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Wumbo and Clappy Present: A Very Imagine Dragons Christmas


Wumbo

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Hi everyone! Wumbo and Clappy here to present to you a Christmas present of horrendous proportions. You see, this all started when we learned beloved administrator jjsthekid had a dream that the two of us had reviewed Imagine Dragons' latest album. We decided to make that dream a reality and review it just for him. But when we listened to the album, we decided it was such an... experience that we needed further context. Enter this new Imagine Dragons project, where we will be reviewing all five of their full-length albums and once and for all answering the question: Who are Imagine Dragons, anyway? A generic, bland, rock-adjacent pop band? The confused ramblings of Dan Reynolds set to "music"? A forgotten gem? Maybe not that last one. But maybe something in between! So, starting December 20th and ending December 24th, we will try our best to piece together the career trajectory of Imagine Dragons, one album at a time. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

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It begins...

Night Visions (2012)

Night Visions Album Cover.jpeg

Wumbo's Review

Spoiler

Imagine Dragons' debut album came out at a time when "indie" rock was making a huge comeback in the mainstream, thanks in part to Glee. It made sense at the time. Anyway, I remember liking Imagine Dragons fair enough when they debuted. "It's Time" was a big inspirational-sounding anthem, "Radioactive" was and is still hilarious, and "Demons" was "Demons". But in starting this project, I knew I would have to re-evaluate Imagine Dragons from the very beginning, and see if their oldest work still holds up nearly ten years later. And you know what? In a few of these songs, they actually do sound like a real band!

Faint praise, I know, but I'll let you in on a little secret: the "indie" rock problems do not begin nor do they end with Imagine Dragons. There are so many bands in the past decade that have sounded like garbled, overly corporate mush that says nothing and makes you feel nothing. I'm talking about shit like Cage the Elephant, whose only musical idea in the past seven years appears to have been "slather my voice in reverb and hope that distracts from the fact that I can't actually sing". Seriously, listen to this song. What am I supposed to feel during this? Nothing, because it's a shitty song that sucks and only serves to eat up airplay on the radio and GOD DAMN IT WHY IS EVERY ROCK STATION LIKE THIS NOW AND- *deep breath*

Anyway, Imagine Dragons are kind of bad in a different way than most "indie" rock bands are, which is that performance-wise, they try way too hard. But in a way, it makes them weirdly endearing, and while I've certainly ribbed them in the past, I do have a grudging admiration for the gusto that Dan Reynolds has in his voice and performance. And if you put good music and good ideas behind it, you can actually get something that's worthwhile and emotional. That's what we got for a few of the songs in Night Visions. "Tiptoe" and "Hear Me" in particular were pleasant surprises, quite possibly the band's best songs I've heard thus far. ("Hear Me" was also apparently a single too, news to me.) They really unlock the potential for what this band could have been, and the first few singles do that too. While "Radioactive" feels like a punchline to me now, you can't deny the grandiosity and immensity of the song. "It's Time" is still a great lead single and a good introduction to the band. "Demons" sucks, but it doesn't suck in a way that signals the kind of troubling path Imagine Dragons went down as a band.

No, the single that bothers me the most here is "On Top of the World". This is a commercial-bait song without any bite or edge whatsoever. It should not be a song that any self-respecting rock group records. And yet, here it is, on their first album. Like I said, I could almost mistake Imagine Dragons for a real rock band with this album, but it's songs like that and "Underdog" that undermine my confidence in doing so. It looks like the seeds were planted from the beginning. Now it's just a matter of seeing how bad it gets. But Night Visions as a whole? It's not bad.

Rating: 7/10

Best Tracks: "Tiptoe", "It's Time", "Hear Me", "Bleeding Out"

Clappy's Review

Spoiler

So back in 2012, I found this album from this, at the time, relatively unknown band I heard from the soundtrack of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” performing their first hit “It’s Time”.  You now know them as Imagine Dragons.  Who would have thought this band would become one of the defining rock bands of the past ten years?  Certainly not me and that was before their follow-up single “Radioactive” became one of the longest running chart singles of all-time.

After one listen, I found myself thinking that there is something to these guys because outside of one song, I absolutely loved every single song on this album.  It quickly became one of my favorite albums that I kept listening to on repeat over and over again.  I thought to myself, “Boy I can’t wait to see where these guys go from here!”

