I've enjoyed "Believer" quite a bit so far, but the other two I hadn't liked at all and they had me worried about the new album, but "Walking the Wire" has restored my faith. What a fantastic song.
The album leaked recently. I just listened to it, I think it's better than their last album. It's more focused, S+M dragged on longer than it should have. "Yesterday" and the closing track are pretty different from the rest, not sure how I feel about those, but I like the rest. I liked "Night Visions" so much that it'll probably continue to be my favorite of theirs, but this is a nice progression for the band. This. S+M was them following up to a big success and trying to go bigger, but here they sound more comfortable as a band and more confident in what they make, it shows. They said it's an "evolution for Imagine Dragons" (hence the title obviously) and I'd agree.
This leaked? I stopped downloading leaks becuase they usually only leak a day before these days. I normally wait untill it goes up on Spotify. Maybe if S+M was better than it was, I would jump on this.
So far I'm really digging the album. It's a lot poppier but a lot leaner than S+M. Musically, it's all over the place, but it's thankfully free from most of the bombast that was overkill in the last album. It reminds me of their pre-Night Visions days. I really dig "Walking the Wire", "Thunder", "I Don't Know Why" (the beats remind me of Black Skinhead for some reason), "I'll Make It Up to You" and "Start Over". "Believer" is my least favorite. I really don't know what to make of "Yesterday" and "Dancing in the Dark". Overall, it's a solid but not great set.
Working on a full written review (let's see how well that goes), but in the meantime, very meh album imo.
This album is garbage man. Highly dissapointed. They just keep getting worse and worse with each album. It's a shame because they had so much potential! I even saw them live twice supporting Night Visions and almost went to see them a 3rd time. Crazy how things change. Literally the only standout tracks were released before the album came out. Those tracks being "Believer" and "Thunder" I'll give this album more chances but really it's not good. Bottom 3 album I've listened to this year and I was really hyped for it :/
I'd say in comparison to One More Light (considering both are incredibly pop), Evolve is easily a more ambitious album with some really far out tracks, however I wouldn't say it was executed to this band's potential. Honestly the handful of guitar solos were the best part along with some of the interesting tones they achieved, which is something I've never said about Imagine Dragons. Walking on the Wire and Thunder are the few highlights here. I reaaaaally miss that humble, organic sound of Night Visions though. I don't think they're ever going to top Radioactive/Bleeding Out/Nothing Left To Say but I will be there day one if that ever happens.
We saw them live on three separate occasions during the Night Visions cycle. Then came S&M and we didn't purchase the album. I'd say that Evolve is okay. It's nowhere near as good as Night Visions, but not nearly as bland as S&M. We're going to see them live in Detroit during this cycle, so I guess I'll see how this album translates live. Best to worst, IMO: Night Visions Evolve Smoke & Mirrors
I will have to disagree with Evolve being better than S&M but I respect the opinion. Maybe the album will grow on me but I doubt it. I almost went to see them during the Smoke and Mirrors tour but decided against it. (Which I now regret because Halsey was the opening act). The first time I saw Imagine Dragons was great and the second time was with my Ex Girlfriend so screw that time But both times they put on good shows, I just wouldn't pay arena prices to see them again like the second time I saw them. I'm all for bands getting big but a lot of bands who are big I won't go see more than once simply because arena prices are insane. Imagine Dragons hasn't released anything to make me want to see them again. It's a shame because after Night Visions I prematurely put them in favorite bands of all time list and was proven wrong.
IMHO it's their worst effort. I still like some tracks (Believer, Walking The Wire, Rise Up are mi favs), but I found Thunder simply annoying. There is some good stuff going on strumentally, but I really can't stand lyrics & singing.
I hear that. My three kids love them. My wife basically demanded we all go see them again. Over $400 later we're going to some arena in Detroit. I'm just hoping for a lot of Night Visions material
Their recent sets have a lot more Night Visions material compared to S+M, probably because S+M didn't have a single as big as "Radioactive" or "Believer". They brought back Hear Me, Amsterdam, Bleeding Out and The River.
I found this cover of Mad World.....LOVE it! http://www1.wdr.de/radio/1live/videos/video-live-session-mit-imagine-dragons---mad-world-100.html
I don't know if you think the same way, but for me Thunder is much better than Believer and should have been the most successful single. I really like the chipmunk sounds in it. It's also true that it failed to replicate the success of Demons, Radioactive and On Top Of The World, but Thunder is a song that got me thinking of buying their new record.
The band dedicated their song "Rise Up" to Chester and lead singer Dan Reynolds, who has also been suffering from depression all his life, released a video against bullying that leads to suicide.
This makes me kind of want to see them for the 3rd time. How many songs off Believer do they play? Are they like Ed Sheeran where he also has 3 albums and basically plays his entire 3rd album? Because I couldn't sit through that honestly.
Their album is Evolve, not Believer They rotate their sets a bit (depending on how long their sets are), but they regularly play "Believer", "Thunder", "Whatever It Takes", "Walking the Wire" and "I Don't Know Why". They sometimes add "Rise Up" and "Yesterday" if their sets are longer. They usually play the big singles from Night Visions ("Radioactive", "Demons", "On Top of the World", "It's Time") and sometimes "Hear Me" and "Amsterdam", and for Smoke & Mirrors they usually play "Gold", "I'm So Sorry", "Shots" and "I Bet My Life". For reason, they still retained their covers of "Forever Young" & "Song 2". They sometimes have a drum solo before On Top of the World, a bass solo before Amsterdam, and a guitar solo before I'm So Sorry. Take note, this isn't their tour yet, so they might add more Evolve songs in the sets soon. They added a really cool guitar-shredding bridge in Whatever It Takes: This is Amsterdam with a cool bass solo intro And Thunder really sounds great live: