Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!

{{Infobox album | Name = Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! | Type = studio | Artist = Panic! at the Disco | Cover = Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!.jpg | Released = October 8, 2013 | Recorded = November 2012 – March 2013

| Genre =

Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! is the fourth studio album by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. The album was released on October 8, 2013 on Decaydance and Fueled by Ramen. Recorded as a three-piece, the album was produced by Butch Walker, and is the first album to feature bassist Dallon Weekes since he officially joined the band in 2010.

Described as a "party record",[1] Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! was preceded by the singles "Miss Jackson" and "This Is Gospel", with "Girls / Girls / Boys" and Nicotine EP following after its release. The album's overall aesthetic is influenced by dance music, electronica and hip hop.

Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, earning the band their second career number two. The song Vegas Lights would later be used as the Vegas Golden Knights' goal song.

Writing and composition

Musically, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! is inspired by hip hop in that "there are no rules".[2] In an extension of that mantra, the album is an eclectic affair that varies wildly from song to song. Other inspirations for the album were drawn from electronic composers such as Kraftwerk, and Wendy Carlos (composer of the soundtrack of Tron and A Clockwork Orange). The album's sound has been described as pop,[3][4][5][6] dance-pop,[3][5] synth-pop,[6][7] electropop,[8] indie rock,[7] alternative rock,[9] pop rock,[10] and emo.[7]

Name origin

The name of the album was lifted from Hunter S. Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.[11] It is a reference to the central idea of the album, which was inspired by lead singer Brendon Urie, and drummer Spencer Smith's home city of Las Vegas.

Lyrics

Urie's lyrical contributions to Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! were further inspired by the band's city. Prior to the album's release, he noted: "When we did our first record, we were really bitter toward the whole Vegas scene. We weren't old enough to experience all of what Vegas is really known for. Even the shows, most of them were twenty-one and over. There was a lot of hostility, but over the past couple years, I’ve started to get rid of that cynicism and see it in a new light [...] I wanted to celebrate it." He penned much of the album's lyrics in the city itself: "There's some glitz, some glamour, but there's also the dingy, old Vegas side to the music."

The record's lyrics are very personal in nature. The first track, "This is Gospel" (written by Urie and bassist Dallon Weekes), talks about Spencer's drug addiction. The original demo sat on Urie's laptop for months before he finally shared it with the rest of the band.[2] The album's lead single, "Miss Jackson", was written about Urie's first sexual experiences during his youth. "When I was younger, I would mess around; I'd sleep with one girl one night, sleep with her friend the next night, and not care about how they felt, or how I made them feel. And then it happened to me, and I realized 'Wow, that's what that feels like? I feel really shitty.'"[12] A hidden preview of "Vegas Lights" was featured in the announcement video of Fall Out Boy's Save Rock and Roll fall arena tour.[13] "Vegas Lights" was intended as an anthem for carefree nights in Las Vegas, that most prominently reflected how Urie felt clubbing.[2] "I felt this weird energy where everybody was having a good time, and it didn't matter," he remarked. "Dancing like nobody's watching. It was kind of beautiful.".[2] The song also uses a sample from "Number 5", (a song used on Sesame Street in the 1970s) at the beginning of the song. "Girl That You Love" was originally written in French following a five-day vacation in France. Bassist Dallon Weekes, who also performed lyrical duties for the album, later penned the English lyrics for the song based on Urie's French demo.[14]

The album's third single, "Girls / Girls / Boys" has been described by Dallon Weekes, as being centered on a love triangle complicated by differing sexual orientations. When commented on about the video for "Girls / Girls / Boys", lead singer Brendon Urie said "It's inspired by D'Angelo's 'Untitled (How Does It Feel)' video."

The YouTube release of, "Casual Affair" samples the quote "Looks innocent enough, doesn't it? But sometimes there are dangers involved that never meet the eye. No matter where you meet a stranger, be careful if they are too friendly" taken from the 1961 public domain anti-gay film Boys Beware. This quote is not present in the official album release.[15][16]

"The End of All Things" was written about Urie's wife Sarah Urie, and is written as Urie's vows in their wedding. The song was written two days before they got married.

Promotion

In August 2012, the band's last tour cycle, it was announced during a show that a new album was in the works. Soon, pictures of the band busy in the studio were posted on the band's Tumblr, Facebook, and Instagram. On July 15, 2013 the band announced Too Weird To Live, Too Rare to Die! for a release date of October 8 as an addition a new single "Miss Jackson" and music video. On July 18, 2013 a small tour was announced to support the album with New Politics opening for them, starting on August 1, 2013, and ending August 22, 2013. It was also announced that they would go on the Save Rock and Roll tour with Fall Out Boy. In support of the album release, On October 11, 2013, the band played a release show in Las Vegas at the Cosmo Pool. On October 14, 2013, 6 days after the album was released, the band announced a Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! tour, starting on January 14, 2014, and ending on February 16, 2014. The band continued to tour until May 13, 2014, and announced a new tour, titled, The Gospel Tour beginning on July 18, 2014, and ending August 31, 2014.

