I've come a long way since Death of a Bachelor was released.

         To be fair, it's been three years, which is...wild. I remember writing my review for that album like it was only a few months ago, even though at the same time it feels like a decade since Panic! last released new music.

         Anyway, in my DOAB review I said something about just starting to catch up on Panic!'s discography – I was mostly only familiar with DOAB and TWTLTRTD and then a few singles from the older three albums. Now, I like to think I'm pretty caught up. I've heard everything Panic! has released so far, I love all of it, I've seen them in concert (last summer...the time of my life), am seeing them in concert again soon, so...yeah. I'm a Certified Panic! Fan now. Yay me.

         This is definitely not a first-listen review. I've been doing those recently and I love doing them, but with Panic!'s music I think it serves us all better to have really properly given everything a fair shot. I like taking the time to try and hear everything each song has to offer so that I have things to say about them. So yeah, I've heard all these songs several times.

         Quick tangent: my pre-order bundle finally came in the mail today, and the album artwork is even more gorgeous in person. The color palette...A+

         Alright, let's get to it.

01: (F*CK A) SILVER LINING – 9/10

This was the first song from Pray For The Wicked I ever heard, and please know that the entire opening chorus had me completely baffled. For some reason, my brain could not make sense of the tune at all, so it sounded like a mess of brass instruments and Brendon shouting expletives with no real direction. But as soon as it was over and we heard a verse, when the chorus came back around a second time I finally understood it. I have no idea why it took me a minute the first time, but once it clicked, I remember sitting there and being like...it's really happening, isn't it? We're really here in this new era. Personally, I love this as an opening track. I love it as a track, period. Apparently there are some Panic! fans who turn their noses up at this one (*cough* see my most recent couples therapy post *cough*), and I can't figure out why. It's the prelude to the story this album tells, like the opening number of a Broadway musical, and without it PFTW would be incomplete. Favorite lyrics: It's coming up cherries on top

02: SAY AMEN (SATURDAY NIGHT) – 9/10

If "Silver Lining" is the opening number/prologue of a musical, then this is the real first number – the first chunk of the story. I love the storytelling in the verses, and I think this is probably the song with the most lyrics? It's very past-Panic! if you know what I mean. PFTW definitely has a different vibe than the last five albums, and that might put some older fans off if they really prefer the old sound, but they should still find a little of that here. I heard this song right after "Silver Lining" that day he released them both, and I will say that at the time I liked "Silver Lining" a little more probably because it sounds newer. I love Panic!'s old sound, but I love hearing growth too, and while there's a little bit of it here, I could also stick this song in the middle of Death of a Bachelor or Vices & Virtues and it'd fit perfectly. So I was more excited about "Silver Lining". Now, of course, I've had plenty of time to understand its importance to PFTW's narrative, and the music video is bomb. And that note at the end? Iconic. Favorite lyrics: And every morning when I wake up / I wanna who I couldn't say I'd ever been

03: HEY LOOK MA, I MADE IT – 10/10

The intro music initially made me think this song would be more chill than it actually is. From the word go, I love the lyrics here. Again, I've seen other Panic! fans criticize this one for lyrical content for some reason, but if I have any say in that, I'd say they're missing the point entirely. They're also not looking at them from a creative point of view, because the entire second verse is incredible – especially the word play here: "these other thorns are rosy". And in the first verse, the list of hard sounds ("demons, stocks and bonds, and bible traders") rings wonderful in the same way lyrics from "This Is Gospel" do ("confessing their apostasies / led away by imperfect imposters"). Anyway, this album is filled with different strengths than Panic!'s other five, but if there's one thing constant in all of Brendon's work, it's that the man knows how to play with language and he's never released anything less than his best, so. But yeah, this song is a bop. It's very easy to like, very easy to learn. It's not nearly as chill as the intro music. Favorite lyrics: Friends are happy for me / or they're honeysuckle phonies

04: HIGH HOPES – 10/10

Of all the pre-released tracks, this was by far my favorite. I lived for this song and listened to nothing else for about two weeks. I got my brothers to love it. Listening to it now, even after hearing every other song on the album, it's still just...so good. The chorus is best experienced in a vehicle with the windows down, shouting it at the top of your lungs. The verses are just pleasant at all times. The "Mama SAID" got stuck in my head immediately, even without knowing what lyrics came after it. I don't know if he released this as an official single because I don't listen to our top 40 radio station enough to know, but this would absolutely dominate there I think. The trumpets in the beginning and during the chorus are fantastic, but the strings in the verses are killer and makes for a really interesting instrumental if you try to ignore the vocals (which, impossible). Favorite lyrics: Mama said / it's uphill for oddities

