The exclamation mark may be back, but Panic! at the Disco isn’t nearly as exciting as usual on its fourth album “Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!” The album almost resembles a B–side to a previous album. They make a valiant attempt at entering the world of pop, but in the end there’s an unfulfilled desire left for the splendid emo fun of mega–hit album “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out.” There are definite highlights in songs such as “This is Gospel” and “Collar Full,” but Panic! has definitely gone too pop to redeem the angsty magic of what they once had. Fans might be strangely satisfied, but newcomers are unlikely to understand what all the hype! was ever about.
Grade: B
Download: “This is Gospel”
Sounds best when: Trying to recapture middle school days of yore.
