Album Review: Panic! at the Disco!- Vices & Virtues (2011)

It's been three years since we last saw the dance-emo youngans of Panic! at the Disco, and that's probably a lot longer than the band probably wanted to wait to release their make-or-break third full-length album. However, the departure of key songwriter Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band in a state of flux, as if the underwhelming and unexpected direction the band took on the Beatles-esque Pretty.Odd. divided the band's fanbase. Now, vocalist Brendan Urie and drummer Spencer Smith have found the stability the band needed, got a little older, and have a new album to boot. So does Vices & Virtues bring the band back to the days of the groundbreaking A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, or will they continue to toe the line between catchy and corny as Pretty.Odd.  so often crossed?

Critics be damned: this album is a return to form if there ever was one. 

Vices & Virtues rightfully starts off with the monstrous lead single "The Battle of Mona Lisa," where Urie's voice shines through in a way he hinted at when videos surfaced of his magnificent cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." The song takes away any doubt about whether or not the band could create the same magic seen throughout both albums (at times), as this is one of the catchiest songs Panic has written in their career. Vices sees the band recommitting to the dance-pop blend of emo that set them apart from the beginning, as songs like "Let's Kill Tonight" and "Ready to Go" are straight-up pop hits waiting to happen, with Urie's improved vocals leading the way through excellent arrangements and Smith's stellar drumming, which proves to be the high point of the album. 

There are flashes of Pretty.Odd. in Vices as well, as "Trade Mistakes" and "Sarah Smiles" lean more toward the stripped-down rock feel, but provide a great change of scenery to give the album a nice pacing throughout. These glimpses of Pretty. are more than welcome, as there were elements of the band's second full-length that deserved to be praised even though the album was mostly a bore. The stripped-down approach in addition to the layered efforts that line the album meld together to show the wide range of excellence Panic! can cover, and the choice (and quite frankly the risk) to try and combine the two pays off in a big way, as Vices comes off as a polished, mature effort that proves to be a testament of Panic!'s ability to survive and stand out in the music industry.

Despite the obvious and many high points, Vices & Virtues is far from perfect. The second and third tracks ("Let's Kill Tonight" and "Hurricane") fail to keep the momentum "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" opens the album with, and "Always" is essentially a throwaway track that doesn't bring much to the table. Album closer "Nearly Witches... (Ever Since We Met)" doesn't seem to fit as the last song of the album, but is still fairly strong. The flow of the album is very questionable, and doesn't seem to be as smooth as Fever was, but the songs are each strong enough on their own, but a better attention to that specific detail could have gone a long way. Vices is a strong album, without doubt, but considering the build-up from the letdown Pretty.Odd. was, Ryan Ross's very public departure, and the time taken overall to make this album, it feels a little too unorganized at times.

The bottom line: Make no mistake: Panic! at the Disco is back in a big way, and the strong points of Vices & Virtues are some of the strongest of their career. If you were turned off by the direction the band took with Pretty.Odd., give Vices a shot, and you may remember why you fell in love with Panic! in the first place.

Recommended if you rock: Panic! at the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, Fall Out Boy's Folie a Deux