Whoops Anyway, if (and when) you eventually give in, here's the full official preview [video=youtube;sqIS3dBzpsU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqIS3dBzpsU[/video]
Imagine Dragons played a beautiful acoustic version of Demons yesterday at the Italian Festival Sanremo (they were the only interesting part of the show by the way,and I'm italian),here it is : [video=youtube;mlhjbbaUc7E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlhjbbaUc7E[/video]
Official "Shots" video is out [video=youtube;qQrgto184Tk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQrgto184Tk[/video]
I love it. I don't like it. It's fucking awesome. It could've been better. What the fuck. Yes. No. All.
Deluxe edition leaked, for anyone that wants to listen to it. I couldn't find a download link yet, but I did find a site that allows you to stream all the songs. Will post thoughts later.
Fuck it, I'll write down my thoughts as I listen to it. Might be fun to read in a year or something. Shots - Great song, heard it before. Gold - Even greater song, heard it even before. Smoke and Mirrors - Starts off kinda like a Bastille song. Loving the bass in the background. Dem drums. Screaming + soft beat doesn't really work that well, but the calmer parts are great. Can't help but hear "gay keeper" in there somewhere. Loving how dynamic it feels at parts, and that's a great vocal performance. After the second chorus, that's such a beautiful moment. The biggest problem here are the "I wanna believe" lines. Oh, guitar solo. Loving this, sort of a TLTGYA feel to it. Awww yiss. Get that. Not sure if it was worth naming the album after it, but certainly nice. I'm So Sorry - Yiss, guitarz. Hory shet that beat. That's a fucking anthem. "No son of a stepfather, no son of a I'M SO SORRY". LOL, this is too fucking great. Sounds like it could be in a car commercial, in the best possible way. This chorus is a beast. Unexpected piano and calmness. Awww yiss it's back. #Dynamic. I'm losing my shit here. Chorus is too damn great. AWWW DAT GUITAR SOLO. Fuck yes. This song is amazing. I Bet My Life - I'm just gonna take this song to say I'm loving the lyrical message of this album. It feels apologetic and remorseful, and I fucking love it. This song is a beast, loved it since first listen... mindblowing that was 4 months ago. Polaroid - That beat is so nice. The lyrics are great. The chorus is great. I'm loving this one. It's really chill, I'm kinda hoping it doesn't pick up, it's wonderful as it is. It kinda picks up but not too much, definitely acceptable. "Love is a polariod, better in pictures" is such a great line. Friction - Really weird vocals here, almost feels Justin Timberlake-like. Loved the intro. OH THE BEATS. These guys have mastered drums. Some pretty weird synth work in this song, loving it. Jeez, this song was described to be much much heavier than it is. Feels a lot like "I'm So Sorry" in terms of structure. What makes this song really stick out is the weird vocal performance. Oh yiss, the ending is death metal by Imagine Dragons standards. It Comes Back To You - Beautiful synths and drums here. Feels kinda like Coldplay, especially with this guitar line. "All the things I could be, I think I learned in therapy" - holy shit the feels. The chorus is too damn nice. Loving how emotional and sincere it feels. No overdoing it here like they did in "Smoke and Mirrors". This one kinda feels like "Polaroid", very chill and hauntingly beautiful. Some very nice synth work at the end. Dream - Beautiful piano, wish the drums didn't kick in immediately. Oh, somehow they managed to get the choruses even better than on Night Visions, but this will be a bitch to perform live. So beautiful though. Okay, learned to really love the drums and piano combo. The melody is absolutely wonderful. Holy shit does this give the feels. "I wanna dream, leave me to dream" is amazing. Trouble - Fast, folky intro. Oh, yes! Feels kind of like I Bet My Life, yet so much nicer. The mixing is great here, loving how the guitar pans. I'm out of words. Feels like Mumford and Sons, but... replayable. It's so upbeat, I kinda wished it would be build up more. Then again, it's nice to have a straight up fast song. Loving how the other fast songs felt heavier, yet this one is so smooth. Really nice contrast to "Dream". Summer - Nice intro here, liking how organic the instrumentation feels. Lot of echoing vocals on the album, work really nice here. Nothing here that