This album is certainly a big change from the last two. But an evolution? I’m not convinced. For starters, this album only contains ten songs, which is less than half the number on ‘Night Visions (Deluxe)’ and ‘Smoke + Mirrors (Deluxe)’. One of my favourite things about Imagine Dragons is their ability to produce an epically long album, in which every song is good. This shorter album leaves less room for the vast range of sounds and styles that are characteristic of an Imagine Dragons album.
Now, many critics have suggested that the band’s lyrics are too self-absorbed, arrogant and melodramatic. I would argue that these critics lead such dull lives that they cannot relate to the sense of adventure and journey that is somehow captured by almost every song that Imagine Dragons have ever created. If you want realism, go and listen to Keane. If you want to feel like your life has meaning and is going to be a wonderful adventure, then you need to make Imagine Dragons the soundtrack to your life. If I was to describe the albums comparatively, I would say that ‘Night Visions’ is ‘the magical one’, ‘Smoke + Mirrors’ is ‘the warrior one’, and ‘Evolve’ is the ‘self-contemplation one’. ‘Evolve’ has a strong sense of focus on the ‘self’ and on personal growth and change, and consideration for how the past gets us to where we are in the present.
The opening song, ‘I Don’t Know Why’ is largely composed of stripped-back synths and sudden pauses. The lyrics seem to tell the story of a relationship falling apart, and the singer’s desperation to rekindle the love (‘Tell me that you love me…’). There is a beautiful tone to the voice of lead singer, Dan Reynolds, when he is singing the verses, but I don’t think the choruses do his voice any justice. The chorus is like something straight out of the pop genre, and the lyrics have no substance nor much relation to what is said in the verses. The thumping mid-tempo beats make this song a perfect soundtrack for a workout, but it’s not a song that has any particular meaning for me. This is actually one of the few songs that doesn’t make me feel like an epic adventure is about to unfold in front of me. The next song changes this.
‘Whatever It Takes’ is a masterpiece, in my opinion. The song encapsulates everything I love about the band. The verses are fast-paced, with Dan almost rapping. The chorus has Dan singing on two voice tracks; one a heavenly high-range, mixed-voice belt to complicate his mid-range singing, giving the impression that his rational self is being guided by a higher self or inner voice. With the addition of some ‘ah’s from the backing vocalist, the chorus becomes a wonderful concoction that fills the listener with waves of inspiration and determination. Furthermore, the lyrics are incredible. Full of insight concerning both individual conflicts and wider societal issues. The second verse carries religious and apocalyptic connotations with the lines ‘Everybody waiting for the fall of man,/Everybody praying for the end of times…’, while the fourth chorus deals with body image and the battle between wanting to be invisible and the fear of feeling insignificant (‘Always had a fear of being typical/…./I wanna be invisible.’). The bridge verse is particularly clever, full of multi-syllable rhymes and half-rhymes. There are a couple of lines here that particularly grab my attention: ‘I'm just a product of the system, a catastrophe/And yet a masterpiece, and yet I'm half-diseased’. These lyrics show a real inner conflict about the nature of our lives and our beings. Humanity has been catastrophic to the wellbeing of our planet’s natural environments, yet humans are also a masterpiece, both individually and collectively.
‘Believer’ is fairly similar to ‘Whatever It Takes’, but with a more self-empowering message, and one that is more personal to the lead singer. The main message is that pain can often make us stronger and teach us valuable lessons (‘My life, my love, my drive, it came from pain…’). It’s another rather inspiring track, and is also another great track for workouts.
I’m not a fan of the next song, ‘Walking The Wire’. The thumping drum beats prevent the song from flowing pleasantly, Dan’s voice is shouty, and the verses are quite dull. The lyrics aren’t at all profound and are quite repetitive. It’s a rather typical song about a relationship that is going through a rough patch (‘Oh, the storm is raging against us now…’), with the singer promising to remain faithful and ‘stay the course’. It’s a song that I tend to skip whenever I’m listening to the album.
