
"Things are shaping up to be pretty odd.'"
"Oh, how it's been so long
We're so sorry we've been gone
We were busy writing songs for
You!"
We're so sorry we've been gone
We were busy writing songs for
You!"
— "We're So Starving"
Pretty. Odd. is the second studio album by Panic! at the Disco, released on March 21, 2008 through Decaydance Records and Fueled by Ramen. This album featured the addition of bassist Jon Walker to the band's lineup. note .
Stylistically, the album is a noticeable departure from their usual sound. In contrast to the Emo-Dance-Punk of their debut, Pretty. Odd. had a much more psychedelic and folk influenced sound. This sudden change alienated their fans, causing the album to be critical and commercial bomb. This in turn led Ryan Ross and Jon Walker to leave the band to form their own band, The Young Veins.
Tracklist:
- "We're So Starving" (1:21)
- "Nine in the Afternoon" (3:11)
- "She's a Handsome Woman" (3:12)
- "Do You Know What I'm Seeing?" (4:14)
- "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)" (3:15)
- "I Have Friends in Holy Spaces" (1:56)
- "Northern Downpour" (4:07)
- "When the Day Met the Night" (4:53)
- "Pas de Cheval" (2:39)
- "The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know" (3:43)
- "Behind the Sea" (3:33)
- "Folkin' Around" (1:55)
- "She Had the World" (3:47)
- "From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins" (3:02)
- "Mad as Rabbits" (3:48)
Band Members:
- Brendon Urie – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboards
- Ryan Ross – lead guitar, backing and lead vocals, piano, keyboards
- Spencer Smith – drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Jon Walker – bass guitar, backing vocals, rhythm guitar
Additional Musicians:
- Rob Mathes – production, piano, rhythm guitar, orchestra arranger and conductor
- Sandra Park – concertmaster and string contractor
- David Mann – alto saxophone, clarinet
- Chris Laurence – double bass
- Tony Pleeth - cello
- Peter Lale - viola
- Perry Montague-Mason - violin
- Warren Zielinski - violin
- Tony Kadleck - trumpet
- Jeff Kievet - trumpet
- Andy Snitzer - tenor saxophone
When it's nine in the afternoon, your tropes are the size of the moon...:
- Album Title Drop: From "That Green Gentleman": "Things are shaping up to be pretty odd."
- Bookends: "The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know" begins and ends with the same quiet verse.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: "We're So Starving" kicks off Pretty. Odd. with Brendon directly addressing the listener, assuring them that the three years since their last album were spent creating songs for their fans and promising that they haven't changed as a band despite a change in the lineup.
- Concept Album: Pretty. Odd. is heavily Beatles-themed.
- Continuity Nod: Near the end of the music video for "That Green Gentleman", a group of old men appears dressed in the style of the band circa A Fever You Can't Sweat Out.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The black and white variation is used in the videos for "Northern Downpour" and "Mad as Rabbits".
- Fading into the Next Song: "We're So Starving" → "Nine in the Afternoon".
- Genre Shift: Pretty. Odd., with it's Beatlesque rock sound, was a massive departure from the emo-pop of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out.
- Gratuitous French: "Pas de Cheval"
- Keet: Brendon in the video for "Nine In The Afternoon". He was basically running around in pajamas for a good portion of the video and kept picking up random objects like an alarm clock and a vacuum.
- New Sound Album: Pretty. Odd.'s psychedelic/indie-influenced rock is a far cry from the techno-y baroque pop punk of AFYCSO, which led to it receiving a
less than unanimous positive reaction.- Perhaps the best example is the lead single "Nine in the Afternoon", an upbeat track in every sense of the word with no less than nine references to "feeling good"... and this from a band known to be popular with emo teens.
- Non-Appearing Title: "She's a Handsome Woman", "Do You Know What I'm Seeing?", "I Have Friends in Holy Spaces", "Pas de Cheval", and "Folkin' Around". Granted, it's less than their previous album.
- Opposites Attract: "When the Day Met the Night."
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: The periods at the end of each word in the album title gives this impression.
- Questioning Title?: "Do You Know What I'm Seeing?"
- Rearrange the Song: The ...Live in Chicago album ends with a rearrangement of the Subdued Section of "The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know" which is identical to the original except a new Brendon vocal track gets added every two bars, leading to a layered effect where multiple Brendons are singing atop each other.
- Retro Universe: The album is very sixties inspired, as is it's
Spiritual Successor "Take A Vacation". - Rockers Smash Guitars: At the very end of the ...Live in Chicago Concert Film, Brendon smashes the bass guitar that he was playing for the final number.
- Siamese Twin Songs: "We're So Starving" and "Nine in the Afternoon," but the latter was usually played by itself in live shows.
- Shout-Out: The album's opening song "We're So Starving" Breaks the Fourth Wall by talking about performing as a band, which then transitions into the next song.
- Spell My Name With An S: The band omitted the exclamation point from their name during this time, prompting backlash from their fans. They brought in back for their next album and kept it for the rest of the band's existence.
- Step Up to the Microphone: Ryan sings lead on "Behind The Sea".
- He also sings the choruses on "Northern Downpour" and "She Had The World", with Brendon harmonising with him on the former. They also trade off vocals on "Mad As Rabbits".
- Surreal Music Video: "Nine in the Afternoon
" has the guys waking up in color-coded bedrooms and that's around the time things stop to make any sort of sense. (It actually does make some sense if you know anything about the Beatles.) - Suspiciously Specific Denial: "We're So Starving," where they assure the listener that they are still the same band.
- Take That, Audience!: They made a few efforts during the Pretty. Odd. era to alienate the fans who liked Fever better, most noticeably the video for "That Green Gentleman", ending with old men coming out of a Russian doll wearing their old Fever-era circus outfits.
- Word Salad Lyrics: Many of the songs on this album are examples of this trope. For example, here's the opening verse of "Mad as Rabbits":Come save me from walking off a windowsill
Or I'll sleep in the rain
Don't you remember when I was a bird
And you were a map?
And now he drags down miles in America
Briefcase in hand
The stove is creeping up his spine again
Can't get enough trash- Then again, the entire album was done in the style of The Beatles...
Reinvent Love!