…clearly I was dead wrong about how I forecasted their future.  Look I’m not going to sit here and preach to you about how their career trajectory turned out, but I will say this.  These guys are more influential than I realized on the sound of modern alternative rock.  Wumbo pointed out above about Cage the Elephant, but that is only one of the MANY bands that are producing this overly corporatized commercialized garbage.  Not too threatening to place in an advertisement, but way too watered down that any sort of meaning is immediately hammered out of it.

I say this now because I haven’t revisited “Night Visions” in a really long time ever since my positive feelings towards Imagine Dragons went straight out the window in the last seven or so years ago.  Once Wumbo suggested we take this career dive one step further than their recent album, my immediate thought was, “Please let me still like Night Visions.”

And after relistening to it, I still think this is an excellent album.  When only a few songs have soured on me in the very long time since listening to Night Visions, I’d say that holds up pretty well.  You can tell throughout this album in particular that they have a defined sound and ideas and not trying to sell Apple’s latest iPhone.  I mean you guys know the good singles mentioned above, but these deep cuts are actually really wonderful.  I’m surprised “Tiptoe” in particular never got a single push because I could have seen this being a legitimate hit if the studio executive wanted to push it.

But let’s talk about the one song that I have always hated from this album, “Demons”.  It was terrible back in 2012 and still is terrible now.  By a country mile, the worst song from this album and one of the worst in their entire discography.  That being said, “Demons” is the song that has influenced this band’s career trajectory.  Every soulless meaningless hollow piece of trash that Imagine Dragons has released since feels partially inspired by this one song.  Like it or not, “Demons” will probably be this act’s career defining song.  And after noticing that years ago, it has made me sour on songs like “On Top of the World”.  Which I’ve heard god knows how many times over the years for movie trailers, car commercials, etc.  The first time listening to this, I thought “this is cute and happy go lucky”.  Now, I never want to hear it ever again. 

But I’ll still go up to bat for this album.  It’s still a really good listen and worth checking out if you want to see what Imagine Dragons vision was for themselves before they started to sell themselves out to corporate America.

Rating: 8/10

Best: “Radioactive”, “Tiptoe”, “It’s Time”, “Amsterdam”, “Hear Me”, “Every Night”

Worst: “Demons”…..duh

 

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Smoke + Mirrors (2015)

Two hands bound by tape release a hummingbird into the air. The dark green background is littered with various lines and geometric shapes with numbers and symbols written into the top of the artwork. The words "Imagine Dragons" and "Smoke + Mirrors" are printed in white at the center of the artwork.

Wumbo's Review

Spoiler

So, this is actually a really good album, and I like it a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrEJ0ccLDII

God damn it. This was not what I was expecting. This is the "I Bet My Life" album! "I Bet My Life"! By a large percentage, the worst Imagine Dragons song! This album is an improvement on the first one? What am I supposed to do from here??

Well, talk about it, I guess. While Night Visions is good, you could make the argument that even its best songs are a bit generic. They're probably still the best Imagine Dragons has ever come up with, but they don't really paint a vivid picture of Imagine Dragons as a band. This album feels very Imagine Dragons, but in the best possible way. It's the best iteration of their sound we've come to expect from them.

Yeah, it's a little more pop than their last album, but you know me, pop is not a dirty word. And as long as it's done well, I can definitely find it in myself to appreciate it. The majority of these songs are well crafted and even emotional at points! And even the ones that aren't, I can at least tell that they're trying to craft a sound that belongs to them. Except "I Bet My Life", that song still sucks and was the one I was dreading most. It's such an insipid, annoying excuse for a song that offers nothing to the listener except a headache. Imagine Dragons have a few songs like this, but this is the most glaring example to me, with that ear-wrenching chorus.

But some of them work really well, surprisingly so! There's this Mumford & Sons-esque track called "Trouble" where they actually do a better version of Mumford & Sons than most actual Mumford & Sons songs. There's this absolutely nuts track called "Friction" that may have replaced "Radioactive" as my guiltiest pleasure of theirs. And a few others that are just nice songs that still capture the "spirit" of what Imagine Dragons are all about! I think this album, save for… that song, has been a bit lost to time, but if you are genuinely curious what a good Imagine Dragons might sound like and you haven't heard this album yet… check it out! I'm not kidding.

