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Panic! at the Disco

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Panic! at the Disco

Panic at the Disco (formerly known as Panic! at the Disco) is a rock band that originated in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Their sound incorporates elements of pop punk, big beat, electronica, techno, and rock, along with many other genres like psychedelic, baroque pop, folk and jazz.[citation needed] Their 2005 debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, reached #13 on the US Billboard 200, and has sold over 2.2 million copies[4] since its September 2005 release. The band's second album, Pretty. Odd., was released on March 25, 2008 and debuted at #2 in the US.

History

2004: Origins and signing

The band was formed in the suburban area of Summerlin, Las Vegas, by two childhood friends—Ryan Ross on the guitar and Spencer Smith on the drums. Since the age of thirteen, the two played Blink-182 covers in bands of different formations, according to an interview with Walker and Ross. Ross and Smith then created a band under the name of "Summer League" with childhood friends Brent Wilson, and Trevor who would later leave the band.

It was at Palo Verde High School where Wilson met Brendon Urie. Wilson had asked Urie to try out as guitarist for the fledgling band, as they were looking for a replacement guitarist at the time. Originally, Urie was not the band's lead singer or their guitarist. Rather, the position belonged to current guitarist and lyricist Ross. However, when they heard him sing backup vocals during a rehearsal, they were impressed with his backup vocal abilities and unanimously decided to make him the singer. The band then settled on the name 'Panic! at the Disco.' They lifted the name from the lyrics of a song called "Panic," by Name Taken: Panic at the disco / Sat back and took it so slow / Are you nervous? Are you shaking? / Save compliments to praise compilation / We don't have to feel we fit in / We can move back / We can leave them.[5] Although the band often says that the name comes from the song Panic by The Smiths, it was revealed by them that the Name Taken song did also lend inspiration to the band, but that the song by The Smiths is sometimes easier to explain to the ones who are unaware of Name Taken.[citation needed]

In order to promote music, the band contacted Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz through LiveJournal, and sent him an internet link to their PureVolume site. Wentz took a trip to Las Vegas to meet the band. After seeing them practice, he asked if they would sign with his Fueled by Ramen imprint label Decaydance.

2006: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

Main article: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
Lead singer Brendon Urie.

Panic at the Disco released their debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out on September 27, 2005, making a fan base through PureVolume and MySpace, though achieving little commercial recognition. After a consistent presence in PureVolume's top 10 signed artists, and reaching number one in MySpace's indie charts, Panic at the Disco were featured on MTV's Total Request Live on January 17, 2006, where they premiered their music video for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies." Featuring Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque and a circus wedding theme, the video débuted at #10 on the TRL countdown, later winning the Video of the Year award at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. The single itself, released April 27, 2006 got to #7 in the US charts.

The band was originally third-billed for the Truckstops & Statelines Winter Tour in early 2006, which was headlined by The Academy Is... and included Acceptance as direct support and Hellogoodbye on the line-up. Due to their increase in popularity before and during the tour, the band ended up getting pushed above Acceptance to second-billed every night playing right before the headliner and "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" outsold The Academy Is...'s debut album, "Almost Here" during the tour.

Their second single, "But It's Better If You Do", was released in the UK on May 1st, 2006 where it debuted, and peaked, at #23. The accompanying music video, released the previous month, portrays the band playing in a speakeasy in 1930's America, which, according to Urie, shows "the dark and secluded style of Panic."

The band officially announced the departure of their bassist, Brent Wilson, with a message on the band's website on May 17, 2006. Wilson has since claimed that the decision to leave was not his, and that he was fired without warning for monetary reasons, though the rest of the band deny this.[6][7] Wilson is now demanding a cut in royalties, and has threatened he will take his former band to court if need be.[8]

Just days after Wilson's departure, the band embarked on their first headlining tour through Europe, with long-time friend, Jon Walker, filling in for the summer tour as a temporary bassist while a permanent replacement was sought. All of the dates were sold out, with some, notably Manchester, selling out in a matter of hours. Upon their return, the band embarked on a two-month North American headlining tour with supporting acts The Hush Sound, OK Go, The Dresden Dolls, and Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque, still retaining Walker as a temporary bassist. On July 3 of that year, the band's MySpace profile was edited to list Walker as bassist/vocals, and he became a permanent member of Panic at the Disco.

