Pray for the Wicked

Pray for the Wicked
Studio album by Panic! at the Disco
Released June 22, 2018 (2018-06-22)
Genre
Length 34:11
Label
Producer
Panic! at the Disco chronology
All My Friends We're Glorious
(2017)		 Pray for the Wicked
(2018)
Singles from Pray for the Wicked
  1. "Say Amen (Saturday Night)"
    Released: March 21, 2018
  2. "High Hopes"
    Released: May 23, 2018

Pray for the Wicked is the sixth studio album by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. The album was released on June 22, 2018.[7] on Fueled by Ramen and DCD2. It is the follow-up to the band's fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor (2016). The album was produced by Jake Sinclair and preceded by the singles "Say Amen (Saturday Night)" and "High Hopes", with "(Fuck A) Silver Lining", "Dancing's Not a Crime", "Hey Look Ma, I Made It" and "King of the Clouds" following as promotional singles. It received generally positive reviews upon release, with many critics noting Urie's Broadway influences following his performance in Kinky Boots.

Background

Panic! at the Disco released their fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor, on January 16, 2016. To promote the record, the band embarked on a co-headling tour with Weezer that summer and a United States tour the following year. On April 11, 2017, it was reported that vocalist Brendon Urie would be making his Broadway debut as one of the lead roles in Kinky Boots. Urie performed in the show for ten weeks from May until August of 2017.

Following the success of Death of a Bachelor, Urie was granted the rest of 2017 from the band's record label, Fueled by Ramen. However, Urie felt compelled to continue writing music during his time off. The writing process began a month before Urie made his debut in Kinky Boots when he wrote the chorus of "High Hopes". Urie stated that writing the record took about four months total in the span of a year and a half.

Urie teased the band's then-unannounced sixth studio album sporadically throughout late 2017 and early 2018, typically through Instagram Live broadcasts. On March 8, 2018, the band began teasing the release of a lead single and a subsequent album with a two minute long video of Urie brushing his teeth beside an alarm clock reading "3:19" for the video's entirety, accompanied by an orchestral version of "King of the Clouds". The time on the clock led fans to believe that the band would be releasing new material on March 19. Over a week later, fans received packages sent from Urie's P.O. box containing a white bottle reading "Pray for the W!cked / 3:21 / Unholy Water", once more leading to speculation over a release date of March 21. On March 19, the band announced a surprise show at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio that night. The band unveiled their new touring bassist, Nicole Row, who would be replacing their former member and touring bassist, Dallon Weekes, following his departure on December 27, 2017. No new material was performed at the show.

The album was announced on March 21, 2018, alongside the release of the lead single "Say Amen (Saturday Night)" and a B-side, "(Fuck A) Silver Lining".[8]

The second single "High Hopes" was released on May 23, 2018,[9] followed by the pre-release track "King of the Clouds" on June 18, 2018.[10]

The singles for the album were released in three Spotify combinations: Say Amen for Silver Linings, High Hopes on Saturday Night, and King of High Hopes.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. ClubB−[12]
DIY[13]
The Guardian[14]
The Independent[4]
Kerrang!3/5[15]
Newsday[16]
NME[1]
Q[17]
The Times[18]

Pray for the Wicked has received generally positive reviews from music critics. It holds an average score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic based on nine reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[11] In a positive review, The Independent said, "Panic! have never released the same album twice, but on Pray For The Wicked it feels as if they’ve finally managed to channel that frenetic, slightly chaotic attitude into a studio album that is at once eclectic and coherent."[4] In another positive review, NME commented on the influence of Brendon Urie being involved in Kinky Boots on the sound of the album, adding that "while it’s fair to say he’s always had a flair for theatrics, the experience has injected these tracks with unprecedented levels of sass and drama."[1] Newsday suggested that Urie's "Broadway stint brings him a creative burst and a theatrical bent."[16] The album, though, received a poor rating from long term supporters of the band: Kerrang! magazine saying that the album was, "stiff and trying too hard". [19]

Commercial performance

Pray for the Wicked debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 180,000 album-equivalent units, of which 151,000 were pure album sales.[5] It is the band's second US number-one album.[5] The album also debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the band's second Australian number-one album.[20]

