Panic at the Disco: The Best Songs on "Vices and Virtues"

I remember Panic At The Disco arriving on the music scene with a song saying "shutting the GD door" and that song with its perfect placement of profanity was a hit and I'll admit got stuck in my head a time or two. However, I never felt they were a band I could cop to listening to and never thoroughly did. Now, I am giving their album "Vices and Virtues" a full listen through to see what their deal is.

The best songs on the Panic At The Disco album "Vices and Virtues" are: "Always,""Trade Mistakes,"and "The Calendar." Next I will give my song by song notes for the album.

"The Ballad Of Mona Lisa": This song sounds like something one would find on their debut album, minus the catchy profanity hook. The chorus is catchy ala witty in concept with the lines about paying to see Mona Lisa frown. Fans of the band should find this to be classic and strong power pop from the band. I can respect that, but the song doesn't move me in any way; not even a tap of the foot.

"Let's Kill Tonight": It tries to be odd or weird or oddly weird and it has some fun aspects, but it is just trying to be a good song and falls short in my opinion. I wish the music would have sped up and up and up into a faster choir of craziness, but alas it hit a barrier too soon.

"Hurricane": I'm not sure the lyrics make much sense to me conflicting the lines about themselves being a hurricane and then saying dropping anchors in a storm, but I am of the opinion that if you are a hurricane you ARE the storm. They continue to sing "you'll dance to anything" which on one hand could be a cute trait observed of a person, or it could be taken literally in terms of how one reacts to this song. I could see it coming on and people dancing to it in a mix, but it would not stand out in the mix.

"Memories": For some reason this felt like it would naturally be a Kelly Clarkson song if she chose to sing it. Solid fare, par for the course in today's music environment, but not a powerhorse to be ridden into history.

"Trade Mistakes": This song transitions well from a Panic style ballad into a speedier chorus where I imagine bodies on a dance floor and lots of strobe lights.

"Ready To Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind)": I get tired of pop rock songs starting with "oh oh oh" or "whoa whoa whoa," whatever. This song is boring, weak, commercial crap with the violin sound effects being the only fun light on this album blight. I think this was the second single actually released from the album.

"Always": This song brings up imagery that is cute, but strong. "Blink back at me to let me know" This is a slow song, slow in the good way, as it is a good song.

"The Calendar": Clich© mixes in with sentiment that is commendable: "I will come back to life, but only for you," and ultimately the soft romance of it all wins me over. Singing about summer ending as representative of relationship points is overdone, but it hides well enough amongst the better parts here.

"Sarah Smiles": Fun music, but I take it as a filler song with all things considered.

"Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met -- )": I enjoy some of the lyrics and the construction of the song is basically in line with what this band does, more interesting than your average pop rock, that is for sure, but I'm not sure this is a song for me to revisit, though it goes out with a choir sound as a nice album bookend.