A Fever You Can't Sweat Out | ||||
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Released | September 27, 2005 | |||
Recorded | June 2005 | |||
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Length | 39:42 | |||
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Producer | Matt Squire | |||
Panic! at the Disco chronology | ||||
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Singles from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out | ||||
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A Fever You Can't Sweat Out is the debut studio album by American pop rock band Panic! at the Disco. Produced by Matt Squire, the album was released on September 27, 2005, [1] through Decaydance and Fueled by Ramen. The group formed in Las Vegas in 2004 and began posting demos online, which caught the attention of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz. Wentz signed the group to his own imprint label, Decaydance, without them having ever performed live. It is the only album released during original bassist Brent Wilson's time in the band, but the exact nature of his involvement in the writing and recording process became a source of contention upon his dismissal from the group in mid-2006.
The album was recorded on a small budget at SOMD! Studios in College Park, Maryland over several weeks in June 2005. [2] The group had only graduated from high school one month before. With lyrics written by lead guitarist and backing vocalist Ryan Ross, the album is divided into halves stylistically; the first half is primarily pop-punk with elements of electronic music, while the second half is more baroque pop-influenced, employing more traditional instrumentation.
Upon its release, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out became a commercial success. Its second single, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, helping to bolster the album's sales to 1.8 million in the US by 2011, thus making it the group's best-selling release. [3] Despite its sales, the album polarized music critics, with many praising the album's catchiness and others criticizing its perceived lack of creativity. The band promoted the record with stints on the Nintendo Fusion Tour before its first headlining tour, the Nothing Rhymes with Circus Tour. In late 2015, it received a double platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for 2 million US shipments. [4] It then received a quadruple platinum certification in June 2023. [5]
The band was formed in 2004, at this time named Pet Salamander, in the suburban area of Summerlin, Las Vegas, by childhood friends Ryan Ross on guitar and Spencer Smith on drums. Both teens attended Bishop Gorman High School and they began playing music together in ninth grade. They invited their friend Brent Wilson from nearby Palo Verde High School to join on bass guitar, and Wilson invited his classmate Brendon Urie to try out on guitar. [6] They soon began rehearsing in Smith's grandmother's living room. [7] Urie grew up in a Mormon family in Las Vegas and early on skipped rehearsals to go to church. [8] Ross initially was the lead vocalist for the group, but on hearing Urie singing backing vocals during an early rehearsal, they unanimously decided to move him to lead. [9] They initially worked purely as a Blink-182 cover band. [10]
The monotonous nature of local Las Vegas bands influenced them to be different and creative, and they soon began recording experimental demos. Ross and Urie soon began to record on their laptops the demos they had been developing and posted three early demos, which were "Boys Will Be Boys" (which would later become Time To Dance), "Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks" and "Relax, Relapse" (which would later become Camisado) on PureVolume. [6] On a whim, they sent a link to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz via a LiveJournal account, and around this time they had changed the name of the band to Panic at the Disco. Wentz, who was in Los Angeles at the time with the rest of Fall Out Boy working on their first major-label album, From Under the Cork Tree , drove to Las Vegas to meet the band. [11] On hearing "two to three" songs during band practice, Wentz was impressed and immediately wanted the band to sign to his Fueled by Ramen imprint label Decaydance Records, which made them the first on the new label, which the group did around December 2004. Around this time they had put an exclamation point at the end of Panic as a joke, and as they said in an interview years later, it stuck with them and became the official name of the band. [9]
At the time of their signing, all of the band members were still in high school, with the exception of Ross, who was forced to leave the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. [6]
After completing high school, the group members boarded a van and drove from Las Vegas to College Park, Maryland to record the album. [12] Fueled by Ramen wanted the band to enter the studio earlier in the year, but Ross was attending college at UNLV and the others were still in high school. Urie graduated in May 2005 and the band pushed recording back to June; Smith and Wilson completed school online during production. [6] They picked producer Matt Squire based on his production on several independent albums the group liked. The label had hoped they would pick Mike Green, who had worked with Paramore on All We Know Is Falling . "I think Crush Management and Fueled by Ramen were like, 'Who is this dude?'" said Squire. [13]