Please don't make me like Evolve

Rating: 8/10

Best Tracks: "Smoke and Mirrors", "Dream", "Trouble", "Summer"

Clappy's Review

Spoiler

Time for some blunt honesty here.  I wrote this album off for the longest time.  When I first heard this back in 2015, I was colossally disappointed.  Mostly due to the singles, which I hated each and every one of them.  “Shots” felt like adult alternative radio fluff and “Gold” felt like them trying to replicate the experimentation of “Radioactive” and failing miserably.  But both of them are better in comparison to the god awful atrocity that is “I Bet My Life”…you know what that’s too nice.  Radio white noise…nah still too nice.  The empty vessel of hollow nothing…that’ll do.  I don’t know if this opinion will ever change, but “I Bet My Life” is the worst song that Imagine Dragons has ever recorded.  I mean I’ll be shocked if they release something worse than this.  It’s just fucking horrendous in every element of making music.

Look I can write an entire thinkpiece about how bad that song is, but that will be tiring to go through.  My point of highlighting the bad singles was that they left a bad impression on me to the point that I let it clout my judgment as I listened to the rest of the album the only other time.  And back then, to me, it felt like every track was a half-assed ripoffs of other songs from Night Visions or “I Bet My Life Part 2” or “I Bet My Life Part 3”.  This is admittedly not a good way to listen to an album.  Letting yourself have predetermined opinions on it from their singles as well as letting them clout your better judgment is not giving a fair shake.  I’ve gotten better about doing that as time went on, but I can’t think of a more prime example of me letting by better judgment get the best of me than Smoke + Mirrors.  So I’m glad to give it a second chance.

…and I’m glad I did because this album is perfectly fine.  Not as good as Night Visions to me, but this was better than I remembered it to be.  Make no mistake, the singles are still awful.  Outside of the titular track, the other five songs are a chore to get through.  But once we get through those slogs, something amazing happens.  The album comes to life.  It all starts at “Friction”, which is a song so inexplicably weird to the point that I just fucking love it.  It’s like a shot of adrenaline and quickly became added my to my workout playlist due to being that big of a banger.  From that point forward, I started to get what Imagine Dragons were aiming to do here.  For this one album, they are trying to take on arena rock.  Which hell, I’m all for that.  Imagine Dragons are a band based from Las Vegas and that city is well known for being a spectacle in itself that comes alive at night,  I can absolutely see some of these songs going off at a a live concert experience.

You know who else became an arena rock band, except later in their careers?  Coldplay.  And you know what, I heavily like that era of Coldplay and some of these songs are very similar to later era Coldplay.  Like I can picture Dan Reynolds trying to be Chris Martin belting out some of these admittedly corny, but charmingly endearing ballads.

So yeah, I was pleasantly surprised by this album.  Sure you’ll have to get through a somewhat dull and tedious first third of the album, but I’m certain you all will like the other 66%.  Damn pleasant surprise this was.

Rating: 7/10

Best: “Smoke + Mirrors”, “Friction”, “Trouble”, “Summer”, “Hopeless Opus”, “The Fall”

Worst: “Shots”, “Gold”, and of course….”AAAAAHHHHH AAAAHHH BET MY LIFE”

 

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YA CAN'T FIGHT THE FRICTION!!!

Glad to see Smoke + Mirrors (especially Dream) getting some appreciation as I never felt that was a bad album. It had a few blunders like the singles, but I felt there was overall more good than bad overall. Curious to see the takes on Evolve and Origins because I haven't revisited either since their releases.

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I'm surprised that you both liked S+M as much as I did. But man, it could've really been a 9 for me if it weren't for it having their absolute worst single to date. Aside from that one big outlier, I feel the album proves a lot on what Imagine Dragons are capable of as a band when you take into consideration that the majority of the album is self-produced by the band themselves (including I Bet My Life unfortunately, but aside from that, it's still mostly good), and it is the most real that they've ever really sounded, and therefore it also knocks down all of those "ALL THEIR MUSIC JUST SOUNDS LIKE COMMERICAL SONGS!!!!" strawman arguments. And because it's their least commercial-sounding album, it makes sense that ID and their management's next course of action would be to target the lowest common denominator. Yeah, even I can't defend Evolve for its direction that the band is now notable for having took. (but it's still no worse of a 2017 album than The Click, yeah sorry, I had to bring that up.).

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On 12/20/2021 at 9:47 AM, Cousin Mel said:

Cage the Elephant doesn't deserve this slander

Both great reviews; don't have anything else to say at this point.