The success of their first two singles helped catapult their debut album to the top of the Billboard Independent chart and to #13 on the Billboard 200 in July 2006. The video for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" has been streamed from YouTube almost 9 million times.

Towards the end of July 2006 Panic at the Disco released their third music video, "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off." The video features people with fish tank helmets walking the streets of what appears to be a studio back lot. The video only shows the band in one shot, reportedly because they felt that their looks were distracting from their music.

In early August 2006, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out went Platinum, having sold over one million albums.

During Panic's opening song on August 25, 2006 at the Carling Weekend: Reading Festival, an unknown audience member threw a bottle at the stage, which struck and temporarily knocked out Brendon Urie, forcing the band to stop playing. After some minutes, he got back up and shouted to the crowd, "You can't take me out! Let's see how well you guys do with my left side", and continued with the same song.[9] In a phone interview Ryan Ross stated that "We [Panic!] were kinda expecting that [The bottling] going into the Reading, because we heard that that's kinda a tradition they have over there" and then continued by saying that "We walked on and we were kinda expecting that to keep our heads up the whole time, and unfortunately Brendon, he was catching bottles coming towards me and Jon and then he was dodging them himself, and kinda just didn't see one coming that I saw and it got him pretty good, and I dunno that's the only time anything like that's ever happened so hopefully we won't have to worry about anything like that too much."

The band embarked on a world tour in the later part of 2006. It included dates in Australia, New Zealand, and continental Europe. On November 7, 2006, they kicked off their first-ever arena tour with Bloc Party (who shortly dropped out because of drummer Matt Tong suffering a collapsed lung) and Jack's Mannequin. The Plain White T's were added to the next few weeks of The Nothing Rhymes With Circus Tour. They opened up the shows beginning in New York through November 26 in Iowa. After that, Cobra Starship were on the tour through December 9 in San Diego. The band appeared along with Fall Out Boy, Marilyn Manson, and other bands on the special edition soundtrack of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas covering "This Is Halloween", which was re-released in 3D on October 20.

Their final single from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, "Build God, Then We'll Talk", was released on March 5, 2007. The accompanying music video portrays the fallacy of relationships.

In May 2007 it was announced that a Smashing Pumpkins Tribute LP would be released, compiled by MySpace and Spin. The LP features Panic's cover of "Tonight, Tonight" and was included free in the June 26, 2007 issue of Spin.[10]

2007-2008: Pretty. Odd.

Main article: Pretty. Odd.
Pretty. Odd. album cover.

In early 2007, Panic at the Disco began writing their follow up album but decided to rewrite the entire album from scratch in July 2007. While speaking to MTV, Ryan Ross explained that the album lacked a band set up and that it "sounded like a film score." He also explained that the new songs have "a more positive outlook to them."[11] The band also began performing new songs during various festivals and gigs - two of these songs: "Nine in the Afternoon" and "When the Day Met the Night".

Rob Mathes, who produced the record, described the album as “the most significant music project I have done in a while in that it is young and intense, adventurous and endlessly creative. Working with these young kids has made me look at music the way I did when I discovered early records by The Who and Brian Eno-period David Bowie when I was 16. For this project I am also filled with “gratitude”.[12] The band previously planned to have Danny Elfman, who worked on the original Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, produce the album.

On November 19 on the NBC drama Heroes a recorded portion of Panic's song "Nine in the Afternoon" was played during a scene where Claire Bennet is practicing for a pep rally.[13][14]

On December 11, it was announced on Billboard.com that Panic's second album was set to be released on March 25, 2008. Later that day, a series of puzzles began to appear on the Panic at the Disco website. The first puzzle led to the answer of "You Don't Have to Worry" - Drummer Spencer Smith explained that it was a lyric from a song named "We're So Starving".

