Albums: Panic! At The Disco Viva Las Vengeance

Panic! At The Disco were once everyone's buzz emo band. They then discovered that they could do shiny, glittery pop with a theatrical flair. All that changes again with the delivery of their seventh studio album, Viva Las Vengeance. Having achieved their biggest UK charting release since 2008's Pretty. Odd. with 2018's Pray For The Wicked, they return with an album fuelled by a clear passion for classic rock.

The marriage of Brendan Urie's dramatic vocal and a Vegas driven rock sound is actually one that should have come to the light far earlier, for this is a marriage pretty much made in heaven. And while not immediately apparent in their prior releases, is one that seems like a natural progression in their ever-changing soundscape.

With a heavy influence from Queen, Kiss and T. Rex evident throughout the album, the record is centred on a less-introverted lyrical base than Urie's earlier work. From the Green Day drive of rebellion anthem Star Spangled Banner through to the funkier edges of Say It Louder, this album feels like the refreshed approach that Urie needed to take to revitalise the project.

Although a sonic deviation from earlier work, this is not a departure. It is, instead, an exciting, reinvigorating growth from an always thrilling act.