Alternative band Panic! At the Disco dropped their fourth studio album Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! on Tuesday, climbing their way to number two on the iTunes charts.
To the surprise of fans everywhere, Panic! at the Disco released the album in its entirety a week before its official release on the band’s YouTube channel.
The 10-track album was received well by fans, who boosted the album’s pre-order sales on iTunes into the top 10. YouTube views on their released album totaled over 2 million the day of the album’s official release.
Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! features two of the band’s singles released this summer, “Miss Jackson” and “This is Gospel”. Both have a combined total of over 3 million views on YouTube. The night before the album release, Panic! surprised fans with yet another release, the music video for the song “Girls/Girls/Boys.”
The racy music video, which features front man Brendan Urie in the nude just above the hips, is in homage to D’angelo’s music video for “Untitled,” named the sexiest music video of all time.
The much-anticipated album comes two years after their previous album, Vices and Virtues was released which is known to many as the album that re-invented Panic! at the Disco after members Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left the band in 2009. With the founding members of Panic! the band produced two albums, “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” (2005) and “Pretty. Odd.” (2008) which included hits like “Northern Downpour” and “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” the latter of which won Video of the Year at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. Many attribute Panic! at the Disco’s early success to their internet and MySpace fan base with word-of-mouth promotion and digital sharing.
Although the album’s release is a cause for celebration among fans, many are still concerned about the well-being of band member Spencer Smith. Smith publicly released an open letter to fans addressing of his absence from touring with Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy at this summer’s Save Rock and Roll Tour.
In the letter, Smith revealed his four-and-a-half year struggle with substance abuse and his determination to come clean about the addiction in more ways than one. While he is now sober, he wanted to publicly acknowledge his struggle and hoped to send a positive message to those suffering from substance abuse.
Fellow band member and close friend Brendan Urie released a letter of his own in support of Spencer Smith and his recovery and to inform fans that Panic! at the Disco is still together and will still be continuing to move forward as a band. Spencer Smith is expected to join the band on the upcoming “Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!” Tour.
The tour, which begins in the band’s native city of Las Vegas makes its way to New York City on Feb. 4 at Roseland Ballroom. The band is joined by opener band The Colourist.
