Pray for the Wicked

Pray for the Wicked is the sixth studio album by American pop rock solo project Panic! at the Disco. The album was released on June 22, 2018 on Fueled by Ramen in the US and WEA internationally. It is the follow-up to the band's fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor (2016). The album was produced by Jake Sinclair and promoted by the singles "Say Amen (Saturday Night)", "High Hopes" and "Hey Look Ma, I Made It", with "(Fuck A) Silver Lining", "Dancing's Not a Crime" and "King of the Clouds" as promotional singles. It received generally positive reviews upon release, with many critics noting Urie's Broadway influences following his performance in Kinky Boots.
Background
Panic! at the Disco released their fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor, on January 16, 2016. To promote the record, the band embarked on a co-headline tour with Weezer that summer and a United States tour the following year. On April 11, 2017, it was reported that vocalist Brendon Urie would be making his Broadway debut as one of the lead roles in Kinky Boots. Urie performed in the show for ten weeks from May until August 2017.
Following the success of Death of a Bachelor, Urie was given the rest of 2017 off by the band's record label, Fueled by Ramen. However, Urie felt compelled to continue writing music during his time off. The writing process began a month before Urie made his debut in Kinky Boots when he wrote the chorus of "High Hopes". Urie stated that writing the record took about four months total in the span of a year and a half.
Urie teased the band's then-unannounced sixth studio album sporadically throughout late 2017 and early 2018, typically through Instagram Live broadcasts. On March 8, 2018, the band began teasing the release of a lead single and a subsequent album with a two minute long video of Urie brushing his teeth beside an alarm clock reading "3:19" for the video's entirety, accompanied by an orchestral version of "King of the Clouds". The time on the clock led fans to believe that the band would be releasing new material on March 19. Over a week later, fans received packages sent from Urie's P.O. box containing a white bottle reading "Pray for the W!cked / 3:21 / Unholy Water", once more leading to speculation over a release date of March 21. On March 19, the band announced a surprise show at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio that night. The band unveiled their new touring bassist, Nicole Row, who would be replacing their former member and touring bassist, Dallon Weekes, following his departure on December 27, 2017. No new material was performed at the show.
The album was announced on March 21, 2018, alongside the release of the lead single "Say Amen (Saturday Night)" and a B-side, "(Fuck A) Silver Lining".
The second single "High Hopes" was released on May 23, 2018, followed by the pre-release track "King of the Clouds" on June 18, 2018.
The singles for the album were released in three Spotify combinations: Say Amen for Silver Linings, High Hopes on Saturday Night, and King of High Hopes.
Critical reception
Pray for the Wicked has received generally positive reviews from music critics. It holds an average score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic based on nine reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews." In a positive review, The Independent said, "Panic! have never released the same album twice, but on Pray for the Wicked it feels as if they've finally managed to channel that frenetic, slightly chaotic attitude into a studio album that is at once eclectic and coherent." In another positive review, NME commented on the influence of Brendon Urie being involved in Kinky Boots on the sound of the album, adding that "while it's fair to say he's always had a flair for theatrics, the experience has injected these tracks with unprecedented levels of sass and drama". Newsday suggested that Urie's "Broadway stint brings him a creative burst and a theatrical bent".
Commercial performance
Pray for the Wicked debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 180,000 album-equivalent units, of which 151,000 were pure album sales. It is the band's second US number-one album. The album also debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the band's second Australian number-one album. According to Billboard, Pray for the Wicked was the 10th best selling vinyl album of 2018 in the US with sales of 59,000, making a major contribution to the 15% rise of the format in that year. The album was also certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States.
Track listing
Track notes
signifies a co-producer
signifies an additional producer
Samples
"(Fuck A) Silver Lining" contains elements from "Oh What a Night" by The Dells.
"Say Amen (Saturday Night)" contains interpolations of "Aphasia" by The Budos Band and "Crying Pine Grove Blues" by Nathan Abshire.
"Roaring 20s" and "Old Fashioned" contain elements of "Latino Lovewalk" by Maynard Ferguson.
"Dancing's Not a Crime" contains samples from "Get Down" by Chris Bernard.
"The Overpass" contains elements of "Chase" by James Brown and an interpolation of "Mama Feelgood" by Lyn Collins.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pray for the Wicked.
Panic! at the Disco
Brendon Urie – lead vocals, guitar (track 3), bass (tracks 1–3), drums (tracks 2–7, 9 and 10), keyboards (tracks 2–4 and 11), background vocals (tracks 1–7, 9 and 10)
Additional musicians
Jake Sinclair – background vocals (tracks 1–7, 9 and 10), bass (tracks 4–9), organ (tracks 5 and 6), guitar (track 4), acoustic guitar (track 10)
Rob Mathes – conductor, string and horn arrangements
Kenneth Harris – guitar (tracks 1–7, 9 and 10), background vocals (tracks 1–7 and 10)
Suzy Shinn – background vocals (tracks 1–7, 9 and 10)
Scott Chesak – drums (tracks 1 and 8), keyboards (track 1 and 8), guitar (track 8), bass (track 8), percussion (track 1)
Morgan Kibby – background vocals (track 3)
Ilsey Juber – background vocals (track 4)
Sam Hollander – background vocals (tracks 5, 7, and 10)
Alex Kresovich – piano (track 9), organ (track 9)
Rachel White – background vocals (track 9)
Kate Micucci – background vocals (track 9)
Thomas Bowes – string leader, concertmaster (London), violin
Bruce Dukov – concertmaster (Los Angeles), violin
Charlie Bisharat – violin
Julie Gigante – violin
Jessica Guideri – violin
Lisa Lui – violin
Maya Magub – violin
Serena McKinney – violin
Helen Nightengale – violin
Katia Popov – violin
Tereza Stanislav – violin
Warren Zielinski – violin
Jackie Hartley – violin
Rita Manning – violin
Peter Hanson – violin
Tom Pigott-Smith – violin
Emlyn Singleton – violin
Cathy Thompson – violin
Brian Dembow – string leader (Los Angeles), viola
Robert Brophy – viola
Shawn Mann – viola
Zach Dellinger – viola
Peter Lale – string leader (London), viola
Bruce White – viola
Steve Erdody – string leader (Los Angeles), cello
Jacob Braun – cello
Eric Byers – cello
Caroline Dale – string leader (London), cello
Tim Gill – cello
Jason Fabus – saxophone
Peter Slocombe – saxophone
Morgan Jones – saxophone
Mike Rocha – trumpet
Jonathan Bradley – trumpet
Ryan Dragon – trombone
Peter Cobbin – strings (track 9)
Additional personnel
Rosanna Jones – album illustrations
Jimmy Fontaine – photography
Production
Jake Sinclair – production
Suzy Shinn – additional production (tracks 2 and 6–9), engineering
Scott Chesak – production (track 1 and 8)
Dillon Francis – production (track 3)
Chill Pill – co-production (track 7), engineering (track 7)
Alex Kresovich – co-production (track 9)
Claudius Mittendorfer – mixing
Emily Lazar – mastering
Chris Allgood – assistant mastering
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications
References
2018 albums
Fueled by Ramen albums
Panic! at the Disco albums
Albums produced by Suzy Shinn
DCD2 Records albums