Artwork

The album's cover art features a black and white photograph of vocalist, and guitarist Brendon Urie smoking a cigarette emitting rainbow-colored fumes. Drummer Spencer Smith, and bassist Dallon Weekes appear in photographs within the album's supplemental artwork. Regarding the decision to feature a photograph of himself on the cover, Urie noted, "I love being the center of attention, I'm shameless about it. And being the lead singer, everyone thought it made sense, for me to be front and center. It felt right, since I was so close to these songs."[17] In another interview, Urie said "[the album] really was just about times I had growing up in Vegas. I wanted to create that character. The person I am on the cover is not who I am. Even the smoking cigarettes — I’ve quit since then. But when I was a kid, that was the guy who ran around Vegas and owned it. He had a Liberace jacket and he was smoking a cigarette. He was owning the desert, he didn’t give a fuck, and the smoke was colored — that to me was the quintessential Vegas guy."[18]

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album made its debut on the Billboard 200 at number 2, on the chart issue dated October 26, 2013, selling 84,000 copies.[19] In its second week of selling, the album fell 17 spots, from number 2, to 19. After 108 weeks of charting on the Billboard 200, the album fell off.[20] As of January 24, 2016, the album has sold 407,000 copies.[21]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.1/10[22]
Metacritic72/100[23]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Alternative Press[4]
American Songwriter[24]
DIY[25]
Kerrang!4/5[26]
NewsdayA−[7]
PopMatters4/10[11]
Rolling Stone[27]
Sputnikmusic3/5[28]
Time Out[29]

Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! received generally positive reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from reviews from critics, the album received a 72 based on 8 reviews.[23] In a positive review, Matt Collar of AllMusic praised the album's exploration of different genres.[6] In another positive review, Eric Allen of American Songwriter stated that while the album seems to be extremely dissimilar in the first listen, Brendon Urie's personal lyrics thematically tie them all together.[24] In a mixed review, Jordan Blum of PopMatters wrote that the album felt like a continuation of Vices & Virtues and came off as obnoxious, generic, and too uninvolving to listen to.[11]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."This Is Gospel"
3:07
2."Miss Jackson" (featuring Lolo)
3:12
3."Vegas Lights"
  • Urie
  • Weekes
  • Walker
3:10
4."Girl That You Love"
  • Urie
  • Weekes
3:09
5."Nicotine"
  • Urie
  • Weekes
  • Salem
3:06
6."Girls / Girls / Boys"
  • Urie
  • Weekes
3:26
7."Casual Affair"Urie3:17
8."Far Too Young to Die"
  • Urie
  • Weekes
3:17
9."Collar Full"
  • Urie
  • Weekes
3:18
10."The End of All Things"Urie3:32
Total length:32:32

Personnel

Panic! at the Disco

  • Brendon Urie – lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, vocoder
  • Dallon Weekes – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, baritone guitar
  • Spencer Smith – drums, percussion, drum machine, electronic percussion

Additional musicians

  • Butch Walker – guitar, bass guitar, producing, backing vocals
  • Rob Mathes – string arrangements, conducting
  • Lauren "Lolo" Pritchard – additional vocals on "Miss Jackson"
  • Julian Leaper – concertmaster
  • Emlyn Singleton – violin (leader)
  • Peter Lale – viola (leader)
  • Dave Daniels – cello (leader)

Recording personnel

  • Jake Sinclair – engineer, mixing
  • Todd Stopera – assistant engineer
  • Amir Salem – additional engineering
  • Jonathan Allen – strings recording
  • Chris Barrett – strings recording assistant
  • Ted Jensen – mastering

Artwork

  • Alex R. Kirzhner – creative direction, photography and design
  • Panic! at the Disco – creative direction
  • Chris Phelps – additional photos
  • Anthony Franco – styling

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[30] 26
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[31] 70
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[32] 79
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[33] 175
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[34] 8
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[35] 46
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[36] 99
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[37] 77
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[38] 15
Scottish Albums (OCC)[39] 8
UK Albums (OCC)[40] 10
US Billboard 200[41] 2
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[42] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[43] 1
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[44] 2
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[45] 11
US Billboard Vinyl Albums[46] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2013) Position
US Billboard Alternative Albums [47] 31
US Billboard Rock Albums[48] 51
Chart (2014) Position
US Billboard Alternative Albums [49] 37
US Billboard 200[50] 177
US Billboard Rock Albums[51] 40
Chart (2016) Position
US Billboard 200[52] 171