Track listing

Track listing adapted from iTunes.[21] All songs produced by Jake Sinclair, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."(Fuck A) Silver Lining"
  • J. Sinclair
  • S. Chesak
2:48
2."Say Amen (Saturday Night)"
  • J. Sinclair
  • Toby Wincorn[b]
  • Suzy Shinn[b]
3:09
3."Hey Look Ma, I Made It"
  • J. Sinclair
  • Francis
2:49
4."High Hopes"
3:10
5."Roaring 20s"
  • J. Sinclair
  • Wincorn[a]
3:06
6."Dancing's Not a Crime"
3:39
7."One of the Drunks"
  • Urie
  • Sinclair
  • @iamchillpill
  • Alex Goodwin
  • Hollander
  • Harris
  • J. Sinclair
  • @iamchillpill[a]
  • MOTIV[a]
  • Shinn[b]
3:18
8."The Overpass"
  • J. Sinclair
  • S. Chesak
2:57
9."King of the Clouds"
  • Urie
  • Sinclair
  • Alex Kresovich
  • Hollander
  • Shinn
  • J. Sinclair
  • Alex 'AK' Kresovich[a]
  • Shinn[b]
2:40
10."Old Fashioned"
  • Urie
  • Sinclair
  • Wincorn
  • Hollander
  • Harris
  • J. Sinclair
  • Wincorn[a]
2:46
11."Dying in LA"
  • J. Sinclair
3:49
Total length:34:11

Track notes

  • ^[a] signifies a co-producer
  • ^[b] signifies an additional producer

Samples

  • "(Fuck A) Silver Lining" contains elements from "Oh What a Night" by The Dells.
  • "Say Amen (Saturday Night)" contains interpolations of "Aphasia" by The Budos Band and "Crying Pine Grove Blues" by Nathan Abshire.
  • "Roaring 20s" contains elements of "Latino Lovewalk" by Maynard Ferguson.
  • "Dancing's Not a Crime" contains samples from "Get Down" by Chris Bernard.
  • "The Overpass" contains elements of "Chase" by James Brown and an interpolation of "Mama Feelgood" by Lyn Collins.

Personnel

Personnel per album booklet.

Panic! at the Disco

  • Brendon Urie – vocals, guitar (track 3), bass (tracks 1–3), drums (tracks 2–7, 9 and 10), piano (tracks 2–4 and 11), background vocals (tracks 1–7, 9 and 10)

Additional musicians

  • Jake Sinclair – background vocals (tracks 1–7, 9 and 10), bass (tracks 4–9), organ (tracks 5 and 6), guitar (track 4), acoustic guitar (track 10)
  • Rob Mathes – conductor, horn arrangements
  • Kenneth Harris – guitar (tracks 1–7, 9 and 10), background vocals (tracks 1–7 and 10)
  • Suzy Shinn – background vocals (tracks 1–7, 9 and 10)
  • Scott Chesak – drums (tracks 1 and 8), keyboards (track 1 and 8), guitar (track 8), bass (track 8), percussion (track 1)
  • Morgan Kibby – background vocals (track 3)
  • Ilsey Juber – background vocals (track 4)
  • Sam Hollander – background vocals (tracks 5, 7, and 10)
  • Alex Kresovich – piano (track 9), organ (track 9)
  • Rachel White – background vocals (track 9)
  • Kate Micucci – background vocals (track 9)
  • Thomas Bowes – string leader, concertmaster (London), violin
  • Bruce Dukov – concertmaster (Los Angeles), violin
  • Charlie Bisharat – violin
  • Julie Gigante – violin
  • Jessica Guideri – violin
  • Lisa Lui – violin
  • Maya Magub – violin
  • Serena McKinney – violin
  • Helen Nightengale – violin
  • Katia Popov – violin
  • Tereza Stanislav – violin
  • Warren Zielinski – violin
  • Jackie Hartley – violin
  • Rita Manning – violin
  • Peter Hanson – violin
  • Tom Pigott-Smith – violin
  • Emlyn Singleton – violin
  • Cathy Thompson – violin
  • Brian Dembow – string leader (Los Angeles), viola
  • Robert Brophy – viola
  • Shawn Mann - viola
  • Zach Dellinger - viola
  • Peter Lale – string leader (London), viola
  • Bruce White – viola
  • Steve Erdody – string leader (Los Angeles), cello
  • Jacob Braun – cello
  • Eric Byers – cello
  • Caroline Dale – string leader (London), cello
  • Tim Gill – cello
  • Jason Fabus – saxophone
  • Peter Slocombe – saxophone
  • Morgan Jones – saxophone
  • Mike Rocha – trumpet
  • Jonathan Bradley – trumpet
  • Ryan Dragon – trombone
  • Peter Cobbin – strings (track 9)