What Steel said - Imagine Dragons could have been something great - like a modern day Queen? ELO, maybe? But then they just looked at "Radioactive", "Demons", and "It's Time", and took away only the superficial stuff and none of what made those songs actually good.

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Evolve (2017)

ImagineDragonsEvolve.jpg

Wumbo's Review

Spoiler

"Good" news: I do not like Evolve! It's pretty bad! Bad news: It's bad! This album sucks! Why did anyone listen to it?

Okay, so what this album sounds like to me is Imagine Dragons simultaneously trying to keep up with the times and try something new to stand out from the crowd, and neither work. Imagine Dragons are who they are - a radio-friendly pop-rock band with an occasional song that has more effort put into it that makes you pause and say "hmm, that was actually pretty good". There are still two examples here - "Whatever It Takes", which has an impactful chorus if only to blunt the "WHIP WHIP" thing in the pre-chorus (which is at least funny rather than infuriating). The second one, "Mouth of the River", is an excellent song that is far and away the best on the album, up there with some of Night Visions' best.

But the bad stuff… oh boy, dear god.

Let's start with the choices for the two lead singles: "Believer" and "Thunder". "Believer" I guess makes sense in theory as it kind of sounds like this pump-up anthem if it was actually really badly done and sung by a castrated donkey doing a Chad Kroeger impression. But all I remember is hearing this song for the first time and thinking "Huh. So this is what Imagine Dragons are like now. Well, this sucks." It had me so far removed from the Night Visions era that I could barely remember a time when Imagine Dragons were good at that point.

And then there's "Thunder". Oh god, we need to talk about "Thunder".

When this song came out, I think my first reaction was "this is stupid" and not much more. "Believer" had jaded me so much to Imagine Dragons that I barely even cared at that point. Sure, it was an annoying-sounding chorus, but was it really much worse than most of the bad shit on the radio? Probably not, who cares, it'll pass by like most songs do.

It's been four years and this song is fucking terrible.

Terrible in a profoundly baffling, confounding sort of way, like… why was this made. What were you trying to do. Okay, we know what they were trying to do, get an earworm that would cause people to pay attention, but… like this?! This isn't an earworm, it's a tapeworm, eating away at you until there's nothing left. "Thunder" offers nothing positive. This is not a song to listen to for any reason other than "fuck me, maybe if I listen to it one more time to finish it'll finally leave my head". Fuck. That.

*sigh* Okay, and then we get to the less offensive songs simply by lack of airplay: "Yesterday" and "Dancing in the Dark". "Yesterday" is the song I'd be willing to play devil's advocate for here if only because it is so unabashed in how awful it is. Like, there's no tease, there's no buildup to a sucky chorus, it just hits you over the head right away. Listening to this album has made me appreciate that sort of thing. "Dancing in the Dark" is disappointing because it's the last song on the album and man, what a fucking whimper to go out on. They could have chosen anything to end their big comeback album and their choice is a clusterfuck of radiating noise that can only be described as "experimental" by the most generous reviewer? You're not James Blake, Dan. Knock this shit off.

Beyond that… the album is mostly mediocre. Like I said, it's a combination of trying new things to obviously mixed results, and blending in. And the blending in just doesn't register anything with me whatsoever, other than maybe "This Dan Reynolds guy sounds a bit shrill." Overall, a colossal disappointment and a massive step back from Smoke + Mirrors, where they sounded mostly in their element. Here is a band stumbling and struggling to stay relevant. And commercial success doesn't equal critical success, as Imagine Dragons soon found out. This is around where the "Nickelback of the 2010s" comparisons started to come into fruition. Just an annoyance of a band that seemed to linger around with bad song after bad song. Not always warranted, but I can see how "Believer" and "Thunder" would leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth, as it did mine. Ugh. Talk about a misnomer for an album title.

Rating: 4/10

Best Tracks: "Whatever It Takes", "Mouth of the River"

Clappy's Review

Spoiler

Evolve.  The de-evolution of music.

What a stupid title for one of the stupidest albums I’ve come across in quite some time.  I didn’t know it was possible to sellout your artistic integrity after only two albums, but my god did Imagine Dragons do just that.  Yeah color me surprised that the band that has had their music appear in movie trailers, car commercials, tv shows, and every other advertisement possible; but this is a sellout in every possible sense and shape.  

