song on this cd. I still thought it was really good. I loved the chorus.
05.Camisado- 10/10: Really Really great song. This one grabs your attention, turns your rug into a dancefloor, and shoots a gun at your feet forcing you to dance. You just feel like dancing to this song. It really good.
06.Time to Dance- 10/10: GREAT dance song too. Good mix of Techno and the regular guitars and drums. Easy lyrics, but very strong ones, that makes you want to scream them out. I even found my self screaming "When I say Shotgun you say wedding! Shotgun, Wedding! Shotgun, Weddng!". Great explosive ending to this song also.
07. Lying is the Most Fun a Girl can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off- 10/10: A tone down of energy from the other songs, this song is a nice blend of maturity, lust, and great lyrics. Makes you want to dance, or even makeout with the person next to you...
08.Intermission- 9/10: Gives you a break from all the previous songs. I enjoyed it though, I liked the piano and thought it was a good way to split up the cd. I got scared at the end of the song haha.
09.But It's Better if You Do- 11/10: This is one of my Top 3 Favorite songs. Makes you want to dance, sing along, and even write the song all over your wall. Check it out for yourself, this is only my opinion. heh.
10.I Write Sins Not Tragedies- 11/10: Lovely song. The beginning politely asks you to pay attention, but in 30 seconds they demand your attention. I fell in love with this song, this one the first song I heard from them.
11.I Constantly Thank Esteban- 15/10: My Most Favorite Song ever! I had to learn the lyrics right away. It made my knees move while a was sitting, even standing. I love this song, but its up to YOU so check it out.
12. There's a Good Reason These Tables are Numbered Honey, You Just Havent Thought of it Yet- 15/10: Very Interesting song. Makes you want to listen through the whole song wondering what they will say. This song makes you want to throw on a hot outfit, grab your lover, and dance all around the floor with a rose in your mouth.
13. Build God, Then We'll Talk- 20/10: The best song on this cd to me. Catchy lyrics. This song turns you into a bobble head, flicking over and over again, making your head bob side to side. I dont really know how you would dance to this song though. I had fun singing it though.
I hope this review was helpful for you at all. I've said things over and over again in this review, like that this cd makes you dance, and makes you sing. But it does, great cd to play at parties. It does have 2 bad words so this might be recommended for "PG-13" kiddies and not the "PG" kids. This isn't emo. It's, in my opinion, Dance Punk or Dance Rock, because it is. This cd has a classy touch to it, using elegent words, clever ryhmes, things like that. This cd will make you tired and sore, but asks to be played once more. Great cd, preview it, buy it, love it.
|
|
|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Energy!, November 26, 2005
Love it!
Panic! At the Disco is a refreshingly different band in a day full of copycat rubbish. While they do sound *familiar* to some other acts out, there is one thing that separates them from the rest - dance beats. "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" is an album of pure dance/rock energy belted out by a bunch of guys who are still too young to even drink.
A definite buy for fans of Fall Out Boy, Motion City Soundtrack, and the like simply because it offers something that is really unique to the whole emo/pop/rock scene.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
~ Fall Out Boy
~ Fall Out Boy
~ My Chemical Romance
~ Paramore
~ My Chemical Romance
- the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