‘Rise Up’ is unique, fun, and energising. Here, those thumping drum beats come in for the chorus and some verses, but the pre-choruses and bridge contain mostly mystical synths, making the song more dynamic. The distorted synth voice, which sings ‘Rise, rise up’ during the chorus, gives the impression of a voice of wisdom or strength pushing the singer/listener to ‘rise up’ to any challenge. The bridge does seem slightly out of place with the rest of the song, with a tacky reference to fireworks that somewhat ruins the songs message of personal and spiritual growth. It seems to be at contrast with the rest of the song, perhaps reflecting a moment of weakness and uncertainty (‘I'm broken in the prime of my life/So embrace it and leave me to stray’). But although I do not personally like the bridge, the rest of the song is wonderful. Original, inspiring, funky. A really great number on a very varied album.
‘I’ll Make It Up To You’ is possibly Imagine Dragon’s most romantic, tender song. It’s personal and sensitive, yet still retains the upbeat, energetic chorus that fans know so well. The verses are stripped back, allowing the focus to fall on the singer, and particularly on the lyrics. It is in some ways similar to ‘Walking the Wire’, and I wouldn’t say it’s a great song, but it’s good. It doesn’t quite meet my expectations of this band, but it’s definitely a listenable song.
Now we come to the song ‘Yesterday’. A song which is surprising to first-time listeners due to its unusual beat, which has the strength and regularity of an army of warriors stomping their feet in determination. Certainly, the lyrics reflect this image. Its message is one of respecting the past and how it caused the change that led to your present, and how that same change will create your future (‘Here’s to change, oh/Here’s to my yesterday/No tomorrow without a yesterday’. From the listener’s perspective, the verses and choruses have a very unusual structure, especially with the multiple crescendos in the chorus. But this makes the song wonderfully unique, and draws you in time and time again in a bid to make sense of it all. In terms of the song’s message, it is somewhat similar to ‘Rise Up’. It has that same uplifting, encouraging vibe. Complete with a grungy electric-guitar solo, this song is bursting with weird and wonderful features and components.
‘Mouth Of The River’ carries some interesting religious connotations, perhaps referring to baptism (‘Wanna bow to the floor/…/With the hands of a sinner/…/And I am going under’. It reminds me of ‘The River’, a wonder track in their ‘Night Visions’ album that contains the line ‘I cleanse in the river’. Both have this theme of the singer purifying himself with water, relating to Christian ideas about holy water. The second verse is one of self-scrutiny and criticism. The singer is ‘overboard/…/self-destructive and self-important’. Maybe he is, but maybe he’s just being harsh on himself. Again, I think the song is good, but it’s quite simple and repetitive and the lyrics aren’t as profound as they normally are.
‘Thunder’ is explosive, energising, inspiring and unique, a lot like ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Rise Up’. The synth voices in the chorus could be seen as a bit childish and annoying, but I find them cute and endearing, giving the impression of little storm-nymphs welcoming the thunder. The song builds nicely to the climatic final chorus. The track ends with the faint sound of rain. This song isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I love it. My only complaint is that it ends too quickly, being only three minutes long.
‘Start Over’ begins with some funky woodwind-like synths. The song is structurally very similar to ‘I’ll Make It Up To You’ and has essentially the exact same message. Again, it’s a good song, and a great party song as it practically forces you to dance. But other than a funky beat, I don’t have a great deal to say about it.
The lyrics in ‘Dancing In The Dark’ seem as disjointed as the synth track. Dan’s vocals are distorted slightly to match the synths. It’s a strange track; definitely unique but not in the positive way that some of the other tracks are unique. This one is difficult to listen to as it lacks flow. Yet, somehow it’s seriously catchy – I listened to it once and had it in my head for days. I just find it too synthetic. In the bands other albums, any synths are blended in with the instruments in order to compliment the music. Whereas in this song, and the album generally, synthetic sounds seem to take over. It is quite disappointing.
Overall, there are a few tracks that are great, but this album cannot compare to Imagine Dragon’s other two. I know just what they’re capable of, which is why it saddens me to hear them produce an album that falls more under ‘pseudo-rock’ than alternative/indie rock. I’m honestly torn as to whether this album deserves to be Apollo Approved… But I’m going to just about Apollo Approve it, purely because there are several songs on this album that are so incredibly unique and funky. But I cannot say that I was thrilled with this album, and I hope that in future music, Imagine Dragons can retain the elements that made ‘Night Visions’ such a stunning album, even if the band do seek to evolve.
Thanks for reading. Tune in soon for another music review.