There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought of It Yet

Wow- this one came as a surprise today.  This song is from Panic! at the Disco.  The title of the song is certainly the longest I've seen.

Words Words Words.  After listening more in depth to this song, I sort of feel bad for the person who has to sing these songs.  They're great, don't get me wrong, but there are so many words, I bet it's exhausting to sing them!

Here's the song that was stuck in my head, which is the 12th track on P!ATD's debut album from 2005.  The song is called "There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought of It Yet"  I love the energy and "swingy" feel.  So few bands do this sort of thing.  

At this point I'm just a moderate fan of this band.  My teenage daughter loves them.  One thing I noticed about them is that when they first came around (about 10 years ago) they were huge, and you heard about them everywhere.  Then they seemed to die off until a few years ago when there was a resurgence.

So today, I'm gonna try something new to explain what the deal is with this band.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PANIC! AT THE DISCO ACCORDING TO BRADY....

So.... P!ATD was formed by high school friends Brendon Urie, Brent Wilson, Ryan Ross and Spencer Smith.  I won't bore you with too many details but let's just say they came out swinging and their first album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, was a tremendous success.  

The songs were mostly fueled by Ryan Ross' songwriting.  Originally he was intended to be the main vocalist until Brendon Urie joined the band.  

Short after this hype and excitement, bassist Brent Wilson was cut and replaced with Jon Walker.  

Fueled by the success of the debut album, P!ATD shut themselves away in a cabin and began writing their follow-up album.  After some struggles, they emerged with a completely different sound- less pop and more rock reminiscent of The Beatles and other bands of the 60's.  

In 2008 came "Pretty. Odd."  Their Sophomore effort....

This record confused both fans and the band themselves.  The move was bold and backfired on the band, causing them to fight about the kind of sound they wanted to produce as a group.  Brendon Urie wanted to shift back to the pop sound with which they had erupted, while Ryan Ross preferred the newer (retro) way they were making music.  In the process, Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left and started a new band,  The Young Veins.

Walker was replaced with bassist Dallon Weekes and P!ATD moved forward as a trio.  

A few years after this drastic change, the band published their third album "Vices and Virtues" which had more of the sound with which fans were familiar.  The album was a hit and catapulted the band back into the mainstream-  2011. 

And with this kind of momentum, they produced 2013's "Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!" which also sold hundreds of thousands of copies:

The band was on a mainstream high when it was revealed that Spencer Smith was burnt out, both as a band member and alcoholic and prescription drug addict.  Dallon Weekes was also downgraded to a touring member only, leaving the voice of Brendon Urie as the group's only remaining member.  

And now we've reached 2016 where Panic! At the Disco has released their most recent (5th) album, "Death of a Bachelor"  

Now what's interesting about this album is if you look at the personnel involved in it, in particular the songwriting team involved in this.  The second track, "Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time", has 12 people involved in the songwriting process.  (To be fair, part of the songwriting credit goes to members of the B-52's, since the guitar riff is taken from their hit song "Rock Lobster".)

I guess what I'm getting at is that P!ATD started as a group of friends, involved in a cool creative process and now it has turned into a giant corporate machine, fueled by money and consumers who dig the sound.  Really there's nothing wrong with this, making money is a good thing and most fans could care less.  What they want is Brendon Urie's voice and some catchy songs.

Well they got 'em. 

I hope you had a neat time learning a little bit about the history of Panic! at the Disco!