05: ROARING 20s – 9.5/10

Okay, it was really hard not giving this one a 10 rating. If there weren't other songs that I love more, it would have reached that level. Listen. Before I heard this song, I saw on Tumblr that people were losing their minds over this one. So initially, I was expecting a lot. When I heard it for the first time, whatever I was expecting...was not this. I don't think I was necessarily disappointed at first, but I felt really misled by everyone on Tumblr. Either way, after accepting the song as it is and giving it plenty of airtime, I have fallen in love and I get it now. What a fun track. Again, this is straight out of a musical, and I'm living for that element that most of these songs have. It also reminds me a lot of "Crazy=Genius" from DOAB for some reason. While the music is interesting and unique, I really think the lyrics are a strength here, because the way it sounds, you don't expect to relate to any of this. But in actuality I know some people from college who aren't in California or New York right now but who are basically living these "roaring 20s" Brendon is talking about. The song is fun as heck, but it's also kind of sad. Oh my god, also? The tempo change at the end? Legendary. Favorite lyrics: This is my roaring, roaring 20s / I don't even know me

06: DANCING'S NOT A CRIME – 9.5/10

Maria (roommate from college, I've mentioned her here and there before) sent me either a Tumblr post or a Tweet recently that said something about how if Glee was still happening, Blaine would have performed this song in an episode, and honestly that's the actual best way I can think to describe this. It's very feel-good, very boppy. I'll probably play it at my future wedding if I ever have one. I remember hearing the intro music for the first time and wondering what on earth was about to happen. I was pleased with what I got. This is one of the ones I'm most excited to hear live. I just think it'll be a lot of fun, and I think Brendon is going to sound fantastic singing the higher chorus and all the falsettos. There's something quietly oldschool going on here too that I can only just barely put my finger on, but it's there and I'm so into it. Favorite lyric: We could be waltzing

07: ONE OF THE DRUNKS – 8.5/10

This one is hard to rate, because the thing is, I do love it. But I love it a little less than I love "Silver Lining," which got a 9, so I feel like 8.5 is where it's at. Sonically, I really think everything is basically perfect here. The verses sound strongest for me – I love the tune there, I love that they're interesting. What puts this one lower than "Silver Lining" is that the chorus just repeats the same line three times and has a fourth line that differs, and that can be totally fine, but the tune of it just isn't as fun. It's upbeat, but it sounds sort of somber, and I think that's necessary for the narrative. He isn't having the time of his life, even though he's told he should be. The intro music is one of my favorites on the album, and the "round and round and round and round" bridge is super fun. The talking at the end is also hilarious, so I'm glad it was included. Favorite lyrics: Holy spirit holy spirit grips you like a pistol / Wet the whistle wet the whistle abyss of ice crystals

08: THE OVERPASS – 9.5/10

I love that this is a wild ride from start to finish. It seriously sounds like we've fallen right into the climactic final chase/fight of an action or superhero movie from the word go. The brass goes so hard the entire time, and the drums almost never let up. And somehow, after you get over the initial shock of being almost blown away by your speakers (this is a real thing that happened to me), the lyrics wind up being really interesting. This is the only song that I'm still returning to every once in a while to try and understand them a little better. Every other track, I can fit into a story, as I've been saying, and while I feel like this one probably fits into it too, I just...can't explain exactly how. That's not necessarily a fault, but yeah, it's a thing I've noticed. Anyway, this isn't a bop because it goes harder than that, so I'm going to call it a rollercoaster. This is a rollercoaster. Favorite lyrics: I have a shirt that keeps your smell / You keep one too in parallel