The video for "Nine in the Afternoon" was shot on the December 21 and 22, ahead of the release as a single in January 2008.[15]

A second puzzle revealed samples from a song on the upcoming album with the third piece of the puzzle leading to a blog entry on MySpace which updated the progress of the album while releasing a rough version of the song "We're So Starving". The band also announced that they would be recording the strings and mixing the album at Abbey Road Studios.

On January 9, the exclamation point in the band's name was dropped, a day later the band's homepage was changed to the logo for the Honda Civic Tour, which the band is headlining this year. They confirmed that the second album was titled Pretty. Odd. with a release date of March 25, 2008. They defended the decision to drop the exclamation point during an interview with MTV : "It was never part of the name to us. (...) When we started doing new promo stuff for this album, we just told everyone not to use it anymore."[16]

A fresh puzzle appeared on the band's website on the January 16, various parts of the puzzle were released on to different websites. A week later, the completed puzzle appeared on the website revealing the album cover of Pretty. Odd.

On January 26, a new puzzle was added to the site, this led to the back cover of the album being revealed.

The single for "Nine in the Afternoon" was added to Amazon.com's digital music catalogue. Although the song will only be available for purchase on January 29, a 30 second preview of the final version was uploaded and later removed.

On January 28, "Nine in the Afternoon" was made available (in full) on the band's official MySpace page. iTunes made the Deluxe Edition and Standard Edition of the album available for pre-order on January 29, 2008.[citation needed]

The day after the video for the first single "Nine in the Afternoon" aired, the band shot a whole new video for the next single, entitled "That Green Gentlemen (Things Have Changed)".

On February 23, Panic at the Disco hosted a private event with fan club members at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza in New York City. The band held a Q&A session with the fans and those in attendance got to hear for the first time three new songs. The setlist included: "We're So Starving," "Nine in the Afternoon", "But It's Better If You Do", "She's a Handsome Woman", "That Green Gentlemen (Things Have Changed)", "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" and "Mad as Rabbits".

A poster for the event featured a Wal-Mart Soundcheck logo, which leads some people to believe the band will soon have a performance up on their website and possibly have Pretty. Odd. released in a Walmart packaging that comes with an exclusive DVD.[17]

During their recent 2008 European Tour, Panic at the Disco performed songs from their new album, Pretty. Odd., including: "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)", "Nine in the Afternoon", "She's a Handsome Woman", "Mad as Rabbits", and "We're So Starving".

On March 30, the album hit #2 in the UK Albums Chart.[18] The album also debuted at #2 in the U.S., selling 139,000 copies in its first week.[19] On April 8, the album debuted at #1 in Australia.[20]

For the week of April 7 to April 12, 2008, Panic was the MTV Artist of the Week.[21] They began the Honda Civic Tour April 10th of the same week at The Warfield in San Francisco, California.

In August, Panic at the Disco will embark on a world tour, with dates in Asia, Australia and New Zealand already announced. These will be the band's biggest shows overseas to date.

Performances

Circus-style performers at a Panic at the Disco concert.

Panic at the Disco performed in Times Square during the New Year's Eve events in December 2006/January 2007 with Carson Daly. They performed two songs, "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" (Last performance in 2006) and "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (First performance in 2007). Although both songs have swear words Panic at the Disco sang censored versions of the songs.

They have also performed live cover versions of Third Eye Blind's "Slow Motion", Radiohead's "Karma Police", The Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight", two versions of Counting Crows' "Round Here", K-Ci and Jojo's "All My Life", Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time", Nelly Furtado's "Maneater", Queen's "Killer Queen", The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", Blink-182's "What's My Age Again?", and The Band's "The Weight".[22]

Style

While Panic has been called an emo band,[23][24][25][26][27] they themselves consider their music to be "not emo" as stated in an interview with NME: "Emo is bullshit. We want to be the new Radiohead."

Their debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, was a medley of old fashioned vaudeville and electronic rock beats, paired with Ryan Ross's often angsty and emotional lyrics inspired by things that he experienced.

