(All photos, credit: Bryan Hainer)
You’ll either be incensed or elated that Panic At the Disco is this week’s MTV Artist of the Week. Or you might not even recognize them — the band that used to sound like nervous teenagers trapped in a fun house with a few synthesizers, some Ringling Brothers costumes, and a severe anxiety disorder dropped the extraneous punctuation, stopped writing songs with titles that could double as character-count-maxing Twitter updates, and completely revamped their sound.
Three years and several personal triumphs and tragedies (the death of Ryan Ross’ father, the replacement of Brent Wilson with Jon Walker and the ensuing fallout, scores of sold-out shows, a Grammy nomination) after selling more than two million copies of their debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, Panic is now all grown up. And, for a band that’s taken a lot of s— from knee-jerk anti-emo reactionaries, they appear more determined than ever to keep on the sunny side.
Of all of the blogs, comments, articles and talk of Panic’s transformative sophomore album, Pretty. Odd. (which impressively debuted at #2 its first week out) and its similarities to the Kinks, the Beach Boys, the Beatles and ELO, perhaps the most astute and succinct observation was that of Spin magazine writer Barry Walters, who summarized the new album’s tone thusly: “Pretty. Odd. lives up to its title because it dares to be optimistically beautiful at a time when sadness and ugliness might have won them easier credibility.”
Indeed, the album bounces and shines with harmony and hope (just enough zeal without too much eye-roll-inducing zest — vigor without the nauseating vim), indicating that Panic seems to have gotten over the paranoia and angst and dared to be confidently, even outwardly, happy. And seriously, who besides the Jonas Brothers (and maybe Sean Kingston) does that these days?
And speaking of happiness minus extreme cheesiness (cautious optimism, if you will), what could be happier — or more classic rock — than a good, old-fashioned American road trip in a VW van? Watch Panic embark on the most surreal journey of their lives (which is saying a lot considering they’re from Las Vegas) in their Artist of the Week video spots all this week on MTV.
Plus, watch Panic videos and live performances (including their brand-new mtvU Spring Break ‘08 performances), watch our exclusive Buzzworthy blog interviews, video footage from their “Nine In the Afternoon” video shoot, check out behind-the-scenes photos from their Artist of the Week shoot, and, of course, share your passion for Panic At the Disco — Version 2.0.
UPDATE: Just in: watch Panic’s exclusive mini-movie, Panic At the Disco In American Valley.
Filed Under: Artist Of The Week, Celebrity, Interviews, Music, Panic At The Disco, Photos, Videos
I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM!
I bet they're gonna be funny
I just got tickets to their show (It's my best b-day present ever!)
PATD is and always will be my favorite band!
I love them all to death!
I CAN'T WAIT TIL MAY 21ST!!!!!!
I Love the new album
I bought it they day it came out
I was so excited
Sorry I'm just blabbering on && on but...
IT'S ONLY BECAUSE I ABSOLUTELY LOVE PATD!!!
I'm so happy they're back
:]
PATD IS THE GREATEST BAND EVER AND THEIR SONGS AND SOUND INSPIRE PEOPLE WITH THEIR MEANINGFUL LYRICS AND AWESOME INSTRUMENTAL SOUND!!!!!!
if someday i go to the states i wiill definetlygo see them!!! they're great!!
all of their songs are awesome
can't wait to hear the next one!!
all of their songs are awesome
can't wait to hear the next one!!
KISSES!!
pretty odd is so good
ryan sounds so good in behined the sea
but i have friends in holy spaces is not that good
they rox
pretty odd is a great album i got it wen it first came out
im so happy there the band of the week
they should be the band of the month
personally i love there new cd. its amazing and so are they. i'm so happy for these boys that they can get so like noticed for there music. i love them sooo much.
que chevere que aca panic sea artista del mes !!
tambien lo fue en latinoamerica en marzo !! su entrevista es lo maximo !!
simplemente me encanta PANIC son lo mejor en la musica y todos estan lindos !!!*
pretty odd es lo maximo y nine in the afternoon tambien jejej
espero que las demas canciones sean tan buenas como las anteriores !! de hecho que siii
i♥panic!!
i♥brendon!!
byee
que chevere que aca panic sea artista del mes !!
tambien lo fue en latinoamerica en marzo !! su entrevista es lo maximo !!
simplemente me encanta PANIC son lo mejor en la musica y todos estan lindos !!!*
pretty odd es lo maximo y nine in the afternoon tambien jejej
espero que las demas canciones sean tan buenas como las anteriores !! de hecho que siii
i♥panic!!
i♥brendon!!
byee
Saludos..
Can't wait to watch the random clips of them during commercial breaks!
I will love you Panic no matter what you do!!!
We are all MAD AS RABBITS!!!!
Brendon and Ryan look so much cuter now, too.
Pretty. Odd. is one of th best CDs I have heard. I bought it the day it came out and was trying to get some of the music early.
I love the sounds on both of their albums. It just shows how different they can be and actually pull it off, WELL at that, too.
I hope they keep making music and I hope they come out here to my town. =]
(Why'd they lose the "!"?)
Love ya Panic At The Disco.
Love,
Hailey_Havok
katee=]
PANIC ULTIMATELY ROX MY SOX OFF!!!
Im glad that they r MTV's band of the week(its about time! haha!)
Panic has grown a lot in just a few years and I admire them for that.
They inspire me in sooo many ways!
I love them and i always will
And I can't wait to see them on either may 27 or may 28!!!
They are handsome and ... I can't say how much I love them
And for everybody that's upset about how much they changed..think about this.
It's been three years. They were just teenagers, or very young adults. They've grown up, they've matured. Of course we knew that they were going to change. In their first video, they said that they had grown up, and they hoped that their fans would grow up and mature with them.
I was upset about the exclamation point too. And yes, it did make them stand out and way more orginal then most other band names. However, it was never intended to be there, and there was never a long discussion about it. It just happened. Calm down. They're still Brendon, Ryan, Jon, and Spencer.
Have they changed? Most definitely. Their sound is different. They did not "rip off" the Beatles. They were inspired by the Beatles, and never had intentions to rip them off. A lot of bands sound like the Beatles. Ever listened to Jet before? Same thing. Nobody flipped out on them when they did it. The Beatles inspire more bands then you think.
Ah...rants make me feel good. XD
in the world
EVER
APRIL 29th BABY!!!
THEY WILL BE IN SC!!
AN GUESS WHOS GOING??!?!
MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
im sooo happy,
these guys make me happy!