A Fever You Can't Sweat Out was created in only "three and a half weeks"—including mixing and mastering—on a budget of $11,000. [13] The group entered the studio with half of the songs completed; the others were crafted in pre-production. [9] Recording was stressful. "We were in the studio for 14 hours a day for five weeks; we might have started losing our minds a little bit," Ross recalled humorously in a 2006 interview. [14] The band lived in a one-bedroom basement studio apartment during the production, with all sleeping in bunk beds. "Everyone got on everybody's nerves," said Ross. "Someone would write a new part for a song and someone else would say they didn't like it just because you ate their cereal that morning." [14] Urie's voice was blown after tracking the album. Squire remembered that most of the album's choruses and high harmonies were recorded in one session. [13] By the end of production, the band hadn't had a day off and were exhausted. After its completion, "We had two weeks to come home and learn how to be a band," Ross said. [6]
In the fallout of Wilson's firing from the band in May 2006 due to "lack of responsibility" and "not progressing musically with the band", the remaining members also alleged that Wilson did not participate in the writing and recording of the album, with Urie and Ross writing bass parts that were simplified so that Wilson could play them live, and Urie recording them in the studio. [15] Wilson denied their statement, insisting that he was present in the studio every day, participating in writing, and teaching Urie how to play certain parts. He also sued the band for 25% of royalties from the album's sales, as stipulated in the original contract. [16]
"Every song that we wrote for the first album made it. We didn't think about writing a bunch of songs and picking the best ones. We had to just make the best songs we ever wrote."
—Urie on the album's songs [13]
The album’s sound has been described as incorporating elements of pop-punk, [17] [18] emo, [19] [20] [21] alternative rock, [20] [22] emo pop, [23] baroque pop, [24] electronica, [17] dance-punk, [25] and doo-wop. [17] The album is split in two stylistically, with the first half of the record being primarily pop-punk, while additionally incorporating electronic instruments such as synthesizers and drum machines. The second half is more baroque pop-influenced, employing traditional instruments such as the accordion and organ. They are separated by an intermission as a link between the two halves, beginning with techno-style dance beats before switching to a piano interlude. Squire recalled that the band had an "identity crisis" upon writing new songs. The more dance-infused tracks were crafted during the group's time in Vegas, but the band members found themselves writing more straightforward rock tracks when they entered the studio. The band did not want to include the rock songs, but Squire convinced them to agree to it one day over lunch. "I took them out to lunch and said, "Why don't we tell the story of that creative evolution as the theme of the album?'", he later recalled. [13]
The ambitious quality of the album's content was representative of the band's desire to "do whatever we wanted," according to Urie. [26] Urie specifically cited the Beatles, Queen, the Smiths, Name Taken, and the Keane song "Everybody's Changing" as influences on the album. He remarked, "We took all of those biggest influences, listening to them from our parents and mashed them together." [26]
The album's lyrics were penned solely by Ross, and they were strongly influenced by author Chuck Palahniuk's work, whom Ross greatly admired. The song title "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" is a quote from Palahniuk’s book Survivor . "Time to Dance" tells the story of Invisible Monsters , and includes quotes such as "Give me envy, give me malice, give me your attention". Other references and quotes can be found throughout the album, such as "Just for the record, the weather today is..." ( Diary ). Wentz served as an advisor to the group on lyrical content: "he was always there to help out with a line here, a line there," said Urie. The group noticed that bands in the pop-punk scene, such as Fall Out Boy and Name Taken, were using long song titles. The band decided to take this a step further, creating increasingly long titles partially as an inside joke. [13] The song "I Constantly Thank God for Esteban" was a reference to an infomercial for Esteban Guitars the group found humorous. [13]
Sales of the album began relatively slow. It debuted at No. 112 on the Billboard 200 album chart and later peaked at number 13, spending 88 weeks on the chart in total. The album has sold over two million copies in the United States, receiving a double platinum certification from the RIAA, [27] before receiving a quadruple platinum certification in June 2023. [5]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Drowned in Sound | 6/10 [29] |
Entertainment Weekly | B [30] |
Mojo | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicOMH | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 1.5/10 [33] |
