Pray for the Wicked
by Panic! At the Disco
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 233 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 180 out of 233
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 233
  3. Negative: 19 out of 233
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  1. NoahRoss
    Jul 4, 2018
    5
    This is Panic! At The Disco, but I have to admit this is probably the weakest release under the name. The songs all sound (mostly) the same and there really is nothing unique about this album. Despite having catchy tunes, this is not “Death of a Bachelor” quality as we should now expect. Over all, I think Pray For The Wicked is meh.
  2. cerebeliac
    Jun 23, 2018
    6
    I was looking forward to this Panic album for a while, so you can imagine my disappointment when I heard this pop/trap/electro swing(?) album instead. It's not a bad album by any means, but it's not great either. I'm all for artists changing up their style with every release, heck it's what this band is known for, but this just sounds like a watered down version of their last release.
  3. DarkTitan9174
    Jun 22, 2018
    5
    Panic! are band that I currently have a somewhat difficult relationship with. I would say that their best album is probably Pretty Odd, because to some extent it lives up to its title, especially considering how much it deviated from Fever. Vices had great instrumentation but kind of poor lyrics. Too Weird To Live and Death of a Bachelor have both been fun, but are lacking that realPanic! are band that I currently have a somewhat difficult relationship with. I would say that their best album is probably Pretty Odd, because to some extent it lives up to its title, especially considering how much it deviated from Fever. Vices had great instrumentation but kind of poor lyrics. Too Weird To Live and Death of a Bachelor have both been fun, but are lacking that real tangible depth - yet I still find myself coming back to quite a few of the songs off of them. However, after the departure of a high amount of members and resulting in Brendon Urie effectively becoming Panic! at the Disco, a very clear new sound was emerging, seeds of which were sown into Bachelor. I feel this has now cultivated in Pray For The Wicked, Panic!'s sixth album that almost completely abandons Panic!'s roots and essentially makes a Brendon Urie pop album. I don't necessarily think that this is a bad thing - pop albums can be good, given it has a heart. However, I just don't feel there's a whole lot of heart to any aspect of Pray For The Wicked.

    To start with the positives, songs are typically catchy. Brendon is always such a performer, and some songs like Say Amen, King of the Clouds, The Overpass and **** A) Silver Lining have a good sense of grandeur without sacrificing heart. However, it's this seeming emphasis on grandeur and bombastic sounding production that is to the album's detriment, likely a result of Brendon's time in Broadway. Though they may sound like they're out of a musical, they might be out of an average musical.

    Some songs made my face actually sort of scrunch up, considering what the hell I was listening to in the context of a band that had built themselves off of punk pop rock and at least instrumentation. 2018's trapscape seeps even into this album, and some of the performances here are semi-questionable.

    Pray For The Wicked is not necessarily bad. It's just painfully average and just lacks any real heart to it. It feels hollow. An album that seems to try to please everyone seems to ultimately please no one.    … Expand
  4. Hipstersnob
    Jun 24, 2018
    6
    A fun album that just doesn't quite manage to keep you emotionally invested. Well produced, catchy songs though.
  5. Montoy____19
    Jun 22, 2018
    6
    El álbum en sí no es malo, sólo que para mí abusa de los arreglos de voz en algunas canciones y no alcanzo a distinguir instrumentos como la guitarra, que sólo noté en Old Fashioned.
  6. everdash
    Jun 22, 2018
    4
    Came in to this album with high hopes (no pun intended), and I walked away confused, disappointed, and ultimately saddened. Brenden has utterly and completely fallen in love with himself, overbearing almost every song with his incredible vocal talents. He adds 2 to 3 times more notes than are needed and it just comes off as superficial and annoying. The lyrics in particular are shallow andCame in to this album with high hopes (no pun intended), and I walked away confused, disappointed, and ultimately saddened. Brenden has utterly and completely fallen in love with himself, overbearing almost every song with his incredible vocal talents. He adds 2 to 3 times more notes than are needed and it just comes off as superficial and annoying. The lyrics in particular are shallow and completely lacking any depth or personality. We came from:

    "This is gospel for the vagabonds,
    Ne’er-do-wells, insufferable bastards
    Confessing their apostasies
    Led away by imperfect impostors"

    To:

    "This is my roaring, roaring 20s, I don't
    Even know me, roll me like a blunt, cause I wanna go home"

    This downgrade may have worked for Taylor Swift, but for Brenden, the standard is simply just higher. It's like he decided to make a horn-blaring, content-light commercial album meant to cash in on the, "We are the depraved and reckless party-kids generation" and left behind all substance. The closest he comes is the last song, "Dying in LA", but even then manages to over-sing it and not just trust the lyrics and music itself. And again, it's not due to a lack of talent; On the contrary, it's due to someone who has had the world at his feet for so long that he thinks his voice alone is more important than every other element of a song.

