Panic! at the Disco - Viva Las Vengeance

Viva Las Vengeance is Panic! at the Disco's final studio album, a glam-soaked 2022 victory lap that trades studio gloss for tape hiss and swagger.

Brendon Urie framed the record as a look back at who he was when the project first took off, viewed with a fondness he didn't have back then. To capture that spirit he recorded live to an eight-track tape machine in Los Angeles, working with Butch Walker, Mike Viola and Jake Sinclair, and the songs wear their love of 1970s arena rock and power pop proudly.

The title track kicks the door in with stacked harmonies and a stomping chorus, and "Middle of a Breakup" races on bratty, hook-heavy energy. "Star Spangled Banger" leans so hard into Queen-sized theatricality you can almost see the falsetto in lights, while "Local God" keeps the energy cranked high. Thin Lizzy runs and Beatles-esque turns pop up everywhere, delivered with total commitment.

It's a big, warm, slightly ridiculous record in the best way, and knowing it closed the book on Panic! only adds to its pull, like a curtain call played at full volume.

On standard black vinyl it lands exactly as intended: a little loose, very loud and proudly analog from start to finish.