![kiss god gave rock and roll to you album kiss god gave rock and roll to you album](http://images5.fanpop.com/image/articles/152000/kiss-army_152504_top_full.jpg)
![kiss god gave rock and roll to you album kiss god gave rock and roll to you album](https://i.discogs.com/41UuNzj_EN4tJNygs12_MrvM0D_T1D1rSqP9p6AFqjQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE0MDM3/NDYwLTE1NjY1Nzg2/MTctNzMwMS5qcGVn.jpeg)
Killer queens are the most clear and present reference, but there are dozens more that turn “Viva” into an enjoyable puzzle of allusiveness. The homage gets almost comically overt in the track “Star Spangled Banner,” which almost sounds more like “Bohemian Rhapsody” than “Bohemian Rhapsody” sounds like “Bohemian Rhapsody” (you’d swear it was Brian May playing the sound-alike guitar) and packs more tempo-changing, suite-like segments into 3 minutes and 10 seconds than Queen did into 5:55 back in the day. You hear their vocal stacking in the constant falsetto background harmonies that threaten to soar even higher than Urie’s already operatic lead vocals. “Viva Las Vengeance” sounds at times like the late, lamented ’90s power-pop band Jellyfish on speed - or like a far less self-serious Muse, to name maybe the only other two groups to ever have been as obsessed with Queen as he is. It’s not something he’s remotely inclined to bogart anyway Urie comes off as a real fan of the stuff he’s channeling and wants to give you a secondhand ’70s buzz, too. Or maybe he’s getting high on some glam-rock or new-wave ghost’s supply. Being a mere lad of 35, Urie must’ve been tuning in to all these period FM sounds from some celestial, prenatal dimension. Nearly everything here is designed to evoke a fond remembrance of specific bands and sounds from the 1970s - give or take a late ’60s or early ’80s allusion. It’s a natural, admiring reaction to how Brendon Urie has brazenly fashioned the album as almost a parlor game of Spot the Classic-Rock Callback. Panic! at the Disco’s “Viva Las Vengeance” will never get filed in the comedy section, but shuffling through its 12 tracks, your instinct may be to chuckle and laugh, and then laugh some more.