I kind of separate Panic into two halves in my mind, the first being Fever through V&V and the second being Too Weird onwards Personally I have Fever as the best record of first half Panic and I think DOAB is the best of second half
At this point the only Panic I spin on a regular basis is Fever, V&V, and Too Weird. DOAB once in awhile
Wicked is definitely the big budget sequel to DOAB. I like them both plenty but they definitely feel like the same era/sessions.
PFTW has far more duds than DOAB. DOAB beats it for just having the title track and LA Devotee alone.
Ya I think DOAB is pretty overrated. I definitely prefer PFTW, and VLV is pretty on par with it for me.
So I'm playing DOAB because of the talk in this thread today and House of Memories comes on and my 9-year-old (10 on Tuesday! How time flies...) starts singing the chorus word for word. My jaw hits the floor... how the heck does she know this? Apparently, it's one of the biggest songs on social media these days (TikTok/snap/reels).
DOAB Good songs Hallelujah Emperor's New Clothes Death of a Bachelor Crazy=Genius LA Devotee Golden Days Okay songs Victorious Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time House of Memories Impossible Year Bad Songs The Good, The Bad and the Dirty PFTW Good songs Say Amen Roaring 20s The Overpass King of the Clouds Okay songs Fuck a Silver Lining Hey Look Ma I Made It Dancing's Not a Crime One of the Drunks Old Fashioned Dying in LA Bad songs High Hopes Conclusion DOAB>PFTW
DOAB Great Songs Death of a Bachelor Golden Days LA Devotee Good Songs Impossible Year Okay Songs Crazy=Genius Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time Victorious Emperor's New Clothes Weak Songs House of Memories Bad Songs The Good, the Bad and the Dirty Hallelujah PFTW Great Songs (Fuck a) Silver Lining The Overpass Say Amen (Saturday Night) Good Songs Hey Look Ma, I Made It High Hopes Dying in LA Roaring 20s Dancing's Not a Crime Okay Songs One of the Drunks Weak Songs King of the Clouds PFTW > DOAB
After that first Panic record I never found anything I could connect with. The manic-ness of that first record just never showed up naturally again in their sound for me. Its quite impressive that Brendon was able to pivot it to a solo act and still be an arena band today. Just not my thing.
I hardly find myself going back to a good bit of PFTW. It’s not a bad record, but not much stands out among their discography for me. Highlights are definitely Silver Lining, Say Amen, and Overpass. DOAB is more memorable for me, and it’s got more standouts. I can enjoy the weaker songs, and it just has better sonic ideas and production, in my opinion.
I heard Don't Let the Light Go Out on the radio today and enjoyed it more than I remembered, maybe there are hidden gems here and I don't realize it