Panic! At the Disco - "Vices & Virtues"

Panic! At the Disco - Vices & Virtues
2011, Fueled By Ramen

1. The Ballad of Mona Lisa
2. Let's Kill Tonight
3. Hurricane
4. Memories
5. Trade Mistakes
6. Ready To Go (Get Me Out of My Mind)
7. Always
8. The Calender
9. Sarah Smiles
10. Nearly Witches (Every Since We Met)
Bonus Tracks
11. Stall Me
12. Oh Glory
13. I Wanna Be Free
14. Turn Off the Light

When I first heard "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" I was pretty excited for the album that would follow. While I liked Pretty.Odd. alright I never really found myself going back to it as much as the debut. The first single from Vices & Virtues finds the band returning to their more modern emo/pop roots. "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" is an incredible song with an incredible hook but the rest of the album? It's a bit of a grower. I was a little disappointed at first until my wife and I were driving around in the car half-listening to it - and then it clicked. I started appreciating more and more songs. The peppy "Let's Kill Tonight" and the slightly disco-esque "Hurricane" are two of my favorites. I will say the middle tracks are not quite as entrancing. "Memories," "Trade Mistakes," and "Ready to Go" are not bad tunes at all - they just don't quite hold my interest. "Ready to Go" sounds pretty 80's... I first thought this track almost sounds like The Killers instead of Panic. Things pick up again with a gentle ballad "Always." "Sarah Smiles" is the most reminiscent of Pretty.Odd. As a plus, the guys finish strong with the epic "Nearly Witches."

That's when the real fun begins. My deluxe edition contains four tracks not found on normal editions of the album. These four tracks are really awesome. So awesome that I am confounded as to why they didn't show up on the album proper. It's not like Panic has ever shied away from cramming upwards of 15 songs on a disc, so what gives? If I would have gotten the normal version of this album I would have been disappointed. With the extra tracks I feel like I'm actually getting the whole package. Seriously, if you have the normal edition you're missing out. I guess I'm saying I like my edition of Vices & Virtues but I probably wouldn't like the one at Walmart. How's that for an official review?

Useless Fact: Not only is the ! back in Panic! At the Disco, the band now only includes vocalist Brendan Urie and the drummer. Urie also wrote most of the songs on the album. "Sarah Smiles" is about his girlfriend.