    "Say Amen" is fun and "High Hopes" is by far the best song, but the bright spots get drowned out by the hundreds of horns, samples, and empty-calorie lyrics from the rest of the album. I desperately await Panic and Brenden's return to honest, vulnerable, and soulful music written from the heart, and not a quick cash grab.    … Expand
  7. Lopesito27
    Sep 16, 2018
    6
    This record fails where Panic! is best at. Making songs you can blast, but here, most of the songs feel like a firework that flies to the sky without exploding, they don't flow, they feel rushed and forced. The lyrics are also probably the worst from Panic!
  8. JLuis_001
    Sep 6, 2018
    5
    This band made two good albums at the beginning of their career but Brendon Urie took the reins and turned it into a forgettable pop project. What a shame and what a waste.
  9. Masquic
    Jun 22, 2018
    6
    It's a good album, not the best, not the worst. The instrumental in some of the songs and brendon voice are really good.
  10. MacsMusic
    Nov 14, 2018
    6
    Pray For The Wicked is the newest album from the very popular Alt-rock one-man band Panic! At The Disco. It’s already a highly successful album. It reached the number 1 spot on the Billboard 200, and now sits at number 39, twenty weeks after it’s debut. The hits so far are “Say Amen” and “High Hopes,” both of which I’ve heard on Alt-radio several times. Pray For The Wicked is Panic’sPray For The Wicked is the newest album from the very popular Alt-rock one-man band Panic! At The Disco. It’s already a highly successful album. It reached the number 1 spot on the Billboard 200, and now sits at number 39, twenty weeks after it’s debut. The hits so far are “Say Amen” and “High Hopes,” both of which I’ve heard on Alt-radio several times. Pray For The Wicked is Panic’s craziest, most overdone and overstuffed album yet, and it’s only 34 minutes long. The album is highly inspired by Broadway, like Pretty. Odd, but much noisier and crazier, minus the slow closing song “Dying in LA.” The album is mostly dominated by real, huge instruments; trumpet, piano, and anything that emulates the sounds of Broadway. Modern elements are thrown in a few songs, like the high-pitched electronic voice on “Amen.” Something similar can be heard during the chorus of “Dancing.” The lyrics are as overblown as they could be, reaching for the stars, full of Broadway-level ambition and charisma.

    To demonstrate the quality of this record, I would like to break down one of it’s songs; “Old Fashioned.” The song opens with some very cringey lyrics, and an awkward vocal performance by Urie. The chorus is huge, epic, and awesome, with a great-sounding performance by Urie. The second verse is slightly better than the first, but still cringey. The bridge is ridiculous and stupid, with Urie saying “boozy boozy” over and over again. Urie brings in a corny children’s choir for the final chorus. The mish-mash quality of “Old Fashioned” serves as a fairly accurate picture of the quality of the whole album. Some of it sounds really great, and some of it is straight-up hard to listen to. There are a few exceptions to this generalization. I love “Silver Lining,” “Hey Look Ma, I Made It,” and “Dancing.” The energy of these songs is fantastic, and the Broadway music hits all the right notes. “High Hopes,” “King of the Clouds,” and “LA” don’t have any unlistenable music, but are nearly as successful as the previously mentioned songs I really liked. “Say Amen” has pretty great music, but some pretty bad blasphemous lyrics that personally keep me from liking the song. The worst song on here is “The Overpass,” but it still has some really cool elements (the Mission Impossible-esque opening music).

    Panic’s newest album is commendable for it’s attempted style and nearly endless ambition, but the execution enough to really hurt the album. There is some great stuff on PFTW, but some real trash.    … Expand
  11. BarbaraWairimu
    Jun 28, 2018
    4
    I was really optimistic about this album, especially after hearing Say Amen(Saturday Night) but I was very disappointed. There are more songs that I hate than like overall. It feels way too repetitive and gets very tedious after a few listens.
  12. zac3323
    Jul 13, 2018
    4
    The Weakest panic album by far, its just pop with a jazz twist to make it somewhat bearable
  13. TrenchSave2018
    Nov 11, 2018
    5
    Este álbum es un refrito de DOAB, solo que mas pop, Beebo me desepcionas
    Thank u, next.
  14. neongoodbyes
    Sep 5, 2018
    4
    I've been a Panic! fan for two and a half years now, and as someone who prefers the pre-split material (A Fever You Can't Sweat Out and Pretty Odd) I wasn't exactly excited or hyped for this album, though I was intrigued as to what would it would sound like. At first I was fairly optimistic, as I didn't mind the first two singles (Silver Lining and Say Amen). When the album was releasedI've been a Panic! fan for two and a half years now, and as someone who prefers the pre-split material (A Fever You Can't Sweat Out and Pretty Odd) I wasn't exactly excited or hyped for this album, though I was intrigued as to what would it would sound like. At first I was fairly optimistic, as I didn't mind the first two singles (Silver Lining and Say Amen). When the album was released however, I was rather disappointed. The songs all seem the same, following the same themes of 'started from the bottom now I'm here', 'even though I'm famous my life still sucks', and 'yes I smoke weed and drink wow I'm so cool'. The songs are all very much in your face and out there, and very poppy apart from Dying In LA, which I take as the obligatory mediocre sad song to close out the album. The reason I have put this as mixed rather than negative is because I LOVE the song 'The Overpass', and the songs overall aren't too bad to listen to, they're just very shallow and don't at all connect emotionally.