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[53] Gold 40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[54] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[55] Gold 407,000[56]

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

Release history

Region Date Format
Australia October 4, 2013 Digital download[57]
October 11, 2013 CD[58]

References

  1. ↑ Lucy, Evan. "What Happened In Vegas: Panic! At The Disco talk Fall Out Boy, past members and their "party" album". altpress.com. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 James Montgomery (July 22, 2013). "Exclusive: Panic! At The Disco Say Too Rare Is Inspired By ... A$AP Rocky?". MTV News. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Gardner, Ryan (October 10, 2013). "Panic! At The Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To..." AbsolutePunk. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Pettigrew, Jason (October 3, 2013). "Panic! At The Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  5. 1 2 UG Team (2013). "Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! Review | Panic At The Disco | Compact Discs | Reviews". Ultimate Guitar Archive. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Collar, Matt. "Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! – Panic! At the Disco". AllMusic. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Gamboa, Glenn (October 8, 2013). "'Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die' review: Eclectic Panic! At the Disco". Newsday. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  8. ↑ Tamsyn Wilce. "Track by track: Panic! At The Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die". gigwise.com.
  9. ↑ "Panic! at the Disco changes its style again".
  10. ↑ "REVIEW: Panic! At The Disco – 'Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!'".
  11. 1 2 3 Blum, Jordan (October 22, 2013). "Panic! at the Disco: Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!". PopMatters. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  12. ↑ James Montgomery (July 16, 2013). "Exclusive: Panic! At The Disco Talk Dark, Decadent Too Rare To Die!". MTV News. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  13. ↑ Fall Out Boy – Save Rock And Roll Fall Arena Tour – [Panic! At The Disco support Announcement]). YouTube. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  14. ↑ Piet Levy. "Panic! at the Disco to bring punch, sparkle".
  15. ↑ Boys Beware. YouTube. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  16. ↑ Panic! At The Disco: Casual Affair (Audio). YouTube. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Exclusive: Panic! At The Disco Talk Dark, Decadent Too Rare To Die!". MTV News.
  18. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  19. ↑ . Billboard. October 26, 2013 https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/2013-10-26. Retrieved March 31, 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ . Billboard https://www.billboard.com/music/panic-at-the-disco/chart-history/billboard-200/song/800001. Retrieved March 31, 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 24, 2016). "Panic! at the Disco Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! by Panic! At The Disco reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  23. 1 2 "Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! by Panic! at the Disco". Metacritic. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  24. 1 2 Allen, Eric (October 4, 2013). "Panic! At The Disco: Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!". American Songwriter. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  25. ↑ Doyle, Tomas (October 1, 2013). "Panic! At The Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die". DIY. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Panic! at the Disco: Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!". Kerrang!: 52. October 5, 2013.
  27. ↑ Ganz, Caryn (October 8, 2013). "Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  28. ↑ Atari (5 October 2013). "Review: Panic At The Disco - Too Weird to Live, Too Rare To Die!". Sputnikmusic.
  29. ↑ Slater, Tom (October 4, 2013). "Panic! At The Disco – 'Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!' album review". Time Out. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Panic! at the Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  31. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Panic! at the Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Panic! at the Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  33. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Panic! at the Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  34. ↑ "Panic at the Disco Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
  35. ↑ "Panic! at the Disco: Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Panic! at the Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  38. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Panic! at the Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  40. ↑ "Panic At The Disco | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  41. ↑ "Panic at the Disco Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  42. ↑ "Panic at the Disco Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard.
  43. ↑ "Panic at the Disco Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  44. ↑ "Panic at the Disco Chart History (Digital Albums)". Billboard.
  45. ↑ "Panic at the Disco Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
  46. ↑ "Vinyl Albums : October 26, 2013". Billboard. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  47. ↑ "Alternative Albums: 2013 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  48. ↑ "2013 Year End Charts – Top Billboard Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  49. ↑ "Alternative Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  50. ↑ "2014 Year End Charts – Top Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  51. ↑ "2014 Year End Charts – Top Billboard Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  52. ↑ "2016 Year End Charts – Top Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  53. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Panic! at the Disco – Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!". Music Canada.
  54. ↑ "British album certifications – Panic! at the Disco". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 16, 2017. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Panic! at the Disco in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  55. ↑ "American album certifications – Panic! at the Disco". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  56. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 24, 2016). "Panic! at the Disco Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  57. ↑ iTunes AU – Music – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! by Panic! At The Disco. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  58. ↑ Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die | CD & DVD Music, Music Genres, Alternative : JB HI-FI. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
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