bothers me, but it's a bit unimpressive. At least so far. It was nice, might be a grower. Hopeless Opus - Bit more upbeat than I expected it to be, right at the start. The synths and drums on the album are really tasteful. The vocal melody and lyrics here are really good. Sounding a lot happier than it should in my opinion. While it's a wonderful chorus, it has pretty depressive lyrics with a pretty happy melody. Wish it was a bit sadder. The breakdown feels like the Bastille remix of "I Bet My Life". Oh, the guitar solo is wonderful. Really fits with the background. Not too flashy, but impressive enough. Okay, the ending is fucking great. The Fall - Waterfalls. Fields. Green. Rivers. War drums. Bees. Yep, that intro was great. The verse feels like their older stuff. "Maybe I'm breaking up with myself" is a really good line. Kinda unimpressive chorus, I expected more from the closer. The lyrics are the best thing about this one. Pretty, pretty. Very pretty. But pretty boring. The explosion at the end is nice but I wish it had more. Ah, if only I could turn the volume up. Loving the bass and guitar here. Bonus songs: Thief - Aww yiss, this one is already great. Reminds me of some older song but can't remember which one. The chorus is fucking awesome! Wish this was on the album. Has that classic Imagine Dragons feel from before Night Visions, yet the melody and vocal delivery is better. This one's better than a lot of songs on the album. Holy shit this one is great! No problems with this one. The Unknown - That beat. That sample. Liking this a lot. Sounds a bit like "My Fault". The guitar work is fantastic, and I'm loving the way the vocals were arranged. The biggest problem is that "ahh" sample, it's annoying as fuck after three times lol. Loving the "You will come back to me" lines. The ending is absolutely wonderful, and again, better than a few on the album. Second Chances - Vocal melody is great. Very dreamy, and I'm loving the echo effect here. Oh, the ending goes full Coldplay. Loved this part, just wish the song had more to it. Release - I'm already loving this one just hearing the acoustic guitar. Oh, I'm absoultely loving this one. So well arranged. Feels so beautiful and sincere. Pretty sure this could be in my top 3 on the album, feels so great. Better than 90% here. Overall, it's good. I hope it will grow on me. I didn't come here for "good".
Scratch everything I wrote. The second listen was so good it deserved a double post. Superior to Night Visions in every possible way.
Well, I gave it a couple listens. I'm not going to do every song, so I'll just do the ones that I really like. I'm So Sorry - Wasn't sure how I felt about it when I watched the live performance, but f-ing hell the chorus stuck with me. Now this is a song that'll get the crowd pumped, just one big head banger. Also, the solo at the end, lol, it got me hard Polaroid - This song is distinctly different from the rest of the album, with a catchy beat, lyrics, and a melody that heavily reminds me of "Lorde". I'm in love with the chorus, "LOVE IS A POLAROID". Oh man, the last minute with all the layers of vocals This could potentially be a hit as a single. Friction - "Imagine Dragons" meets....."System Of A Down"? "YA CAN'T FIGHT THE FRICTION!". This is one of the most aggressive/heavy choruses they've made to date. I'm loving the contrast between the soft verses and the heavy chorus. Loving the instrumentation here, really unique song, but also really straight forward. It Comes Back To You - Probably the most personal song on the track. If a beat could ever give me "The feels", it'd be this. "Am I just a shadow you drew?", I love everything this song stands for. I couldn't imagine how hard it is to deal with fame, and these guys are still fairly new to it. I know Dan has been going through a lot, and the lyrics feel nothing short of genuinely sincere here. Surely a memorable track for me. Dream - Now, I've been obsessing over this one as soon as I heard the previews. Again, the feels, "And all these sorrows I have seen, they lead me to believe that everything's a mess, but I want to dream, I want to dream, leave me to dream". Like "Polaroid", I have no doubt this could be a successful single. The lyrics, the piano, everything feels so genuine. I love what this band has become, they've managed to incorporate emotional, even dark themes then translate & condense them into catchy pop rock songs. I don't know whether to cry or jam out Summer - The beat, omg the beat. Ever since it was first performed live last week I fell in love with that beat. All I can say is, I NEED the instrumental. Dan's vocal range once again impresses me, and I love the little whistles and "oohs" in the background. The guitar, the drums, the claps, I love everything here. The Fall - I was expecting something a bit different for the final track, but the lyrics are still nothing less than great. "I'm ready for the fall, I'm ready for everything that I believe in to drift away". The chorus and the ending are great, but nothing really stands out to me aside from that. Still, really good. The Thief - The only thing I could think of was "Dat chorus". Damn, this is almost too good. I'm baffled as to why this isn't on the regular album. I can see this song getting a lot of plays from me, and is definitely a big reason to purchase the deluxe edition CD over the standard. Second Chances - The chorus, just wow. There's just this atmosphere to the song that's just so sweet, "I get older and life fades, but you remain. Open up again, I believe in second chances". I've always loved their song writing, they have this flawless way of keeping things simple yet meaningful. Love the use of all the instruments in this song. Genuinely surprised at the quality of a bonus track too, it's rare that I ever like them. Release - For some reason, I was immediately reminded of quite a few different music artists, most notably "The Black Keys". It's simplistic, but in the best way possible. The lyrics are the standout here for me, "Is there nothing good in me? I've let me down, down, down, down". So, I'm a fan. A big fan now. This album has no doubt secured this band a spot for my top favorite bands. "Night Visions" was one of my favorite albums of the last few years, and I feel like this blows it out of the water. I love the message, I love the theme, Imagine Dragons has really come a long way. Really a diverse album, can't wait for what they'll bring in the future.
Agree with everything here. Also like the comparison of "Release" to The Black Keys, it kinds reminds me of "Little Black Submarines". Definitely one of my favorites here. Damn, I'm finishing up my third listen and this is an absolutely great album.
Definitely. I'm just afraid that this will end up like every other album I've ever fallen in love with. I'll probably end up listening to this until I get sick of it, then I won't want to listen to it for quite some time. Which is okay I guess, because I'll still come back to it fairly often. Maybe it's just the newness, but I really didn't expect this album to be so damn good. I'm going to try and cut down the amount of times I play it this week so I don't get so tired out. I don't think there's any way that this won't end up as my top 3 favorite albums this year, it'll take a lot to top this. I'd go ahead and ALREADY call it my album of the year (Which would be silly, of course), but you know......"A Head Full Of Dreams" will probably earn that spot 'cuz everything Chris Martin touches turns to gold If that even comes out this year, that is.
Just like Filip,I'm writing down my toughts as I listen : Shots - Probably the song I listened more from the three that came out before the album. I'm approving the choice Imagine Dragons made when they put this song first in the album,it's a great song and immediately put you in the mood for personal lyrics. Gold - My favorite song from the three singles that came out before the album. Got that weird,tribal vibe I was really looking for. Smoke And Mirrors - Well,pretty cool start. The scream really don't fit in the song vibes at all. Overall,it's a good song,but I'm not sure if it's worth to name the album after this one. Good lyrics. Wasn't expecting the guitar solo,cool. I'm So Sorry - #Visceral. Love the rock/metal influences in this one. I already listened to the live version,but the studio version sounds a little better. The piano part fits pretty well in the song. Dat guitar solo outro feels a lot like Linkin Park's THP. I Bet My Life - When this song came out I hated it. Not what I was expecting and neither what I wanted. Now,after four months,I can say it growed a little on me,but still I think is the weakest song in this album,not worthy of being the lead single. I still like the bridge with the soft guitar,and fits well in the album as a whole. It's not a BAD song,but it doesn't live up to the rest of the songs. Polaroid - Feels really good at the