“PRETTY. ODD.,” the eagerly awaited sophomore album from Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen recording group Panic At The Disco, has made a stellar debut on this week’s SoundScan/Billboard 200 album chart. The critically acclaimed collection enters in the #2 spot with sales of 139,000. “PRETTY. ODD.” — which follows the Las Vegas-based band’s RIAA platinum-certified 2005 debut, “A FEVER YOU CAN’T SWEAT OUT” — debuted at #1 on SoundScan’s “Current Alternative Albums” chart and #2 on the “Digital Albums” chart. In addition, “PRETTY. ODD.” debuted at #2 in the UK, Canada, and Mexico, with top 10 debuts in New Zealand, Austria, and Ireland.
The album’s out-of-the-box success marks the band’s best-ever sales week, and one of the highest sales and chart debuts in Fueled By Ramen’s history (second only to Fall Out Boy). “A victory for artistic ambition over cynical careerism,” raved NME, “one of the feel-good psych-pop albums of the year.”
Panic At The Disco will celebrate the success of “PRETTY. ODD.” with a hugely anticipated performance on this week’s edition of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” set for tomorrow, April 5th at 11:30 pm EDT/PDT (check local listings). From there, the band will head west to kick off its headlining role on the 8th annual Honda Civic Tour, slated to hit the road on April 10th and 11th with a pair of long-sold-out shows at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre. The multi-artist bill will then traverse the continent through a June 14th finale at Anaheim’s Theatre at the Honda Center. Also appearing on the 2008 Honda Civic Tour will be Motion City Soundtrack, Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen’s own The Hush Sound, and Fueled By Ramen’s Phantom Planet.
“Nine In The Afternoon,” the first single from “PRETTY. ODD.,” is looking like another major radio hit for Panic At The Disco. The track is a Top 10 smash at Alternative outlets nationwide, while also scoring significant airplay at Top 40, Hot AC, and Triple A.
The track’s companion video — directed by Shane Drake, who also helmed the band’s 2006 MTV Video Music Award-winning “Video of the Year,” “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” — is also proving a popular favorite. The clip is the #3 most-played video on MTV, where PATD will be featured next week as part of the network’s “52 Bands,” a special segment that highlights one new band per week throughout the year. What’s more, the band’s recent performance at MTV’s annual Spring Break extravaganza in Panama City, Florida will be broadcast next week during an installment of “TRL” (check local listings). “Nine In The Afternoon” is currently the #10 most-played on MTV2, as well as the #1 video on Fuse.
“PRETTY. ODD.” was recorded at Las Vegas’ Studio at the Palms, with additional production and mixing at the world-renowned Abbey Road Studios in London. Produced by Grammy and Emmy Award-nominated arranger/composer Rob Mathes, the album sees Panic At The Disco embracing a melodic, classic rock-inspired aesthetic while still maintaining the visionary pop modernism that made its debut among the new millennium’s most popular and successful releases.
