Pretty. Odd. - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk
The title gives it away instantly- Pretty.Odd. (don't forget the periods) is not exactly the album that affirmed admirers of Panic At The Disco will have expected. The quartet, then teenagers, hit big in 2005 when A Fever You Can't Sweat Out rode its hit single "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" and its striking video to huge sales, defining their niche bridging emo and theatrical art-rock. Three years later Panic (they've ditched the exclamation mark) return with an expansive album that shamelessly, and very skilfully, takes inspiration directly from the Beatles' bigger budget productions and the baroque classic rock that came in their wake. They must use every instrument in the orchestral palette. But this is hardly a trip to "guilty pleasures" territory, four minute pop tunes polished almost to sterility. Even the catchy, imposing opener "We're So Starving", where they protest "we're still the same band", is playful rather than predictable. "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)" offers so many styles it defies categorisation, the darkly comic sixties pastiche "When the Day Met the Night" could wear the vague "sunshine pop" label comfortably and the likes of "Pas De Cheval" and nicely wistful first single "Nine in the Afternoon" stick in the head after a single hearing. Also the token acoustic strumalong is called "Folkin' Around". Whether their fanbase actively craved such a diverse display of ambition is moot, but Pretty.Odd. is an impressive and deservedly popular collection. For once it seems that the public agree with those critics who so often describe lovingly crafted, low-selling tributes to genres past as perfect pop. --Steve Jelbert

Amazon.com
For Panic At The Disco's sophomore follow-up to their Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen break-through debut 2005's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, the band holed up in a Las Vegas studio with renowned producer Rob Mathes. What they created is nothing short of a masterpiece, the 60's pop-inspired Pretty Odd. This time around, the band opted for real instruments and live tracking over Pro Tools software, citing influences as The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles. Says guitarist Ryan Ross in an interview with Billboard, We want to make music [that is] simple and timeless and not too pretentious. The band also did additional tracking at the Abbey Road Studio in London, adding a Beatles-esque flavor to their usual Vegas flare. The song lyrics have moved away from the whole one-liner, sarcastic thing says Ross, in favor of more everyday things. Lead single, "Nine In The Afternoon" has the band showing a healthy dose of maturity, having grown as songwriters and instrumentalists.

Customer Reviews: Read 175 more reviews...

2 out of 5 stars

I WISH IT WAS PRETTY ODD...JUST PRETTY BORING March 31, 2008
42 out of 74 found this review helpful

Panic at the Disco's first effort shined with originality. Including the ingenious hit "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies". Each single they released off their first CD had a unique quality and personality of its own.

We now have "Pretty Odd", and I wish it was just that, because their first effort was pretty odd, unusual, different, and fantastic.

Their first single, though catchy "Nine in the Afternoon", alerted me that if this is the first single off the album, then somethings up.

It was, ...each song is kind of from the same cutout character. Kind of Beatlesque, Folksy and just kind of boring.

I am not looking for hard rocking, screaming songs, but these songs just don't pop out. They just lay there. The production, and instrumentals are very good, as well as of course the vocals, however the songs need stronger presence of hooks, and melodies.

Panic at the Disco has met the horrible fret of the sophmore slump. I am sorry Panic I really like you, however this album sits like a lump of coal.

Get back into the studio quick before you fade into the woodwork. Your first CD shined with so many great songs. What happened?

4 out of 5 stars

Much Better than their debut album May 8, 2008
22 out of 28 found this review helpful

While those who loved Panic at the Disco's debut may hate PRETTY. ODD., I think that PRETTY. ODD. is ten times the album their debut was. With the exception of a couple of strong tracks ("I Write Sins Not Tragedies" and "Lying Is the Most Fun..." namely), I wasn't a Panic (formerly Panic!) fan in the least. Sure, I love their videos, but the band just seemed a bit over the top to me. Evidently, the boys of Panic at the Disco got the same notion about themselves, canning their original follow-up to their debut with this "pretty. odd." sophomore album. Sure, it is a bit schizophrenic in composition, but somehow, this novelty album ultimately works perfectly. If anything, it did propel the Panic boys to a chart position they'd never seen before, #2 with a bow of 139,000, not bad for an album that never new what six-digits was until it was eventually certified platinum. While the chances of PRETTY. ODD. going platinum seem convoluted by its initial slow, lackadaisical sales, it could go gold. But then, we are in a time where NOTHING is selling.

