Decadance

20 years ago, pop punk band Panic! At The Disco released their debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, on September 27, 2005, under the Decaydance record label. This musical masterpiece combines pop punk with electronic and almost rave-like elements that create a very unique and almost melancholic feel to the first half of the album. The second half has heavy influences from genres like Baroque pop with more instrumental aspects. 

Making this album was an interesting process, to say the least. The band was only given 10k to produce it, and that caused them to make some budget cuts, for example, most of the more classical and instrumental music you hear in the album that isn’t guitar or drums was done by elementary school students. Even though the lead singer is Brendon Urie, Ryan Ross, who at the time of production was the band’s lead guitarist and backup vocals, was the one who wrote the album almost entirely by himself. Lots of things make A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out unique on its own, from the Baroque and musical aesthetic of it all to the broadcasting and radio elements that were used as inspiration in songs like Intermission. 

This album was a success all over the world. The highest rankings for this album in 2006 were number 13 on the US Billboard 200, number 7 on New Zealand’s top album charts, and number 2 on US rock albums. Even after 2006, this album stayed incredibly popular, especially within the alternative community. For the first time in over a decade, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out will be performed in its entirety at the When We Were Young music festival in October of 2025. Fans hope the band reunites and all play together for the first time since 2009 after Ryan Ross and Jon Walker departed from the band.