Like nearly every track I listened to, I zoned out and pictured some sort of product being attached to the song like a laptop, a smartphone, the new season of Grey’s Anatomy.  You name it, Imagine Dragons has you with their trailer fodder of an album.  But does that necessarily mean it’s a bad alb-

Yes.  This is pretty fucking bad.  Where to even start?  “Believer” has made past worst of the year lists of mine, so I’m not going to acknowledge a song that has not gotten any better over the course of time.  “Thunder” should have made a worst list in hindsight and I’m sorry it never did.  Talk about a song sounding dated in only three years.  Christ, what in the nine hells does Dan Reynolds sound like that!?  And what is so thunderous about fucking chipmunk vocals and whatever the fuck this production is!?  Get it out of my speakers!

At least “Whatever It Takes” is still pretty damn good.  That should have made a best hit of the year list in hindsight.  Or maybe I’m just saying that because it is surrounded by putrid piles of shit.  Okay that’s not completely fair either because there is one other truly excellent song on here in “Mouth of the River”.  And I can admit that this song stands up with some of their best.  Like I might say this is a top five song in their entire discography.

But everything else is damn near hollow and soulless like Imagine Dragons is just waiting for Apple, Google, Dell, any car dealership, etc, to call them and ask for advertisement rights.  Like I can’t tell you the difference between “Rise Up” or “I’ll Make It Up to You” or “I Don’t Know Why”.…honestly outside of production choices, what’s the difference?  Maybe that’s why “Next to Me” might be the worst song of them all out of this bunch.  Besides Dan Reynolds sounding absolutely bored on the chorus more so than usual, I can tell within seconds that this is why I hate how absolutely uninteresting Imagine Dragons have become.

Okay that’s not entirely fair.  There is one spectacularly bad song on here that I actually kind of adore.  Like this is the one song on the album that I can’t see any corporate company wanting to use to shill any product.  That song is called “Yesterday”.  Have you ever wanted to see Imagine Dragons try to be Queen while an organ keeps playing the same two to three keys over and over again?  Or better yet, have kazoos sporadically appear for no fucking reason?  Well boy, do I have a song for you all to listen to!

Otherwise, hard fucking pass.

Rating: 3/10

Best: “Whatever It Takes”, “Mouth of the River”

Worst: “Next to Me”, “Believer”, “Thunder”

Fascinating: “Yesterday”

 

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Origins

Origins cover.png

Wumbo's Review

Spoiler

If you had some semblance of optimism left after Evolve and thought it was just a blip on the radar and Imagine Dragons would return to their roots and make the music we all know and love (?) from them, well… Origins is not going to provide you with the happiest of news, no.

I tell ya, five songs in, I was ready to write this album off entirely. It sounded like a dulled version of Evolve, which, the only thing that album had going for it was its risk-taking which only occasionally paid off, but still. It’s better than sitting through what is essentially the same song over and over again punctuated by Dan Reynolds’ awful, awful whine. I’m sorry, I'm sure he’s a nice guy, but he needs to know and exercise his limits as a singer. What he’s doing on songs like “Natural” are not good. Speaking of which, let’s talk about “Natural”, one of the worst songs on the album and, again, inexplicably the lead single. I guess it’s one of the most explosive songs on the album, so it makes some sense, but a big screechy voice doesn’t make for a good song. (Has it ever?) And this song is certainly a stinking turd right down to its core, and actually sets the tone for much of the album. Because you see, this album is about revolution, and changing the world around you. Or at least it would be if it wasn’t so samey-sounding and inoffensive. Again, except for that fucking voice. If your only weapon to stand out in a crowd is a voice that rivals Chad Kroeger’s for obnoxiousness, maybe you need to try something different!

But anyway, “Natural”. The whole song comes off as a diss track to… somebody, I’m sure, probably the entire cold world that everyone lives in. Whatever. I guess the point of this song is it sounds cold, and detached, and unlistenable? Again, great choice for a lead single! The worst songs on the album are like this, Imagine Dragons trying to convince you that they’re not another cog in the machine, maaaan, and they’re gonna stand up and revolutionize the system, and the way rock music works! All while sounding like the most cookie-cutter, nameless band imaginable. Okay, I take it back for one song. “Digital” is actually so kooky it kind of works. But most of the album is a pain to get through. At least Evolve was intentionally meaningless, and not trying to hook you in with clichéd platitudes about revolution in its boring music.