"Nine in the Afternoon", the first true selection from PRETTY. ODD. is an excellent choice for first single. It is short and sweet, and the production if phenomenal. Brendon Urie's vocals seem to be much more mature on PRETTY. ODD. than on their first outing, which is a plus. Following "Nine in the Afternoon", a series of strong, standout and varied tracks follow including "She's a Handsome Woman", the slightly manic and cabaret "Do You Know What I'm Seeing" in which Brendon Urie sings the catchiest lyrics of the whole album ("I know it's sad, but I never gave a damn about the weather and it never gave a damn about me" ), and the irresistible "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)". All are solid, more than can be said about their debut, at least in my opinion.

Skipping over pointless interludes (I think most interludes are pointless by the way), "Northern Downpour" features some of the sickest guitar riffs of PRETTY. ODD. while "When The Day Met The Night" just might be my personal favorite of the entire album. "Pas de Cheval" is solid as well, while the remainder of the tracks begin to lose some of their uniqueness and freshness. Sure "The Piano Knows Something That I Don't Know", "Behind The Sea", "She Had the World", "From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins" and"Mad As Rabbits" are all solid, but the aren't as strong as the forefront and middle portions of PRETTY. ODD., which are pretty excellent. However, by the time, nobody really cares because Panic have really established themselves as more credible artists than their debut proved (despite the Grammy nomination). Overall, PRETTY. ODD. scores highly in my grade book. 4 stars.

5 out of 5 stars

Pretty. Odd. Stunning. March 25, 2008
17 out of 27 found this review helpful

Wow, that didn't take long. Panic! At The Disco evolves into the simpler Panic At The Disco and make the creative leap from Seven and the Ragged Tiger to Sgt. Pepper in the span of one album. Being plain old biologically young may have something to do with it, after all, jumping from your garage to touring the world can broaden your horizons fast. But this? From New-wavey emo kids on A Fever You Can't Sweat Out to Sophomore classic pop/rock this quick is pretty darn amazing. And that ambition pays off in spades.

This is, hands down, the best of this genre since the lamented demise of Jellyfish. From the "Penny Lane" horns on the first single "Nine in The Afternoon" to the Faux-Dylan/Byrds "Folking Around," Panic not only shoot for these classic song styles, they hit the mark on just about every song. (Electric Light) Orchestras have mostly supplanted synths, rich Queenly harmonies permeate many tracks, and there are even nods to Big Band and cabaret. As the album closes, the Psychedelic Pop Swirls of "Mad As Rabbits" evoke so many great trippy pop bands from the past that Panic now finds themselves among their ranks.

Much the same way My Chemical Romance jumped the creative chasm when they released the terrific The Black Parade, Panic at the Disco plunder all the best elements of classic rock and pop before putting the pieces back together in their own personal pattern. When multiple Brendon Uries announce at the album opening that "we're still the same band," it's both a declaration and a whopper. They are still Panic At The Disco, the song titles are silly and the lyrics are cheeky (ala Mentors Fall Out Boy's Infinity on High), but they're an older and more expansive bunch, especially given that the members are barely into their 20's. "Pretty. Odd." takes PATD and lifts them beyond the music of their debut and to whole new plateau. I have had this for just a couple of days and can't stop listening. Only three months into 2008 and this is already on my shortlist for best of the year.

1 out of 5 stars

The Beatles did it better March 26, 2008
16 out of 74 found this review helpful

Full disclosure: not a Panic fan. Never was. Read a review of this album that compared the song writing and the music to Beatles records. It's fine if this is an homage to the Beatles and Panic decided to wear that influence on their sleeves, but even considering that the Beatles do this type of thing much, much better than these guys. Go buy some Beatles CDs instead.

2 out of 5 stars

Pretty. Disappointed. March 25, 2008
12 out of 21 found this review helpful

If you expect this album to continue the style of "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," you will be sadly disappointed. There are a few songs where Beatle, Queen, Jellyfish, and ELO influences can be heard (like in "We're So Starving," "Nine in the Afternoon," and "When the Day Met the Night").

However, the album doesn't carry this theme throughout. Everything is very slow, there isn't a synth ANYWHERE to be found (if you were expecting that to carry over from "A Fever," don't even buy this album), and the strings are nice, but ultimately are inserted in places where they are unnecessary. It just lacks intensity. Much of the album (especially tracks 3-5, 9-11, and 13-15) sounds like cookie-cutter pop.

Overall, it's not worth it for the 4 or 5 songs that are decent. It is different than "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," and it's not bad because of that, it's just not very good as it's own work. After a while, the songs run together. There is nothing unique about "Pretty. Odd."

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