Panic! at the Disco

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Panic! at the Disco
Background information
Origin Las Vegas, NV, USA
Genre(s) Alternative Rock
Big Beat
Techno
Emo Rock/Punk
Years active 2005–present
Label(s) Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen
Website Official website
Members
Brendon Urie
Ryan Ross
Jon Walker
Spencer Smith
Former members
Brent Wilson

Panic! at the Disco is a rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada.

The band has created a fusion sound that combines elements of pop punk, electronica, indie rock and dance .[1]

Their 2005 debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out charted the Billboard 200 reaching #13, and has sold over one million copies since its September 2005 release.[2]

Contents

History

2005: Indie success

Panic! at the Disco was formed in the suburban area of Summerlin, a suburb of Las Vegas, by childhood friends Ryan Ross on guitar and Spencer Smith on drums. Since the age of thirteen, the two played Blink-182 covers in bands of different formations, but finally recruited Brent Wilson on bass and Brendon Urie on vocals and guitar. One theory of the origin of the band's name is from the song Panic! by The Smiths. The main theory is that the band's name originated from a song written by Name Taken, titled "Panic".

In order to get their music heard, the band contacted Fall Out Boy bassist Peter Wentz, through LiveJournal, and sent him a link to their PureVolume site. Wentz was so impressed that he took a trip to Las Vegas to meet the band in person. After seeing them play in their garage, he asked if they would sign with his Fueled by Ramen imprint label Decaydance.

2006-2007: Commercial success and public acceptance

The band officially announced the departure of their bassist, Brent Wilson, with a message on the band's website on May 17, 2006. No official reason was given for Wilson's departure, although later Wilson claimed he had been kicked out the band. The announcement stated that a long-time friend of the band, Jon Walker, would be filling in for the summer tour as a temporary bassist while the band searched for a permanent replacement. On July 3 of that year, the band's Myspace profile was edited to list Walker as bassist/vocals, and Walker is now considered a member of PATD.

MTV News[3] reported the band and Wilson have now engaged in a war of words. Wilson stated in an interview with Spin Magazine[4] that he was fired without warning, as opposed to the band's official statement that his departure was a decision reached by the entire band. In response, the band alleged that Wilson did not write the bass parts on their debut album or even play bass on the recording. Wilson is currently demanding a cut of royalties from the band's debut album based on his work. If an agreement cannot be reached, he has threatened to take his former band-mates to court.[5]

Panic! at the Disco was featured on MTV's TRL on January 17, 2006, where they premièred their music video for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies." Frontman Urie stated that the group feels both the song and video are overplayed, saying "'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' isn't the only song we've written."[citation needed] The video for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," featuring Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque, has an eerie circus wedding theme. It debuted at #10 on the TRL countdown, catapulting the album to the top of the Billboard independent chart and to #13 on the Billboard 200 in July 2006.

The band's video of "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" has been streamed more than 5 million times on YouTube. It is also the most requested song on New York City radio station Z100, and both "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" and "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" have been on The Interactive Nine at Nine with Romeo at the same time.

Their second music video, for the single "But It's Better If You Do," has a storyline involving the band playing in a speakeasy in 1930s America. Urie commented, "Our new video is meant to show the fans the dark and secluded style of Panic." The single was released on May 1st in the UK and debuted (and peaked) at #23. That month the band completed their first headlining shows in Europe. All of the dates were sold out, with some (notably the show in Manchester) selling out in hours. Afterward, the band embarked on a two-month North American headlining tour with supporting acts The Hush Sound, OK Go, The Dresden Dolls, and Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque.

In July they released their third music video, "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off." The video features people with fish tank helmets walking the streets of what appears to be a studio back lot. The video only shows the band in one shot, reportedly because they felt that their looks were distracting from their music.

A remixed version of their song "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" can be found on the official soundtrack to the movie Snakes on a Plane. The song, which reached #5 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, is planned to be the next single for Pop stations.

In early August, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out went platinum, having sold over one million albums.

During PATD's opening song on August 25, 2006 at the Carling Weekend: Reading Festival, an unknown audience member threw a bottle at the stage, which struck and temporarily knocked out Brendon Urie, forcing the band to stop playing. After some minutes, he got back up and shouted to the crowd, "You can’t take me out! Let's see how well you guys do with my left side," and continued with the same song.[6]

At the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, the video for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" won the Video of the Year award, beating out artists such as Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. While heading on stage to accept the award, Panic! was interrupted by a man named Six, who promoted himself for about five seconds before he was pulled off stage by security. The camera then zoomed back to the band. Walker jokingly said, "That was totally planned," and the band accepted their award with Urie commenting, "He's trying to throw off our thunder." Panic! also performed "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" during the award show.

The band will embark on a world tour later in 2006, including dates in Australia, New Zealand, and mainland Europe. On November 7th, 2006, they kicked off their first-ever stadium tour with Bloc Party and Jack's Mannequin. The Plain White T's have been added to the next few weeks of The Nothing Rymes With Circus Tour. They will be opening up the shows beginning in New York through November 26th in Iowa. After that Cobra Starship will be on the tour through December 9th in San Diego. The band has appeared along with Fall Out Boy, Marilyn Manson, and other bands on the special edition soundtrack of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas covering "This is Halloween", to be re-released in 3D on October 20.

The songs "Lying Is The Most Fun Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" and "But It's Better If You Do" are featured in the film Closer. While neither song's lyrics contain its title, the titles are in fact lines of dialogue from the film.

Discography

Albums

Cover Album info Chart positions Sales
US Billboard 200 US Heatseekers US iTunes US Independent Chart UK Albums Chart
A Fever You Can't Sweat Out 13 1 3 1 17 1,260,646 (U.S.)[7]
Platinum
Live Session EP (iTunes Music Store exclusive)
TBD
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message.

Philosophy behind A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

The album primarily deals with social issues that the band points on through various songs. Topics such as sanctity of marriage, adultery, drug addiction, prostitution, and religion are woven throughout the album.

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Pop 100 US Digital UK AUS
2006 "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" 77 5 63 64 - - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
2006 "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" 1 7 12 4 8 25 12 A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
2006 "But It's Better If You Do" - - 81 74 23 15 A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
2006 "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" - 29 98 - 39 - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
2006 "Build God, Then We'll Talk" - - - - - - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

Notes

  • 1: The re-released version of "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" peaked at #25 in the UK.

Awards

  • Won: Video of the Year (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Nominated: Best Group Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Nominated: Best Rock Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Nominated: Best New Artist in a Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Nominated: Best Art Direction in a Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
  • Won: Best Video International (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"

References

  1. ^ http://music.aol.com/artist/panic-at-the-disco/741835/main
  2. ^ Billboard 200 w/SoundScan #'s 8/19/06. Pulse Music Board. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  3. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1534131/20060612/panic_at_the_disco.jhtml?headlines=true
  4. ^ http://www.spin.com/features/news/2006/06/060614_panicatthedisco/
  5. ^ Panic! at the Disco Sued by Former Bassist. Altpress.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.
  6. ^ Carsten (2006-08-25). Panic! At The Disco Frontman Collapse On Stage. PunkBands.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
  7. ^ Album sales in the US

External links

Panic! at the Disco
Brendon Urie | Ryan Ross | Jon Walker | Spencer Smith
Brent Wilson
Discography
Albums/EPs: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out | Live Session EP
Singles: "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" | "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" | "But It's Better If You Do" | "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" | "Build God, Then We'll Talk"

[[Category:Cleanup from {{{1}}}]]

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../p/a/n/Panic%21_at_the_Disco_acf4.html"