Is this a worse album than Evolve? I dunno, man. It’s certainly not markedly better. If anything, it’s just duller. Most of the songs register as a four or five out of ten and it’s an unmemorable listening experience at the end of the day. Pick your poison. Do you want a dull album that very occasionally impresses and semi-occasionally infuriates? Or a dull album with even less of a sway one way or the other? Whatever, give this bad album the same bad score. I’ll tell you this - this deep dive sure wouldn't have prepared me for what came next. So I guess this whole thing was pointless, except you get to watch the two of us suffer. Yay!

Rating: 4/10

Best Tracks: “Zero” (not joking), “Digital”

Clappy's Review

Spoiler

I so badly just want to say, really?  What’s the point of reviewing an album that doesn’t care about itself as much as either of us do?  Then just tack on a score, share the best and worst songs, and just move on to the new album that Jjs wants to hear us talking about for his Christmas gift.  But alas, here we go.  Talking about Origins.  Origin of what?  Sucking?

No seriously.  I just sat here staring at the screen of my iPad wondering what the fuck to even talk about with this album here.  I mean this album was proof that maybe nobody truly gave a shit about that last album.  Including the band themselves.  Because they are coming off their most commercially successful year racking up four huge hits, including the tacked on lead single to this album, a successful tour year apparently, and huge cross-merchandising deals with even more major companies (shocker I know).

But with all that fame and glory, comes the skeptics.  The more famous you get, the more people start to notice you and this was around the same time most of the backlash started to come out in full force.  Especially after Imagine Dragons spectacularly bombed a college football halftime show.  Where people on social media started questioning what do Imagine Dragon fans even look like.

Now I know I’m getting my timelines a little mixed up here, but all these results tie in around this album release, where the album underperformed in many ways.  Not nearly as well in sales and in hit singles.  So that begs the question.   What the fuck is the point of this album to begin with?

Seriously.  This project we are doing has admittedly helped me get better recognizing at least context and themes when it comes to fully critiquing albums.  And I couldn’t even begin to fucking tell you what Dan Reynolds and company were trying to contextualize with this album.  At least that last album, for as bad as that was, I could tell it was them trying to rack up the hit parade.  Were they trying to do that again here?  Because at least the hits from that last album actually had some sort of oomph to them.  They had hooks and memorable choruses and elements that tried to get a reaction out of you.

Here?  Just barely.  Let’s talk about some of them.  First you’ve got the big hit “Natural”, which sounds supremely unnatural.  Hey Dan, scream shouting is not singing.  Thanks.  Otherwise, this isn’t nearly as forceful as “Radioactive”…the song that the Dragons are clearly trying to emulate.  It doesn’t matter how many times they try to remake the success of that song.  The point that they keep missing is that the former is a song that sounds like it’s about the nuclear apocalypse.  That was a creative thought.  Something this band has forgotten up to this point.  But who cares, they got the ESPN deal out of it.  So what else?

Speaking of Disney subsidiaries, Imagine Dragons made a soundtrack hit for the Disney classic, “Ralph Breaks the Internet”.  And dear god this is the most phoned in crossover song Imagine Dragons has ever done.  I guess this is them trying to make a self-empowerment anthem because those always sell.  Well let me give you a heads up Dan.  Calling yourself a zero doesn’t retroactively make somebody else feel special about themselves.  This isn’t even empowering to you, thus who the fuck is this even for?

Yet that isn’t even the worst of the singles.  That honor goes to “Machine”.  Hearing Dan Reynolds screech that he’s not a part of the system is such a fucking joke when Imagine Dragons has been one of the biggest cogs in the commercialization of rock music for up to five years at this point.  Get the fuck out of here with your faux fight the power cookie cutter crap.

Honestly the only single that I actually liked was “Bad Liar”.  A song about Dan Reynolds separation from his ex-wife and you know what, that is one of the few songs on here that has any sort of legitimate passion.  But even with that, I can still see the commercials or movie trailer fodder this song could be utilized for.  Can’t have an Imagine Dragons single without that….haha fuck off.

Sorry that this review is so rambling and incohesive, but that’s perfect for this album.  The structure makes no fucking sense and even with topic matters like separation and loneliness like above, the only topic on this album that has any sort of passion put into it.  They are few and far between clearly what are Evolve rejects.  After all, Dan Reynolds has said this is the sister album to that album.  Fitting.  Because they are both on the opposite spectrums of bad.  I keep going back and forth which is worse, so I’m just going to cop out and say it depends on what sort of mood I’m in.  Evolve sounds worse when it comes to music style and sound.  Origins is as dull as watching paint dry.  Both have their few highlights but they aren’t worth the listen in their entirety.

