Pretty.Odd. - Panic at the Disco
Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 22
  2. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. An admirably ambitious musical bonanza. [28 Mar 2008, p.64]
  2. It may not be an album to die for, but it is a rare album of note, as much for its context as its content.
  3. 80
    Pretty.Odd. often tries way too hard to be obtuse, it's true, but you have to admire the band's willingness to grow. [May 2008, p.106
  4. This is a deliriously jumbled, left-field delight.
  5. 80
    Pretty.Odd lives up to its title because it dares to be optimistically beautiful at a time when sadness and ugliness might have won them easier credibility. [Apr 2008, p.92]
  6. 15 tracks of welcomed live drum sounds, symphonies and stacked harmonies.
  7. Pretty. Odd. is a victory for artistic ambition over cynical careerism, and we should all rejoice in their decision to follow their instincts as opposed to their instructions and actually do something different.
  8. 70
    Panic's cherry-picking yields several good songs, and a few brush up against greatness. [Apr 2008, p.76]
  9. Even when it's over the top, which is basically always, Pretty. Odd. sounds cheerful, with a broad sense of humor that does honor to the noble legacy of ELO mastermind Jeff Lynne.
  10. Pretty.Odd can be summed up in one word: ambitious. [Apr 2008, p.147]
  11. This is a remarkably solid album that stands as one of the best album made by a pop-punk band this decade, although this music can hardly be considered 'pop-punk' anymore.
  12. There may be a deep coat of irony smeared about here, but in the end, Pretty. Odd. is exactly what it says it is.
  13. What Ross didn't say was Pretty borrows liberally from the things that made [the Beatles and the Who] superficially interesting--the practiced eccentricity, the constant innovation--without paying tribute to the cultural and political sensibilities that made them great.
  14. The fact remains, even if this batch of songs is a little clumsy and without nuance at times, most are memorable and enjoyable.
  15. But the album's majority--all baroque orchestration (the horn- and string-rich 'The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know') and multilayered, Sgt. Pepper-esque psychedelia (the lovely 'She's A Handsome Woman')--demands far more than a casual listen. The question is, are the masses who initially embraced Panic At The Disco committed enough to give it one?
  16. Ultimately, you're left wishing that Panic at the Disco had more to say about their own generation, instead of mimicking that of their parents'. [May 2008, p.134]
  17. Every song on Pretty. Odd. is played and sung with the exuberant delivery of Rent on Broadway. But when the hooks are this good, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
  18. For the most part, this album would sound completely at home on classic rock radio.
  19. For all its craftsmanship, Pretty. Odd. comes across as mannered and overbearing, more studied than exuberant, the magnum opus of a talented band charging wholeheartedly down a blind alley.
  20. 40
    Frontman Brendan Urie has a knack for jaunty pop but Pretty Odd is too clinical and calculated for one so young. [May 2008, p.102]
  21. More often than not (and this is the kicker, ladies and gentlemen), Pretty. Odd. is just pretty dull.
  22. Sgt Emo's Lonely Hearts Club Band delivers a less than thrilling album.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 129 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 63
  2. Negative: 19 out of 63
  1. This album SUCKS. The other one is _AMAZING_, probably my favorite album by any band, ever. But this one... just disappointing. So SLOW and not clever at all! Full Review »
  2. This was Panic at the Disco at their best. Pretty. Odd. is a great example of a band maturing their sound for their sophomore album. If only it hadn't been so short lived... Full Review »
  3. Panic! At the Disco are perhaps my favourite band- none of my opinion is based on this albubm. A terrible, terrible follow up to their first album. THis song contains two good tracks, 'Nine in the Afternoon' and 'Things have Changed'. I am disappointed in this album. Not only is it too far from what Panic! At the Disco are known for, but their 'new' sound is whiny and boring. Full Review »