Victorious During an interview in mid-2015, Panic! At The Disco leader, Brendon Urie, was asked what his next record sounded like. Urie replied, “It’s going to be a little bit different, it’s this mix between Sinatra and Queen, if that makes any sense…Every time we do a new album, for me, it’s always evolving and changing—in the best way.” Death of a Bachelor does have a little bit of everything going for it, including four solid singles that preceded the album release in January of 2016, and the summary of Frank Sinatra meets Queen does sound about right looking back on the record’s 10th anniversary. Urie was already breaking out in a big way as a solo star as more and more band members took steps away from the spotlight, but Death of a Bachelor was technically the first album completely written, recorded, and performed by Urie. Armed with a trio of producers in Jake Sinclair, J.R. Rotem, and Imad Royal, Urie leaned heavily upon his vocal prowess to make for another standout moment in his trajectory as an artist. Brendon Urie’s solo star burns brightest on Death of a Bachelor, and it remains one of the clearest realizations of his vision for Panic! At The Disco’s music.
The set would release all four of its singles (“Hallelujah”, “Victorious”, “Emperor’s New Clothes”, and the title track) before the album release, and charted at Number One on the Billboard 200 selling over 190,000 units in its first week. Death of a Bachelor has since been certified as double platinum in the U.S. and it shows just how clearly the material resonated with Panic! At The Disco’s fanbase.
The album kicks off with the raucous “Victorious” that feels more like a party than the “funeral” of the bachelor days of Urie. The key single features a sound made for modern rock and pop radio, and the accessible sound pays off well for the first true solo work of Urie. “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time” and “Hallelujah” each have their standout moments in them, with the former being the clearer choice of a prominent addition in Panic’s live set for the foreseeable future. Urie experiments with various sound effects and samples on “Emperor’s New Clothes” and delivers a great vocal performance throughout the song. It’s on the title track that Urie really solidifies his status as a “star”, as he swoons on the Sinatra-esque ballad about giving up the bachelor days for good. His vocals are as impactful and powerful as they’ve ever been here, and it made for a memorable moment in the live set, released shortly after this record’s shelf life, that found Urie putting his impressive vocal range on full display as he wandered through the crowd.
Deep cuts like “Crazy = Genius” are mostly standard fodder in the album sequencing of Death of a Bachelor, while “LA Devotee” has a great beat and a pick me up bounce to it to prevent the record from falling flat in the second half. “Golden Days” finds Urie reminiscing on the good ol’ days of when Cabaret was dominant, and possibly an era that he wished he grew up in, given the style that Panic! started out with their debut. “The Good, the Bad, and The Dirty” would provide a teaser for where Urie would take Panic’s music on Pray For The Wicked, while “House of Memories” tinkered with some cool production elements in the mix to keep things interesting. The closer of “Impossible Year” brings more context to the Death of a Bachelor concept, and satisfies Urie’s Sinatra wet dream with great results.
Death of a Bachelor was an immediate success with Panic! at the Disco’s fanbase and it provided plenty of fuel to Urie’s fire and desire to make a big-sounding rock record that had classic throwbacks to classic rock. While some critics didn’t quite “get” the brand of music and direction that Urie went for on this album, this record still feels as fresh today as it’s ever been.