After the band’s breakout album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out was released in 2005, Panic! at the Disco was definitely hitting it big. But in 2008, the band lost the exclamation point in the name, as well as a significant amount of fans after the disappointing Pretty. Odd. album. But now, after losing guitarist and songwriter Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker, the other remaining half of the band has handled the new challenges they have faced much better than expected.

While Fever was really crazy, with instrumentals that were all over the place, Pretty. Odd. was more chilled out and straightforward. Current members Brendon Urie (vocalist and multi-instrumentalist) and Spencer Smith (drummer) have combined their last two albums in their third album, Vices and Virtues. They have become more sophisticated, which was pretty much necessary since their fans have now aged 6 years, without losing that originality that Fever had, which led to their initial success. This album gave Urie a chance to experiment a bit with different instruments and make a new sound for the band, and the combination of complexity, sincerity and their unique theatricality makes for a really good album.