Additional personnel

  • Rosanna Jones – album illustrations
  • Jimmy Fontaine – photography

Production

  • Jake Sinclair – production
  • Suzy Shinn – additional production (tracks 2 and 6–9), engineering
  • Scott Chesak – production (track 1 and 8)
  • Dillon Francis – production (track 3)
  • Chill Pill – co-production (track 7), engineering (track 7)
  • Alex Kresovich – co-production (track 9)
  • Claudius Mittendorfer – mixing
  • Emily Lazar – mastering
  • Chris Allgood – assistant mastering

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] 1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[23] 3
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[24] 10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[25] 39
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[26] 1
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[27] 26
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[28] 27
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[29] 6
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[30] 22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[31] 8
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[32] 23
Irish Albums (IRMA)[33] 7
Italian Albums (FIMI)[34] 35
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[35] 2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[36] 14
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[37] 37
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[38] 23
Scottish Albums (OCC)[39] 3
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[40] 24
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 27
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[43] 2
US Billboard 200[5] 1
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[44] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[45] 1

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[46] Silver 60,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Leivers, Dannii (June 20, 2018). "Panic! At The Disco – 'Pray For The Wicked' review". NME. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Panic! At the Disco, 'Pray for the Wicked' review". Stack. June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Collar, Matt. "Pray for the Wicked – Panic! At the Disco". AllMusic. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 O'Connor, Roisin (June 20, 2018). "Panic! At The Disco, Pray For The Wicked album review: Hedonistic glee that we might as well indulge in". The Independent. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Caulfield, Keith (July 1, 2018). "Panic! at the Disco's 'Pray for the Wicked' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  6. ↑ Moore, Sam (March 21, 2018). "Pray For the Wicked by Panic! At the Disco NME". NME. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Panic! At The Disco". Panic! At The Disco. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Panic! At The Disco on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Hear Panic! at the Disco's Spirited New Song 'High Hopes'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Panic! At The Disco Drop New Track, King Of The Clouds — Kerrang!". Kerrang!. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Pray for the Wicked by Panic! At the Disco". Metacritic. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  12. ↑ Ihnat, Gwen (June 29, 2018). "Panic At The Disco, Pray For The Wicked". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  13. ↑ Jamieson, Sarah (June 22, 2018). "Panic! At The Disco – Pray For The Wicked". DIY. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  14. ↑ Aroesti, Rachel (June 22, 2018). "Panic! at the Disco: Pray for the Wicked review – a parade of emo-pop pizzazz". The Guardian. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  15. ↑ McLaughlin, David (30 June 2018). "Say Your Prayers". Kerrang!: 53. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  16. 1 2 Gamboa, Glenn (June 20, 2018). "'Pray for the Wicked' review: Panic! at the Disco gets more theatrical and creative". Newsday. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  17. ↑ Everley, Dave (Summer 2018). "Panic! at the Disco: Pray for the Wicked". Q (387): 114.
  18. ↑ Hodgkinson, Will (June 22, 2018). "Panic! at the Disco review: Pray for the Wicked". The Times. Retrieved June 28, 2018. (Subscription required (help)).
  19. ↑ https://www.pressreader.com/uk/kerrang-uk/20180627/282024737996898
  20. 1 2 "Australiancharts.com – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Pray For the Wicked by Panic! At the Disco on Apple Music". iTunes Store (CA). Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Pray For The Wicked Panic! At The Disco CD Album". CDJapan. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Panic at the Disco Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201826 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  28. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Panic! at the Disco: Pray for the Wicked" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2018. 26. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Panic! at the Disco". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  36. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  37. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  38. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  39. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  40. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  41. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  42. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  43. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  44. ↑ "Panic at the Disco Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  45. ↑ "Panic at the Disco Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  46. ↑ "British album certifications – Panic at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 15, 2018. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Pray for the Wicked in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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