Death of a Bachelor

Panic! at the Disco - Death of a Bachelor
Critic Score
Based on 21 reviews
2016 Ratings: #786 / 1004
User Score
2016 Rank: #697
Liked by 145 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Kerrang!

Like the soundtrack to a wedding reception, DOAB is Panic! At The Disco turnt up, both musically and lyrically.

90
AllMusic

As attention grabbing as a flashing neon sign on the Las Vegas strip, Panic! At the Disco's fifth studio album, 2016's Death of a Bachelor, is a volcano-sized martini glass of emotive, theatrical, genre-bending pop.

80
DIY
While the band’s previous effort still pushed against the boundaries of pop rock, ‘Death of a Bachelor’ just seems to charge headfirst through them with an utter disregard for the consequences. The results are brilliant.
80
Alternative Press

For all of its precocious, borderline bratty moments, Death Of A Bachelor is a remarkably nuanced affair.

75
A.V. Club

Panic! At The Disco’s audience may perpetually renew itself with fresh teenagers, but Urie is maturing as an artist. He takes a lot of risks on Death Of A Bachelor, all of which pay off.

70
PopMatters

Urie, an eager sponge of musical influence, doesn’t waste a second; these are lean, tightly written songs with fantastic hooks and memorable riffs.

70
Clash
At the centre of Panic At The Disco’s best album yet is Urie himself. The charisma and eccentricity of the front man, matched by his jaw-dropping vocal acrobatics sees Urie finally become the ringmaster of his own circus.
67
Entertainment Weekly
Unfortunately, he doesn’t ever capture the glittery theatrics of, say, Freddie Mercury or the impossible cool of Old Blue Eyes.
60
NOW Magazine
If Urie had fully committed to the concept, the result would've been stronger. The more conventional pop/rock tracks detract from his eccentric impulses and feel like compromises.
60
Drowned in Sound

Death of a Bachelor is a record that trades on the strength of its choruses and the songs present here are stuffed with hooks to a sometimes suffocating degree.

60
Spill Magazine

While they’re seemingly content with their stunted growth, a full foray into entirely new territory, such as that of Pretty.Odd., is really the only chance they will have to make real waves again. For now, though, Death Of A Bachelor is satisfactory.

60
Rolling Stone
Ten years after getting their start as pointy-haired emo-glam show ponies, Panic! at the Disco are now a vehicle for frontman Brendon Urie, who describes their fifth LP as "a mix between Sinatra and Queen." That means a little more glitzy polish and loads of gloppy decadence.
50
Consequence of Sound
Essentially, Urie turned this record into a score for his theoretical biopic, and that’s more successful than not. Considering his settling down, that means the album won’t have the aggression or grand drama that might suggest.
40
The Observer

Death of a Bachelor is hollow and shapeless.

40
The Guardian
The band would do better to substitute some more original melodies for all the wide-eyed, slickly produced gusto.
40
Q Magazine
It's a confusing affair, where [Urie] foolishly tries to croon like Frank Sinatra on the title track and never quite nails down whatever the big idea was supposed to be. Still, there are moments to cherish.
PinkeRon
51

Oh, 7th grade me. What were you thinking?

CLJesse
55

[RETURN TO MY PAST ~ EPISODE 9:]

This might be kind of hard to believe considering my score, but this album is one of the main reasons why I started this series. I haven't heard it in a good 3 years, yet I remember every single lyric and note to every single track (except "The Good, the Bad and the Dirty", never liked that song lmao). Death of a Bachelor, to me, exemplifies the record that almost everybody has. The album that you fell in love with as a child, but over time grew ... read more

Docky
80

On this album, instead of trying to make some weird ambitious "genre bending" overdose of pretentiousness of an album or a 60s psych pop throwback (I still love both of those albums though ngl) he pretty much just does a more pop version of Vices And Virtues, which in it of itself is a more pop version of Fever.

Victorious breaks the door open and put its god damn foot down, the first like 30 seconds of this song are how you open a god damn pop album, the rest of the song is kind-of ... read more

souleaterwill
65

Of Brendon's solo albums, this is easily his best.

I feel conflicted about this album, because this was the FIRST concert tour I had ever gone to. I have fond memories of it, although I do acknowledge this album is really just alright at best.

It has some good moments and songs, but a lot of it feels artificial.

At least it's catchy and kind of bangs?

Fav Track: Emperor's New Clothes
Least Fav Track: The Good, The Bad, and the Dirty

73

this album kind of fucks. I mean as much as any solo brendon album can.

JacksonIsNoided
40

My friend made me listen to this.

Victorious: it’s good. I love the guitar and overall melody. Brendon’s voice isn’t too annoying. But the production and how frantic everything is makes it feel like a sugar rush of a song. Also the chorus is annoying. It’s still good though.

Don’t Threaten me With a good time: ok a sample of Rock Lobster??? It’s fine. For every good decision this album is making, it’s making an equally bad decision. The production ... read more

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Added on: October 22, 2015