However, Panic has gone on record many times saying that their second album would be completely different from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, as Rolling Stone wrote in an article: "The group cemented its current direction with their first single, called "Nine in the Afternoon". "It’s influenced by the music our parents listened to: the Beach Boys, the Kinks, the Beatles", says Ross. "Our new songs are more like classic rock than modern rock. We got older and started listening to different music – and this seems like the natural thing to do right now."[28] The Vanderbilt University online student community, insidevandy.com, reported on the album style in a blog. "Band members have referenced more mature influences and have expressed a desire for a less hurried, digitized sound than on their previous effort...The first single from the album, 'Nine In The Afternoon,'...displays what Panic has described as the album's classic rock tone. The song's bouncy sound and classic pop structure and instrumentation allude to mature influences...Another new song, 'When the Day Met the Night,' reflects a similar style, featuring poppy, tinkling piano melodies and sunshine-y guitar riffs."[29]

Concerning their new style of music, Ryan Ross has said, "I try to think of the person who's worked an eight-hour day, the person who gets in the car and puts on their radio. I'd like them to hear a song that makes them feel happy for three minutes rather than something that makes them more depressed than they already are. We're not afraid to write about love or being happy. We have an entire culture that is either provocative or negative. It's so geared toward being shocking that it no longer manages to shock. They've pushed it as far as they can go both sexually and in terms of anger. Which is why we're here, to provide something different."[30] The album is described as "Alice in Wonderland-like whimsy; it's as if they dropped the entire Beatles catalog into a blender, added some modern alternative ice and the horn section from Sonia Dada, then churned out a new-millennium Liverpool smoothie. And the band knows it, singing, "I can't prove this makes any sense, but I sure hope that it does."[30]

Band members

Current members

  • Jon Walker - bass guitar, vocals (2006-present)
    Jonathan Jacob Walker (b. September 17, 1985 ) grew up in Chicago with his parents and two older brothers, Bill and Mike. He was a bass technician for The Academy Is... (and is credited in the liner notes for Santi). Having previously met Walker when the band was on tour with The Academy Is..., Panic at the Disco asked him to fill in for departed bassist Brent Wilson. In August 2006, Walker bevame an official member of the band. Walker uses both Gibson and Fender guitars. He attended Bartlett High School and graduated in 2004.
  • Spencer Smith - drums, percussion (2004-present)
    Spencer James Smith V (born September 2, 1987), grew up with his parents and two younger sisters, Crystal and Jackie, in Summerlin, Nevada. After receiving a drum set for Christmas in 1999, Smith and his childhood friend Ryan Ross, who played guitar, began to play music together. They were in a series of bands together, culminating with Panic at the Disco.

Former members

  • Brent Wilson - bass guitar, vocals (2004-2006)
    Wilson was born in Las Vegas and attended Bishop Gorman HSl. It was here that Wilson met Brendon Urie and invited him join Panic at the Disco as a guitarist. After some line-up changes, Urie became lead singer with Wilson playing bass. On May 17, 2006, the band annound Wilson's departure in a message on their website. The band maintained it was a group decision but Wilson said that the only person who had spoken to him about it was Spencer Smith, and that the call had come without warning. "They never even said they were sorry."[34]
    Wilson pursued legal action against his former bandmates for his percentage from the album sales[35][36] and the parties involved settled out of court.[37] Wilson has since told Alternative Press that he is not bitter about the split.[37]

Discography

Main article: Panic at the Disco discography

Studio albums

Awards

  • Nominated: Best Direction in a Video (2008) for "Nine in the Afternoon"
  • Nominated: Best Pop Video (2008) for "Nine in the Afternoon"
  • Won: Video of the Year (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Nominated: Best Group Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Nominated: Best Rock Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Nominated: Best New Artist in a Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Nominated: Best Art Direction in a Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Nominated: Best International Rock Group (2007)
  • Nominated: Best International Rock Group (2008)
  • Won: edc Style Award [38]
  • Won: Best Video International (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Worst Band of 2007[39]
  • Nominated: Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package [40]