    The review I made on it after my first listen says a bit about it too:
    Panic! At The Disco (or should i more accurately say, Brendon Urie)'s sixth studio effort is filled with sparkling horns, strings, drum machines, and catchy pop beats. Each song is on average just scraping three minutes, with choruses big and bold though lacking individuality. Each is repetitive in structure and features the name of the song sung a couple of times along with other cut and paste lyrics, for almost all tracks on the album. If you enjoy loud large pop songs, this album is most definitely for you. If you crave originality and songs without copied and pasted choruses chucked in throughout, you might want to look past this one. Overall, for those who like newer Panic! this album should suit you nicely. Fans of older Panic! will want to stay well clear unless they are especially open minded.    … Expand
  15. Dexter-132x
    Feb 18, 2019
    4
    This is the worst album panic! at the disco has put out and it saddens me so much to say that. I really wanted to like this album but it just sucks. Ive been a fan of panic! for years. I thought death of a bachelor was kinda low but damn this album takes the cake and It takes it pretty far. How did "I'll sleep in the hive
    I guess all the buzzing got to me
    While I'm still alive At night    This is the worst album panic! at the disco has put out and it saddens me so much to say that. I really wanted to like this album but it just sucks. Ive been a fan of panic! for years. I thought death of a bachelor was kinda low but damn this album takes the cake and It takes it pretty far. How did "I'll sleep in the hive
    I guess all the buzzing got to me
    While I'm still alive
    At night your body is a symphony
    And I'm conducting you"

    Go to

    "This is my roaring, roaring 20's
    I don't even know me
    Roll me like a blunt, 'cause I wanna go home
    Roll me like a blunt, 'cause I wanna go home"

    ?

    heres my rating on all the panic! albums

    Fever 9/10
    Pretty.odd 8/10
    Vices 9/10
    To wired 8/10
    Death 7/10
    Pray 4/10

    Thats pretty low if you ask me especially for panic! at the disco    … Expand
  16. CallMeIzOrBella
    Apr 26, 2019
    6
    I've got to say, pretty generic, with some good tension chords throughout which I always like, but mostly a sleek and maximalist produced pop album trying to cover up for its mediocrity and successfully failing at it. Not the best.
  17. DylanAshcroft
    Mar 5, 2020
    5
    Brendon... I mean Panic! Have fully embraced mainstream pop music and have produced this album of absolute bops mixed with some absolute stinkers. The main takeaway from this is that it's now completely the Brendon Urie show and he's now turned his back on what made the band what they are now. Key tracks: High Hopes, Silver Lining, Roaring 20s. 52/100
  18. Joewhite41
    Aug 17, 2022
    4
    This album has so much to offer but ends up wasting much of that potential on overproduced and poorly written songs. The bombast, camp, over the top Broadway inspired vibe is brilliant and really makes you want to enjoy the album but nearly every song has something to completely ruin it, some examples include;

    The line "everything's just cherries, cherries, everything's just cherries on    This album has so much to offer but ends up wasting much of that potential on overproduced and poorly written songs. The bombast, camp, over the top Broadway inspired vibe is brilliant and really makes you want to enjoy the album but nearly every song has something to completely ruin it, some examples include;

    The line "everything's just cherries, cherries, everything's just cherries on top" on **** a silver lining.

    The overly distorted and overproduced "high high hopes" at the end of each chorus

    The crazy high notes in dying in la that sound more like a voice break

    The mosquito-like opening instrumental in roaring 20s (not to mention the lyric "roll me like a blunt cus I wanna go home")

    I've heard that this was originally just a collection of demos Brendon presented his record label and he was forced to release them despite not wanting to, and although I'm not sure if that's true, it would certainly explain why they're so overproduced and under developed.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Most Discussed Album of 2018
20
#20 Most Shared Album of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. The A.V. Club
    Jun 29, 2018
    67
    The poignant album-ending ballad “Dying In LA” makes you wish there had been more tracks showcasing Urie’s pop-transcending emotive vocals.
    Read full review
  2. Kerrang!
    Jun 27, 2018
    60
    It feels harsh to criticise a Panic! At The Disco record for being bold and exploring its brash nature to the fullest. ... But there's no getting around the fact this one feels like it could have done with a defter touch and some sonic restraint. [30 Jun 2018, p.53]
  3. The 405
    Jun 26, 2018
    50
    Between horns, strings, synths, guitars and all the rest this record is definitely an attack on the senses and shows Urie's knack for constructing a radio-friendly hit, but delve below the surface and it doesn't have much to offer. Certainly not enough to justify diminishing returns for a long running act, definitely not enough to keep me coming back for anything but the first few beats.
    Read full review
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