PopMatters | 4/10 [34] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Skinny | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Stylus Magazine | D [37] |
A Fever You Can't Sweat Out divided music critics at the time of its release. Billboard , ten years after its release, deemed it "one of the most polarizing albums of our time". [13] Cory D. Byrom of Pitchfork was perhaps the most negative, criticizing the state of contemporary emo and bemoaning the album's apparent lack of "sincerity, creativity, or originality". [33] Johnny Loftus of AllMusic was similarly negative, writing, "This is a band in love with making a record — making a statement — but there's nothing unique inside, neither in their formula nor the vaunted and sticky production." [28] Lauren Gitlin of Rolling Stone complimented the album's sound, commenting, "What makes Panic different (and excellent) is their use of dance-floor synths and roboto drums, which redeems the album's whininess." [35] Kerrang! was positive, awarding the record four out of five stars. [38] Rolling Stone also gave a positive review, with three and a half stars out of five. [35] Webzines like Gigwise and Sputnikmusic also gave positive reviews. [39] [40]
The hit single "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" received massive airplay and Panic! at the Disco won "Video of the Year" on the annual MTV Video Music Awards in 2006, beating fellow nominees Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Shakira and Red Hot Chili Peppers. In September 2011, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" won MTV's Best Music Video of the 2000s [41]
Rolling Stone listed it among the "40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time" in 2016, with James Montgomery dubbing it a "genre-defying blueprint" and commenting "it's difficult to argue that it's not a snapshot of where "emo" was at in 2005, right down to the sentence-long song titles." [42]
Year | Publication | Country | Rank | List |
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2012 | Rock Sound | United Kingdom | 16 | 101 Modern Classics [43] |
2016 | Kerrang! | 16 | The 50 Best Rock Albums of the 2000s [44] | |
Rolling Stone | United States | 39 | 40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time [42] |
On November 14, 2006, the album was re-released in a "deluxe" edition (Limited Edition Collectible Deluxe Box), packaged in a cigar box-shaped box set. The box set was limited to 25,000 copies.[ citation needed ] It included the original album on CD, a live concert titled Live in Denver on DVD, tarot cards for each song with lyrics printed on individual cards, 2006 tour program, poster of the band, live photo shots, a phenakistoscope, circus-styled mask, fake newspaper article and a blank notebook. The Live in Denver DVD was filmed in Denver on July 22, 2006. [45]
All lyrics are written by Ryan Ross; all music is composed by Ross, Brendon Urie, and Spencer Smith
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Introduction" (instrumental) | 0:37 |
2. | "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" | 2:54 |
3. | "London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines" | 3:23 |
4. | "Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks" | 3:23 |
5. | "Camisado" | 3:11 |
6. | "Time to Dance" | 3:22 |
7. | "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" | 3:20 |
8. | "Intermission" (instrumental) | 2:35 |
9. | "But It's Better If You Do" | 3:25 |
10. | "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" | 3:06 |
11. | "I Constantly Thank God for Esteban" | 3:30 |
12. | "There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought of It Yet" | 3:16 |
13. | "Build God, Then We'll Talk" | 3:40 |
Total length: | 39:42 |
No. | Title | Length |
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14. | "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (live in Denver) | 3:11 |
Total length: | 42:57 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (music video) | 3:06 |
2. | "But It's Better If You Do" (music video) | 3:36 |
3. | "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" (music video) | 3:16 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Time to Dance" (demo) | 4:16 |
2. | "Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks" (demo) | 3:56 |
3. | "Camisado" (demo) | 3:50 |
Total length: | 11:59 |
Credits for A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, adapted from the CD liner notes and AllMusic. [46] [47]
Panic! at the Disco
Additional musicians
| Production
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Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [69] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [70] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [71] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [72] | Platinum | 402,983 [73] |
United States (RIAA) [74] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Panic! at the Disco was an American pop rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004 by childhood friends Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, Brent Wilson, and Brendon Urie. Following several lineup changes, Panic! at the Disco operated as the solo project of frontman Urie from 2015 until its discontinuation in 2023.
