Oh, Panic! At The Disco. I can’t recall a band that’s had more of a variation of album style in the last 20 years or so than them. But it all began 15 years ago, with the release of A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, a pop-punk, electronica, circus, and burlesque inspired 13 track debut album that launched the band to stardom.
Only a month out of high school, Panic! sent demo tapes of their work out to everyone they could think of, including Pete Wentz, the bassist of Fall Out Boy, who at that point were dominating the pop-punk scene. Luckily, he liked what he heard, and Fever was born. Influenced by the Vegas lights of their hometown, Fever lyrically follows themes of fame, alcoholism, social issues and marriage, with the album split into two by an interlude halfway through. The first half has a more electronica, pop sound, and the latter half has more clear classical and baroque influences, with its orchestral elements and cascading melodies. Often used as a typical example of the emo/pop-punk sound of the mid-2000s, Fever still stands today as one of Panic!’s best albums, if not their best. It’s witty, fun, and a good listen, even 15 years after its initial release.
You can listen to the hit single, I Write Sins Not Tragedies, below:
