Pretty. Odd. has rightfully gone down as one of the great missteps in the history of 21st century music; a fresh-faced band with a hit album under their belt assuming that they had more of a loyal following than they actually did, and making something less accessible the second time around. In this case, Panic! seemingly decided that their future truly lay in Beatles/Beach Boysesque neopsychedelia.
That said, what makes this album so interesting is how sincere it is; this is not a studious or particularly labored tribute, but one that plays like Ryan Ross and Brendan Urie listened to Sgt Pepper's once and thought "we've gotta make something like this". The result is probably the best Panic! album, but it's certainly not without its faults. Urie's voice really doesn't fit this kind of music, and one questions how much he was actually into the project considering how Ross departed and Urie seized total control of the group immediately after.
Oh well, "Nine in the Afternoon" is still a banger.
By: Krobesk12