Pretty. Odd.
I would like to couch this is in a big fat UNPOPULAR OPINION disclaimer. Please don't link this as "discussion". It's not. It's my opinion. If you're a hardcore Panic fan, I suggest you skip right over this post. I don't want to harsh anyone's squee. Dun defriend me! I've got so much to give!! [/Howard Moon]
WHAT THE SHIT AM I LISTENING TO? Seriously. I don't even knoooow.
First, let me say, I really liked Fever. I bought it when it first came out and even though I rarely listen to it now, I played it and played it and played it and got a LOT of enjoyment out of it. In fact, 'London Beckoned...' came up on my Winamp at the weekend and I was all, "HEY! this is a great song! I'd forgotten!"
However, I've noticed a weirdly pervasive fandom-wide opinion surface over the last few months. Namely, that Fever is a bad album. It's not a perfect album, but it's a pretty good one. Yet I see people all over the place criticizing the electronica, the Palahniuk-inspired lyrics, etc.
My reaction? GTFO. I like electro! Electro is awesome! I also like Palahniuk! (And Coupland, who no one ever remembers that Ryan riffed from. Grumble, grumble.)
Mainly, I feel, if you don't like emo, electro and Wentzian lyrics... why are you in Panic fandom? Go and write slash about the Jonas Brothers or something. (Aside: Jonas Brothers' cover of 'Year 3000'? TERRIFYING.)
So I get the impression that a lot of people think of this album as "fixing" what was wrong with Fever. And... I guess it does that! The interesting lyrics (I think little i_am_clandestine's lyrics are awesome! STFU!) are gone, replaced with insipid dreck. The emo/electro is gone, replaced with shiny pop (yawn). Insight (sure, it was melodramatic teenage insight, but it was still insight) has been replaced with stoner logic. Oh, gag me. I have no interest in people who spend all day getting baked.
P.S. Did no one have the heart to tell Ryan that HE CAN'T SING? Or were they all so stoned that they didn't notice? *facepalm x infinity*
P.P.S. I was reading a write-up of that secret show Panic did recently (in New York?) and, in answer to a question about books, Jon said something like, "reading is for losers". He may have been joking, but STILL. Panic were the band who started a book club for God's sake. I miss the band they were. :(
*goes back to listening to the new Hush Sound*
WHAT THE SHIT AM I LISTENING TO? Seriously. I don't even knoooow.
First, let me say, I really liked Fever. I bought it when it first came out and even though I rarely listen to it now, I played it and played it and played it and got a LOT of enjoyment out of it. In fact, 'London Beckoned...' came up on my Winamp at the weekend and I was all, "HEY! this is a great song! I'd forgotten!"
However, I've noticed a weirdly pervasive fandom-wide opinion surface over the last few months. Namely, that Fever is a bad album. It's not a perfect album, but it's a pretty good one. Yet I see people all over the place criticizing the electronica, the Palahniuk-inspired lyrics, etc.
My reaction? GTFO. I like electro! Electro is awesome! I also like Palahniuk! (And Coupland, who no one ever remembers that Ryan riffed from. Grumble, grumble.)
Mainly, I feel, if you don't like emo, electro and Wentzian lyrics... why are you in Panic fandom? Go and write slash about the Jonas Brothers or something. (Aside: Jonas Brothers' cover of 'Year 3000'? TERRIFYING.)
So I get the impression that a lot of people think of this album as "fixing" what was wrong with Fever. And... I guess it does that! The interesting lyrics (I think little i_am_clandestine's lyrics are awesome! STFU!) are gone, replaced with insipid dreck. The emo/electro is gone, replaced with shiny pop (yawn). Insight (sure, it was melodramatic teenage insight, but it was still insight) has been replaced with stoner logic. Oh, gag me. I have no interest in people who spend all day getting baked.
P.S. Did no one have the heart to tell Ryan that HE CAN'T SING? Or were they all so stoned that they didn't notice? *facepalm x infinity*
P.P.S. I was reading a write-up of that secret show Panic did recently (in New York?) and, in answer to a question about books, Jon said something like, "reading is for losers". He may have been joking, but STILL. Panic were the band who started a book club for God's sake. I miss the band they were. :(
*goes back to listening to the new Hush Sound*