"I Write Sins Not Tragedies" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. It is the second single from their debut studio album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005), and was released in the United States as a digital download on November 16, 2005. The song is built upon a pizzicato cello motif that was played by session musician Heather Stebbins. It reached a peak of No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the band's only top-40 hit until the release of "Hallelujah" in 2015, and only top-10 hit until "High Hopes" in 2018. While the song failed to reach the top 10 of the Modern Rock Tracks chart, peaking at No. 12, the song's success on the Hot 100 and Mainstream Top 40 made the song one of the biggest modern rock hits of 2006, and it is still one of the band's most-played songs on alternative radio stations.
George Ryan Ross III is an American musician, singer, and songwriter best known for his work as the former lead guitarist, backing and lead vocalist, and primary songwriter of the American rock band Panic! at the Disco before his departure in 2009. He alongside former Panic! bassist Jon Walker formed the Young Veins later that same year, in which Ross was the lead vocalist and guitarist. They broke up in 2010.
"The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" is the debut single and second track from American rock band Panic! at the Disco's debut studio album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005). It achieved some commercial success and exposed the band to an audience, subsequently reaching number 77 on the US Billboard Hot 100. No music video was ever made for it.
"But It's Better If You Do" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco, released on May 1, 2006, as the third single from their debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005). Taking its title from a quote said by Natalie Portman's character in the 2004 film Closer, the song was written by band members Ryan Ross, Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith, and is about being in and not enjoying the location of a strip club. "But It's Better If You Do" failed to recreate the success the previous single "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" had in the United States but found chart prominence in Europe and Oceania, peaking at number 10 in New Zealand, number 15 in Australia and number 23 in the UK. The accompanying music video for the song, directed by Shane Drake, features the band performing at a masquerade-style strip club.
"Build God, Then We'll Talk" is the fifth and final official single from Panic! at the Disco's 2005 album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, including the radio-only single "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage".
Spencer James Smith is an American talent agent and former musician and songwriter. He is best known as a co-founding member and the former drummer of the rock band Panic! at the Disco. He recorded four studio albums with the band: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005), Pretty. Odd. (2008), Vices & Virtues (2011), and Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! (2013). The band's debut album went triple platinum and charted at No. 13 on the US Billboard 200, spearheaded by the hit single "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", which peaked at No. 7 in the Billboard Hot 100.
Brendon Boyd Urie is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is best known as the former lead vocalist and frontman of Panic! at the Disco, the only constant member throughout the band's 19-year run.
Emo pop is a fusion genre combining emo with pop-punk, pop music, or both. Emo pop features a musical style with more concise composition and hook-filled choruses. Emo pop has its origins in the 1990s with bands like Jimmy Eat World, the Get Up Kids, Weezer and the Promise Ring. The genre entered the mainstream in the early 2000s with Jimmy Eat World's breakthrough album Bleed American, which included its song "The Middle". Other emo pop bands that achieved mainstream success throughout the decade included Fall Out Boy, the All-American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco and Paramore. The popularity of emo pop declined in the 2010s, with some prominent artists in the genre either disbanding or abandoning the emo pop style.
Pretty. Odd. is the second studio album by American pop rock band Panic at the Disco, first released in the Netherlands on March 21, and released in the US on March 25, 2008 by Decaydance and Fueled by Ramen. Recorded at the Studio at the Palms in Paradise, Nevada with additional production at Abbey Road Studios in London with producer Rob Mathes, the album was inspired by baroque pop and the works of the Beach Boys and the Beatles, with its psychedelic-styled rock sound differing greatly from the techno-influenced pop-punk of the band's previous album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005). It is the band's only major release to not feature an exclamation point in their name, being credited as "Panic at the Disco" for all major activities until summer the following year.
Panic! at the Disco is an American rock band that originated in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their 2005 debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, reached number 13 on the US Billboard 200, and has sold more than 2.2 million copies in the US (pure) and been certified 4× platinum by the RIAA since its September 2005 release, spearheaded by the eight platinum top-10 hit single, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies". The band's second album, Pretty. Odd., was released on March 21, 2008, entering the US chart at, and peaking at, number 2 and is certified platinum by RIAA. Their third effort, Vices & Virtues, was released on March 18, 2011, and peaked at number 7 in the US and is certified gold by RIAA, spawned iconic comeback smash hit "The Ballad of Mona Lisa". Their fourth album, 2013's Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, entered and peaked at number 2 on the US chart, and contained hits such as "Miss Jackson", "This Is Gospel", and "Girls / Girls Boys". The band's fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor, was released in January 2016 and became their first number-one album in the US. It has been certified 2× platinum in 2019. It is currently the most streamed album. Their sixth album, Pray for the Wicked, was released on June 22, 2018, and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. It has been certified 2× platinum by RIAA. It later became band's most successful era in terms of achievement and tour gross. Their seventh and final album, Viva Las Vengeance, released in August 2022, became the band's most critically acclaimed album to date.