Rating: 3/10

Best: “Bad Liar”, “Real Life”

Worst: “Natural”, “Machine”, “Zero”, “Love”

 

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Mercury - Act 1

Imagine Dragons - Mercury Act 1.png

Wumbo's Review

Spoiler

Well, say this about this album… it’s not boring. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but it’s certainly not boring.

The whole reason I suggested we turn this one album review into an entire look at Imagine Dragons’ discography is so I could get some much-needed context to understand just what the hell was happening with this album. Because… oh boy, if there is any context to be gained from this endeavor, it is sorely needed. So what did I get? Well… all I can figure is that Imagine Dragons were tired of being called dull and bland. Because they try everything in their power to shed that label with this album. But rather than a cry of triumph, Mercury - Act 1 (please god let there be no Act 2) feels more like a cry for help than anything.

I mean it. All you have to do is look at these damn titles. “No Time for Toxic People”? Is Dan Reynolds subtweeting someone who dissed him on Instagram in a song title? Is this the future of rock and roll? “No Time for Toxic People”? Ay caramba.

But it goes beyond the song titles. More than a few of these songs sound like Dan Reynolds going through something bad, and, well, it’s the end of 2021 and we’re still in a pandemic, so I guess I can’t fault him if he is. But songs like “Cutthroat” have me deeply concerned more than anything. This is not Imagine Dragons. This is imaginedragons.exe has stopped working, abort the mission and turn off your computer. When I said this album got interesting, it was in all the worst ways. This was a lead single. I know, I know, I say that every time now, but this one really has no business being released in general, let alone as a single. It’s certainly not catchy, or listenable, or anything that would make anyone want to check out the band further. All I can figure is that releasing this as your co-lead single is a statement that, once again, reads as a cry for help rather than the assumed roar of triumph.

And you just make your way through the album and in even the somewhat normal-sounding songs there’s this undercurrent of uneasiness. Dan Reynolds does not sound happy and the album certainly isn’t happy even when it tries for the facade. The song “Monday” is probably the happiest the album has to offer, yet it still equates a love with the universally acknowledged worst day of the week!

So, how to rank and rate this album? I guess I can give it credit for trying something new and getting across some real, if uncomfortable, emotion. That alone should probably rank it above the last two albums for me. But man, this is something that definitely did not pan out in practice. It’s a colossal mess of an album and it’s borderline unlistenable. And even though I always maintain that boring is the worst you can be, I gotta draw a line somewhere. And it’s here. This album is not to be listened to, or admired. It is to be viewed as a cautionary tale. If you’re going to break the mold of indie rock and try something new, you still need to make sure you’re putting out good product. Otherwise, you get Mercury - Act 1. And with that, my play is over.

Rating: 2/10

“Best” Track: “Dull Knives”

Clappy's Review

Spoiler

I…I don’t know what to say.  

One thing is for certain.  Imagine Dragons certainly listened to the backlash.  I can for sure say that this album absolutely is not boring.  So that’s already one step in the right direction.  But what we got is…okay I know this is going to sound really fucking weird, but Wumbo said this in our chat and it stuck with me.  This is if “The Room” was made into an album.

Literally not one song sounds like the next.  There are some utterly bizarre production style choices and approaches on how to perform some of these songs that absolutely had me laughing.  And some of these tracks are just way too out utterly bizarre for me to take seriously.  I thought we all agreed with Garfield that Monday’s are the worst day of the week, yet here’s Dan Reynolds not only singing happily about his girl but says she’s his Monday.  What sort of backhanded compliment is this?  Wumbo also pointed out “No Time For Toxic People”, which yes that’s Dan’s okay boomer moment right there.  But on another song, “#1”, we have Dan singing about how he needs his safe space.  Is most of this album just Dan looking through his social media apps?  Is this what he did during his hiatus?  How do you do fellow kids!?

But that’s not all.  This track listing is just baffling levels of bad.  They have a self empowerment anthem called “It’s Okay” (How many more times are we going to overuse this song title!?) only to have it followed up with a track called “Dull Knives”.  Way to read the room guys.  And wait there’s more.  You have like four tracks about how Dan is coping with his depression back to back to back to back, only for that to be followed up by the single “Follow You”, which is about how he’s clearly just going to stalk this girl who broke his heart (or at least that’s my impression).  And clearly Dan is positive that all this stalking will win her over because he states on the album closer that “one day, he’ll be that one thing that makes her happy”.  That’s nice, how’s your sex life Dan?

