Pentatonix, named after the five-note pentatonic scale, was started in 2011 when three high school students in Arlington, Texas, entered The Sing Off, a television competition for a capella groups. The band – comprised of Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, and Mitch Grassi – had done covers of songs before, their first being “Telephone” by Lady Gaga, but they were denied entry to the competition due to not having enough members. They enlisted bass Avi Kaplan and vocal percussionist Kevin Olusola to sing alongside them a day before the competition, and they went on to win The Sing Off’s third season in 2011.

Since then, they have gone on to release six albums: one of which (That’s Christmas To Me) peaked at  No. 2 on the Billboard 200 for 2014 and was one of only four albums in 2014 to go platinum. They won a Grammy for their Daft Punk mashup, and their YouTube channel surpassed 901 million views. They even had a documentary made about their 2014 On My Way Home tour that is available for purchase on their website.

Amid the two tours, documentary and many covers this year, Pentatonix managed to find the time to write an entire album of original music, which is practically unheard of for a capella groups. Self-titled Pentatonix, their album that came out on Oct. 16 and features 13 songs written and performed by the band, as well as an additional four covers if you purchase the deluxe version. As of Oct. 21, it has been at the No. 1 slot for iTunes albums for three days, and on Oct. 26 Pentatonix reached the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200.

It seems as though they are most proud of the song “Can’t Sleep Love,” as it was released as a single a week before the rest of the album and they have  6 music videos for the one song. However, I think they estimated this song’s quality accurately. With the killer harmonies between Hoying and Grassi and everyone getting a chance to show off their talents, this song is easily one of the best on the album. In fact, it is one of the best songs I have heard in awhile.

“Ref” is definitely the hit-the-club track on this album. It has an excessive amount of dubstep wubbing, but the lyrics are easy to sing along to and the rhythm makes the listener want to stand up and dance. It’s basically everything that they tried to accomplish with “Sing” just without the cheesy lyrics – though there’s a lot to be said for “Sing” in terms of the music video. It featured Pentatonix fans, named Pentaholics, singing along to the song all over the world, and even though it was only released on Oct. 16 it already has a whopping three million views

“Take Me Home” is the first of many slower songs on the album. Pentatonix is known for their mix of retro a capella style and dubstep, so the slow songs are very uncharacteristic. However, this one worked for them. By slowing it down and removing Olusola’s percussion, everyone had a chance to solo. Even Olusola was chiming into the harmonies, once again proving his vast musical talents. “Take Me Home” reminds Pentaholics of the band’s original music, when they were still trying to find their sound and rocked at every genre they tried.

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“If I Ever Fall in Love” was another great slow song. Jason Derulo joined Hoying for this song, and their combined lead vocals hit notes that I didn’t think were humanly possible. While the other members were definitely overshadowed by the sheer talent of the two men, their parts were important to carrying the sleepy song along.

The next few slow songs were lacking though. “Rose Gold” and “Light in the Hallway” were just a repeat of “Take Me Home” with more percussion and less harmonies. I would not describe the songs as bad, but compared to the high bar the rest of the album set, the remaining slow songs just didn’t stand out.

Maldonado, the band’s only female member, had her chance to shine on the track “Water,” and shine she did. Her ethereal voice complimented the sound of the song perfectly, and Grassi’s rhythm in the background makes the listener want to dance around the room. After listening to this song once, I had its cheesy lyric “I need you like water” stuck in my head for hours afterwards. Maldonado rarely gets to show off, what with the lead vocals being covered by Hoying and most female parts going to the high-ranged Grassi, so this song was refreshing to hear.  

For a band that is known for their fast, catchy tracks, the multitude of slow songs on Pentatonix was perhaps not the best choice. While it is nice to be reminded of the band’s vast musical flexibility, fans were definitely hoping for more of the classic retro-dubstep type songs on the album. However, for their first original album, it was amazing. The listener can definitely hear Pentatonix’s increasing comfort with each other and their sound, even though that sounds seems to be changing every couple of weeks.

The Parkway West Pathfinder gives Pentatonix’s Pentatonix 9.2/10.