"New Perspective" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco, released on July 28, 2009, as a single promoting the film Jennifer's Body. Vocalist Brendon Urie began writing the song two years prior to its recording regarding a lucid dream he had. The song was completed in the summer of 2009, and was co-written by producer John Feldmann. "New Perspective" was Panic! at the Disco's first single in aftermath of the departure of guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker, both of whom had no involvement in the track. It also saw the return of the exclamation point in their name, after it was retired during the Pretty. Odd. era.
Vices & Virtues is the third studio album by American pop rock band Panic! at the Disco, released on March 22, 2011, by Fueled by Ramen. Produced by John Feldmann and Butch Walker, the album was recorded as a duo by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith, following the departure of lead guitarist, backing vocalist and primary lyricist Ryan Ross and bassist/backing vocalist Jon Walker in July 2009.
"The Ballad of Mona Lisa" is a song by American alternative rock band Panic! at the Disco, released February 1, 2011, as the first single from the group's third studio album, Vices & Virtues (2011). Vocalist Brendon Urie wrote the song to express personal struggles and convictions many years prior to its official production for Vices & Virtues. The song impacted radio on February 15, 2011. The song has received positive critical reviews upon its release and reached number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! is the fourth studio album by American pop rock band Panic! at the Disco. The album was released on October 8, 2013 by Decaydance and Fueled by Ramen. Recorded as a trio, the album was produced by Butch Walker, and is the only album to feature bassist Dallon Weekes since he officially joined the band in 2010. This was also the final album to feature drummer Spencer Smith, thus making this Panic!'s final album as a rock band, with further releases being made as a solo project fronted by Brendon Urie.
"This Is Gospel" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, on August 12, 2013. A music video for the song, directed by Daniel "Cloud" Campos, was also released on the same day. It peaked at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Death of a Bachelor is the fifth studio album by Panic! at the Disco, and their first as a solo project, released on January 15, 2016 by Fueled by Ramen and DCD2. It is the follow-up to the band's fourth studio album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! (2013), with the entire album written and recorded by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Brendon Urie, who collaborated with other writers including Jake Sinclair, Morgan Kibby, Lolo, and Sam Hollander. It is the band's first album to not feature drummer Spencer Smith and also follows bassist Dallon Weekes' departure from the official line-up, subsequently becoming a touring member once again.
All My Friends We're Glorious: Death of a Bachelor Tour Live is the fourth live album by Panic! at the Disco and their only live album as a solo project, fronted by Brendon Urie. It was released on December 15, 2017, in digital versions and as a limited edition double vinyl LP, and documents the band's 2017 Death of a Bachelor Tour concert tour following the release of their fifth album, Death of a Bachelor.
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 United States. 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 ", "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.
Viva Las Vengeance is the seventh and final studio album by American pop rock solo project Panic! at the Disco, released on August 19, 2022, through Fueled by Ramen and DCD2 Records. It is their first studio album in 4 years since their 2018 album, Pray for the Wicked, marking their longest gap between studio albums, and the last album prior to the project's disbandment. It was announced alongside the release of the lead single and title track "Viva Las Vengeance" on June 1, 2022, and was supported by a tour that began in North America in the third quarter of 2022, and ended in Europe in March 2023. The tour included support from Jake Wesley Rogers, Marina and the Diamonds, and Beach Bunny in the United States, and Fletcher on international dates. The tour saw Urie perform the album in its entirety, along with greatest hits. The tour sold out several venues worldwide and earned the band's highest grossing concert of all time at their Madison Square Garden show.
[U]ltra-sharp lyrics and high-velocity mood and tempo switches make listening as exciting as lugeing down an ice chute with blindfolds on.
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