As amusing and fascinating as so many of these songs are, make no mistake.  Like a good 90% of these songs that I’ve mentioned are absolutely god awful.  Which amazes me because a good portion of this album is executive produced by the legendary Rick Rubin.  I refuse to believe that Rubin had any involvement in this because so much of this sounds like ass.  And I haven’t even gotten to the most “ass sounding” song on this album, “Cutthroat”, which Rubin produced solely.  Which remember when I called “I Bet My Life” the worst song Imagine Dragons has ever recorded?  This might be a really close second.  It would be first if I didn’t think this was done on purpose to make it as unlistenable as humanly possible.  But you know what’s the most shocking thing of all?  THIS was the co-lead single along with “Follow You”.  What does that even say about your album that you have the clearly radio safe “Follow You” and all of its stupid humming and faux quirky mannerisms as a co-lead single with this fucking atrocity?

As stated above, Dan Reynolds was dealing with depression for a good couple years between albums and if this album was cathartic for him to find happiness again, I hope it provided him some a dose of seratonin.  Because I do have to admit this was a real raw look into his emotions more so than ever before.  But it’s abundantly clear that translating all this into an album experience was another thing entirely and this seriously did not work the way he probably thought it would.  The only song that came remotely close to making it work was “Wrecked”, which I do legitimately think is the best single they’ve had in years.  But that’s legitimately the only song I liked in a not remotely funny way.

I seriously had no clue what to expect when this project first started and I still have no clue how to comprehend this album.  Like I would not be surprised to see this being viewed as a career killing album down the line.  Maybe I’ll be wrong.  After all, Imagine Dragons seem to be doing well for themselves on the alternative charts even if their Hot 100 hit parade days seem to be behind them.  But if this is the first act, I really don’t see how we could possibly be getting a second or third one of these.  Because listening to this was like listening to a band who has no real direction anymore and are just grasping for straws at this point.

Strangely enough, I do think people should check this album out if they are morbidly curious like myself.  Believe it or not, this will be one of the more memorable albums I checked out this year.  Just not for any remotely good reason.  

Rating: 3/10

Best: “Wrecked”

Worst: “#1”, “Giants”, “It’s Ok”, “Follow You”, “Cutthroat”, “No Time For Toxic People”, “One Day”

Comedy Hour: “Monday”, “Dull Knives”, “Follow You”, “No Time For Toxic People”, “One Day”

*Yeah I know, this got the same score as the last two albums, but make no mistake.  This might be the worst album they’ve ever done just because you can’t help but feel sorry for this band attempting to try again and churning out…well, this.

 

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I'm just going to very honest and constructive as I give my last thoughts on this project: I enjoyed Mercury - Act 1 a fair bit and I think it's a genuine improvement over ID's previous two albums, even if it is a mixed bag musically. The album feels like the band is giving themselves some breathing room and that they are trying to move past what made them infamous. There are still some incoherent tracks in the mix, yes ("Giants," "Cutthroat," "It's Ok"), but most of what I have listened to is mostly coherent. "My Life," "Wrecked," "Monday," (this one is type of song that grows on you, and it at least grew on me), "Easy Come Easy Go," and "Dull Knives" are all songs that I've ended up really liking because of how well they flow for me. Is it inconsistent in terms of style? Sure, but when the band is challenging themselves, I don't see much of a problem with that. Of course, I can't deny it either that there are some tracks on here that feel like the band is still stuck in their old ways, but most of the weakest songs the albums are just too inoffensive to really hate (I'm sorry Claps, but I don't know where you got the whole stalker interpretation from for "Follow You," that is seriously hyperbole). If you both really think that Mercury - Act 1 is such an unlistenable and unintentionally hilarious album, then that's completely fine, I can't change your minds. I just think it's a huge stretch to consider it as dreadful, even if it's not just all that hype we've been building up for this very album review that's talking.

Regardless of my own feelings towards this band, you both have my pity for the pain that you both put yourselves through for this dive and I respectfully agree with your critiques on each album, even if it's mostly harsh but fair. It's far from the typical fare that I'd expect from the average music journalist that slaps the "worst band ever" label on ID, that much I can tell you.

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