Jan. 21, Death of a Bachelor by Panic! at the Disco

Genre: Rock, but with more of a pop flavor than early Panic! at the Disco albums.
Year: 2016
Runtime: 36:06
Total Number of Tracks: 11
Songs you might know:
– “Hallelujah” (no, not a Leonard Cohen cover)
– “Victorious”
– “Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time”
– “Hallelujah” (not a Leonard Cohen cover)
– “Death of a Bachelor”

My prior relationship with the album: I first listened to Death of a Bachelor in the fall of 2016 after I crowdsourced some music suggestions on FaceBook. I remember enjoying it, but only a few songs really left a lasting impression: “Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time,” “Hallelujah,” and “LA Devotee” still inspire carpool karaoke sessions when they come on shuffle, but the rest of the album had been mostly forgotten.

My impression this time around: If there’s one reason I know that including this album in this project was a good idea, it’s the song “Golden Days.” I never really considered it one of my favorites before, but it’s right up there. Listening to the whole thing all the way through also reminded me that there’s really no bad song here. Urie has one of the best voices in music right now and this album has enough variety that it doesn’t get boring, yet Urie also doesn’t push himself so far outside his comfort zone that it compromises quality. He still owns what he’s good at and the album feels authentic, rather than an attempt to be different just for the sake of different.

Who would enjoy it? I think this is definitely on the more “pop” side of pop punk. It’s a great pick for anyone who shies away from the more R&B/Hip hip influenced pop that seems to dominate the charts today, but also shies away from true alternative rock.