References

  1. ^ A Fever You Can't Sweat Out : Panic at the Disco : Review : Rolling Stone
  2. ^ allmusic ((( Panic at the Disco > Biography )))
  3. ^ Pretty. Odd. : Panic at the Disco : Review : Rolling Stone
  4. ^ Fueled By Ramen, Panic at the Disco Biography Retrieved March 12, 2008
  5. ^ PATD Online [dot] COM | Panic At The Disco Online
  6. ^ Ex-Panic! Bassist Speaks | Spin Magazine Online
  7. ^ "Panic! at the Disco Split Gets Nasty: Band Alleges Wilson Did Not Play On LP", MTV.com, Jun 12 2006.
  8. ^ "Panic! at the Disco Sued by Former Bassist". Altpress.com. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
  9. ^ Carsten (2006-08-25). "Panic! At The Disco Frontman Collapse On Stage". PunkBands.com. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  10. ^ Pete Wentz Is Pumped For Panic's New LP - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
  11. ^ Panic! Try A Different Tack For New LP - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
  12. ^ Rob Mathes: ROB MATHES AND FRIENDS PERFORM 14TH ANNUAL ROB MATHES CHRISTMAS CONCERT DECEMBER 21 & 22, 2007
  13. ^ PATD Online [dot] COM | Panic At The Disco Online
  14. ^ YouTube - Broadcast Yourself
  15. ^ Panic! Solve New Album Puzzle - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
  16. ^ Panic At The Disco Explain Excised Exclamation Point - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
  17. ^ PATD Online [dot] COM | Panic At The Disco Online
  18. ^ BBC - Radio 1 - Chart Show - The UK Top 40 Albums
  19. ^ Hasty, Katie. Billboard Day26 Upends Danity Kane with Number 1 Album Retrieved April 2, 2008.
  20. ^ Australian Recording Industry Association Retrieved April 6, 2008.
  21. ^ MTV'S ARTIST OF THE WEEK 04.07.08: PANIC AT THE DISCO | MTV Photo Gallery
  22. ^ *More Than Good Hooks... Panic At The Disco Lyrics | Part of PATD Online [dot] Com
  23. ^ Gitlin, Lauren (October 20, 2005). "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out : Panic! At The Disco : Review : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "The Killers Vs Emo - band hit out". NME. July 6, 2006. Retrieved October 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ Byrom, Cory (November 29, 2005). "Panic! at the Disco: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out: Pitchfork Record Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved October 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ McKinlay, Fiona. "Panic! At The Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out : album review". musicOMH.com. Retrieved October 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ Loftus, Johnny. "allmusic ((( A Fever You Can't Sweat Out > Overview )))". Allmusic. Retrieved October 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ Rolling Stone : In the Studio: Panic! at the Disco (With Bonus Pete Wentz Video Interview)
  29. ^ MUSIC: Upcoming albums 2008: 'Pretty. Odd.' | InsideVandy
  30. ^ a b Pretty. Interesting. Look at Panic at the Disco
  31. ^ MovieTome: Ryan Ross
  32. ^ "Biography for Ryan Ross (III)". IMDb. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  33. ^ "Panic! at the Disco Bio" (PDF). Fueled by Ramen. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
  34. ^ "Panic! at the Disco Split Gets Nasty: Band Alleges Wilson Did Not Play On LP", MTV.com, Jun 12 2006.
  35. ^ Montgomery, James (August 9, 2006). "Ex-Panic! At The Disco Bassist Initiates Legal Action Against Band". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-01-11. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  36. ^ "Panic! at the Disco Sued by Former Bassist". Altpress.com. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
  37. ^ a b PATD Online [dot] COM | Gallery - Alternative Press - May 2008/2008-05 ap09
  38. ^ 2008 MTV Asia Awards - Find out if your favourites walk away with the Golden M Bars
  39. ^ Drowned in Sound - News - NME Awards: winners in full
  40. ^ GRAMMY.com
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