Panic! At The Disco – Death of a Batchelor

PANIC! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy have the same producer – Jake Sinclair – and you can tell.

Both acts are known to toy with the traditional rock formula and the comparisons between the two really comes across in Panic's latest, Death of a Batchelor.

But describing this fifth album as a rock record does not quite cut it because it is a melting pot of ideas.

After numerous line-up changes since 2004, multi-instrumentalist Brendon Urie now singlehandedly makes up the 'band' which has allowed the 28-year-old to experiment freely.

The results are diverse and always interesting.

Death of a Batchelor starts with the punchy Victorious which features big riffs as well as electronic influences. It sounds like a Daft Punk song with the guitars turned up.

Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time crams lots of different sounds into one song and somehow it still flows. There are urban beats and piano-led moments with a catchy bassline.

Title track, Death of a Batchelor, is like a mad cross between Frank Sinatra vocals and Beyonce beats while Crazy = Genius feels like a battle between swing music and punk rock.

The album gets a bit more under control by the end with LA Devotee and The Good, The Bad and The Dirty coming across as more conventional but catchy pop songs.

But Death of a Batchelor has to be one of the most diverse albums of the year. Its only fault is coming across as gimmicky which makes you wonder how well it will age.

DAVID MORGAN