Panic at the Disco

Some bands spend their whole careers just hoping to produce an album as complex, cohesive and creative as A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. Not Panic! At The Disco: They managed to get it right on the first try.

Before you grab a cold washcloth, let's diagnose what caused A Fever. It all started in the suburbs of Las Vegas when 12-year-old Ryan Ross asked his parents for a guitar for Christmas. Not to be outdone, neighborhood pal Spencer Smith begged his parents for a drum set so the duo could start jamming. "Really, from that first year [playing instruments], all we really did was cover Blink 182 songs," remembers Spencer, laughing. The band eventually matured, moved on from all the small things and recruited classmates Brent Wilson and Brendon Urie on bass and vocals, respectively.

With the final lineup now in place, the newly christened Panic! At The Disco (from a line in the Name Taken song "Panic") started practicing in Spencer's grandmother's living room and began crafting the songs that would eventually make their way onto A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. With their flair for experimental instrumentation and intimately observant lyrics, it wasn't long before the band sparked the interest of Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, who brought the band to Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen, a label with a green thumb for new talent. "We really clicked with [Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen] and they understood what we wanted to do as a band," Ryan explains. "They gave us a lot of freedom to do what would make us happy with our music."

Soon after signing, things got serious and started moving forward at a rapid pace. Spencer and Brent finished high school through distance education; Brendon was taking classes during the day, practicing at night and barely scraping by his senior year; and Ryan decided to leave college at the end of his freshman year, causing a huge rift between him and his family. "When I told my dad I wanted to drop out and write music, he definitely flipped out. It was a battle between me being happy and doing what would make him happy." So minus the blessing of one father, the four friends packed up, left home for the first time and headed east to College Park, Maryland, to record their debut album with famed producer Matt Squire (Thrice, Northstar, The Receiving End Of Sirens).

"We didn't want to write a record that had 11 of the same songs on it," explains Ryan. In order to make sure that didn't happen, the band came up with the concept to divide the album in two halves: the first being futuristic, complete with drum machines and synthesizers, and the second being nostalgic, complete with Vaudevillian piano and accordion. "It was too extremes of influence being put next to each other: the most electronic music we have on the record and the most old, out-of-style music we have on the record." The band took pointers from some of their biggest—although not overt—influences: Third Eye Blind's melodic song structures (on "But It's Better When We Do"), Queen's theatric instrumentation (on "Build God, Then We'll Talk") and Counting Crows' vivid and narrative lyrics (on "There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet"). "You wouldn't hear our record and say, 'Hmmm, these guys are influenced by Fleetwood Mac or Counting Crows, 'but those are our favorite bands," insists Spencer.

It's this split-brain approach to songwriting that has resonated with listeners young and old. The band has scored big with PureVolume (continually being on the site's Top 10 Signed Bands chart) and MySpace (reaching #1 on the indie charts), and when they returned to Las Vegas after recording, they played a hometown show (actually, the band's first live concert ever) and over two hundred people showed up. The boys' parents, especially Ryan's father, realized the band was more than just a fleeting hobby and eventually became card-carrying members of Panic! At The Disco's fan club.

Warning: Panic! At The Disco is not a trend. Prepare accordingly.

The members of Panic! at the Disco had barely graduated high school when their full-length debut, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, transformed the suburban Las Vegas teenagers into national emo-pop stars. The band had materialized several years earlier, when friends Spencer Smith (drums) and Ryan Ross (guitar) began covering blink-182 tunes together. After tiring of playing another group's material, the duo recruited two additional classmates, guitar/vocalist Brendon Urie and bassist Brent Wilson, and the newly-formed quartet decided to model its name after a line in Name Taken's "Panic." Crafting pop-influenced songs with theatrical touches, quirky techno beats, and perceptive lyrics, Panic! at the Disco posted several demos online that soon caught the attention of Decaydance Records, the Fueled by Ramen imprint headed by Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz. Even though the band had yet to play a live show, they subsequently became the first band signed to the label.

With their record scheduled for a release in September 2005, Panic! at the Disco joined the successful Nintendo Fusion Tour and hit the road alongside Fall Out Boy, Motion City Soundtrack, Boys Night Out, and the Starting Line. The band continued to tour into early 2006, while their single "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" found its way into TRL hearts and the Billboard Top 40. Proving to be a popular lineup, the Nintendo tour (which also featured Hellogoodbye, "Acceptance," and the Academy Is...) consistently sold out venues across the country. Wilson was fired from the group mid-year; undaunted, Panic! pressed on with their friend Jon Walker on board for a full summer tour that culminated with appearances at Lollapalooza, Reading, and the Leeds festival. The guys picked up "Video of the Year" at MTV's annual VMA ceremony, beating out heavy hitters like Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a collector's box set version of Fever (featuring random Panic paraphernalia and a DVD) came out just in time for the 2006 holiday season. After additional tour dates, the band announced that they were eliminating the exclamation point from their name, a sign that seemed to foreshadow the mature, less emo-driven rock featured on Pretty. Odd. Released in March 2008, the sophomore album peaked at number two in the U.S. and showcased an evolving band whose tastes had grown to encompass the Beatles' psychedelic pop. The group supported the album with another string of show dates, one of which was captured on the CD/DVD release ...Live in Chicago. ~ Corey Apar, All Music Guide