09: KING OF THE CLOUDS – 9/10

I have said before that Brendon Urie plays with language so well, and the verses of this song are perfect indications of just how strong a handle he has on that poetic part of his brain. Especially in the first verse, he uses the long A sound in so many words and strings them together in a way that sounds like – you guessed it – a poem, and I loved that about this song immediately. Maria said it sounds like a prayer. But what's really going on here is that he was high when he wrote it and it's about being high at surface level ("I'm king of the clouds / I get lifted"). Underneath that first level though, it's a pretty dark song, and I think you can hear that especially in the scary-sounding guitar during the chorus. But my favorite part comes at the end, and that's because it's the turning point for him in the narrative of this album. The final chorus has a few more lines than all the others do, and in it he says "Imagination, take me somewhere I don't know / I'm lost but I better find it alone", and then he repeats the "king of the clouds" bit again before ending the song with "I keep searching". After everything he's been through this entire album, he only feels lost, and now he's searching for something else despite not knowing what that might be. In a somewhat not-deep song, it concludes in a very deep way. Favorite lyrics: And when I fall to rise with stardust in my eyes / in the backbone of night

10: OLD FASHIONED – 10/10

Hi, we're finally here, my favorite song on the album. It was my favorite after listening to the entire album the first time, and it's still my favorite now. First reason why is that I can hear elements from more than one previous Panic! album, but in a different way than I heard them in "Say Amen". Like...despite hearing those elements, this song also feels all new. It catches you off guard. The baritone sax in the intro and the verses doesn't really indicate what's to come in the chorus, so when it finally hits and the tune and music completely change a la Twenty One Pilots, your jaw will probably drop like mine did. But the transition is so smooth? It sounds so nice? And during the refrain when he brings in the choir, I just...how could he do that to me. I haven't even talked about the lyrics yet, but they might be what I love most about the song. After his turning point in "King of the Clouds", he's finally reminiscing on what actually were the best times of his life – which aren't what he's living right now. And rather than using alcohol to live in the moment, in this new, glamorous life of his, he's using it to remember. The term "old fashioned" then serves obviously as the title of a drink but also as a description of how he's experiencing the drink: the old fashioned way, not this new, often dangerous way. I just. There's so much I love here and so much I want to pick apart, but I'm going to shut up now. Favorite lyrics: Now it looks like a wasteland / Not the way we remember / One more sip for the past / and always tip your bartender

11: DYING IN LA – 10/10

This song makes me emo even now, fifty listens later. The same way I saw things about "Roaring 20s" on Tumblr, I saw that "Dying in LA" had people shook. They were saying it was crushing them more than "Northern Downpour" ever did, and when I saw that, I was skeptical. With DOAB and TWTLTRTD, Brendon has been ending his albums with really depressing songs for some reason, so I had a feeling PFTW would follow suit, but the thing is that those final tracks are never my favorites on the albums. I end up skipping them usually, because they're just...so depressing? I figured this would be the same, but not in a has-me-shook way that "Northern Downpour" has. But I was WRONG. First of all, Maria cried when we listened to this initially. Just straight up cried. And my own mouth was open pretty much the entire time. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It's just so sad? But it's also relatable and moving in a way that, like...you can't skip it when it comes on. It's like it calls to your soul. The first verse and chorus are accompanied only by piano, which is beautiful on its own, but then the strings come in and eventually the piano drops out so that by the second chorus there are only strings accompanying vocals, and like? That's unfair? I'm not kidding, when he sings "But nobody knows you now" that second time with the strings building along with him, I think I gasped the first time I heard it. I don't know what else to say. You have to experience this one on your own and in your own way. I think it might hit us all differently, but it's my second favorite song on the album and don't count it out whatever you do. Brendon's vocals are stunning, so listen for that alone. I can't wait to hear this live. Favorite lyrics: But nobody knows you now / when you're dying in LA / and nobody owes you now

         Ugh, I'm just so happy this album exists. I'm so happy it tells a story with a beginning and a conclusion, even if it isn't a happy ending, and like. I'm just happy this exists. This album is a masterpiece.

         Thanks for reading my review if you did. I literally just enjoy hearing myself talk and revisiting my own thoughts from time to time, so this gives me an outlet to do that, and it's just a bonus when you guys enjoy reading too.

         What were your favorite tracks? What's your favorite Panic! album ever? I'll have to think on that one for a little while...it used to be Pretty Odd, but I really think I have to give everything a listen again and reevaluate my thoughts. They're all so different, it's hard to choose a favorite.

         See you soon with the second part of mine and Maria's couple therapy session and my review for Bebe Rexha's Expectations!