start. God that beat,simple but very effective. Love the carillon (?) in the background. Love the chorus,listened to it a lot thanks to the preview. "Love is a polaroid,better in pictures" my god. Great line. Really relaxing,especially when the pre-chorus starts. DAT SECOND CHORUS. I'm loving this song,the last chorus is amazing. Hands down,the better song for now. Really living up to expectations here. Friction - I wasn't expecting dat piano,sounds good. Good chorus,the beat is very good. Very strange song,I'm like it. Yep,really good. WHOA dat outro ! Cool. It Comes Back To You - I like the intro,some good synths here. And guitar comes in. Oh yeah this song drags you in very easily. Good chorus,pretty catchy. I like how this album "evolves" the choruses the second time they repeats,always adding something. Good beats here. Dream - Ok,I'm really expecting the best here. Piano comes in. Vocals do too. Beat is there. Love the vocals,very emotionals. Dat chorus,I fell in love for it immediatly from the preview,it's in my head and repeats itself over and over. WE ARE ALL LIVING IN A DREAM. Dat "I wanna dream,leave me to dream" line with violins,oh my god. The bridge fits SO well. Best song in the album so far,dramatic feelings all over. #EverythingIsAMess. Trouble - Whoa,this is really a change of phase. Yep,feels like a march with those drums. Not bad,not bad,but the chorus repeating "No trouble" is,well...repetitive. It's not bad,but it isn't surely an highlight. Summer - Already listened to the live versione,already liked it. But the vibes are really cool. Ok,this is really,really good,love the atmosphere. Hopeless Opus - Cool start. Love the vocals and the chorus. I like the effects and the guitar solo. "I fill them with empty space" is an amazing line. The Fall - Oh-oh,what's this amazing intro I'm hearing ? Drums comes in,feels good. The chorus is outstanding,vocals are amazing. Do you know you're not alone ? It's a great way to end the record,this is simply amazing. If this song won't become an hit,then there's no justice in the world. DAT LAST MINUTE OF SONG. MY. GOD. This album,as a whole,beats Night Visions without any doubt. It's more personal,more coesive,more intense,more relaxing. In the end Night Visions is like "The best from our past EPs",while Smoke + Mirrors you can feel that the song have all something in common,they all have been wrote in the same sessions. It has absurd highlights as I'm So Sorry,Polaroid,Dream,Summer and The Fall. I'm gonna give the album a few more listens,then I'm gonna wrote down a more cold-minded sentence,but this record is really good. Really,really good.
Just listened to the album and have to say: wow. Great Album for sure. Pretty cool tracks. My favorites so far: Shots, Gold, I am So Sorry, I Bet My Life.
I'm enjoying every song except for Gold. I just can't get into that one. Everything else is great, though.
I did type up full reviews for each song, but this site didn't want me to and deleted the entire thing. Yay me. 1. Shots - 7.5/10 2. Gold - 8/10 3. Smoke and Mirrors - 7/10 4. I'm So Sorry - 2/10 (this song is laughably bad) 5. I Bet My Life - 8.5/10 6. Polaroid - 3/10 7. Friction - 4/10 (Pre-chorus and bridge are good, the rest sucks) 8. It Comes Back To You - 6/10 9. Dreams - 10/10 (this song ) 10. Trouble - 9/10 (perfect song to come after Dreams) 11. Summer - 7/10 (nice atmosphere) 12. Hopeless Opus - 4/10 13. The Fall - 9/10 (great lyrics, perfect ending) 14. Thief - 9/10 (perfect chorus) 15. The Unkown - 6.5/10 16. Second Chances - 9/10 (the cello with Dan's vocals = perfection) 17. Release 7.5/10 18. Warriors 7.5/10 This was a pretty good album, definitely better than Night Visions. Dreams is such a good song, worthy to earn a spot as one of my all time favorite songs. There is so much emotion and hoplessnes in not only Dan's vocals, but in all the instruments, too. The same goes for Second Chances. The cello in that song is just beautiful. But sadly the album is held back by atrocious songs like I'm So Sorry and Friction. When I wanted Imagine Dragons to do more rock songs, those songs were not what I had in mind.
I really like "Friction", but I can't help but think how much more awesome it'd be if there were some screaming in it. I mean, there's a little bit during the last 25 seconds or so, but it's not really screaming, or at least as aggressive as I'd like it to be. I want Dan to try out some "Victimized" levels of screaming, if he can pull it off.