You’re getting something of a 2-1 with this post, because I really don’t think I could make a CD review last an entire post. Plus, the title just kind of wrote itself, and I really hate writing post titles (except when I like writing post titles). Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk music.
The CDs I’m reviewing today are Panic! At The Disco’s Vices & Virtues (Deluxe Edition) and Owl City’s All Things Bright and Beautiful, both which came out fairly recently.
It’s no secret that I love both of these bands (for entirely different reasons, of course), and that I’ve loved them for a while. I’ve reviewed Panic! before, back when my music reviews were supposed to be a thing, and last April I attended an Owl City concert and then blogged about the teeshirt I got as a result during teeshirt week. Suffice it to say, these bands are not new to me.
Now, the last time I reviewed Panic! I was, to say the least, incredibly disappointed. Their album, Pretty, Odd, made me question how much I loved their debut album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, which I absolutely, as mentioned, loved. In fact, Pretty, Odd was so bad, I thought they’d broken up.
Clearly, they haven’t. Broken up, that is. They just lost like five members. Now it’s just the drummer Spencer Smith and the singer/lyricist/guitarist/pianist/accordionist/bassist/trumpeter Brendan Urie (no, I’m not kidding). Of course, the only one I really cared about was Urie, the brilliant singer who has been featured in several Fall Out Boy songs. But I’m getting away with myself (drool Brendan Urie drool).
While still not quite up to the brilliance of Fever, Vices & Virtues is, overall, a pretty good album, especially if you try to pretend it’s not a Panic! album. What I mean is that, compared to Fever, it’s pretty meh, but on it’s own it’s kind of great. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. My favorite songs are Ready to Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind), Hurricane, and Sarah Smiles. The first single off the album, The Ballad Of Mona Lisa, is pretty good too.
What I really like about this album is that it’s fun. Pretty, Odd was weird for the sake of being weird, without any of the Panic! flair that we all fell in love with from Fever. While artistically V&V still doesn’t live up to Fever, it was a definite step back in the right direction.
All Things Bright and Beautiful, on the other hand, was fantastic. I know some people don’t like Owl City because they think “all the songs sound the same”, but clearly they haven’t heard ATBB yet. This album takes everything great about Owl City- the poetic, descriptive lyrics, the ambient techno background music, the fun, positive tone- and capitalizes on it. Each song is fresh, fun, and, yes, bright and beautiful.
The first time I heard the song Plant Life off this album, I almost cried with how beautiful it was. I dare you to listen to it without waltzing and smiling. Other favorite songs- Kamikaze, The Real World, and Alligator Sky. “If I were to pluck on your heartstrings, would you strum on mine?” *swoon*
Overall, I like belting the lyrics to both of these CDs while I’m driving to and from the grocery store. Weirdly specific, yeah, but that’s basically the only time I leave my house. And for some reason, my brother and mom don’t like hearing me singing obnoxiously loud in the house. Weird, right? :p
