Artist: Imagine Dragons
Title: Night Visions
Genre: Alternative / Indie Rock
Release Date: 1st February 2013
Label: Universal Music
Album Review
IMAGINE DRAGON is an alternative rock / indie rock outfit from Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) which was formed in 2008. According to own statements, the band’s name is an anagram for a secret word whose meaning is only known to the band members. To date, the band consists of singer and frontman Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Dan Platzman. The band is currently signed to Interscope Records / Universal Music and draws its influences from the crème de la crème of past and present rock and pop music, such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Boston, Arcade Fire and The Killers. The four-piece has already released five EPs, two singles and the debut album ‘Night Visions’, the latter of which will be discussed now.
First things first: Welcome to one of the pop / rock albums of the year 2013! For the first time in a long while, ‘Night Visions’ from IMAGINE DRAGONS is a rock album that comes without any fillers. All thirteen songs burst with wonderful melodies which will long be stuck in your head, amazing song arrangements, a whole lot of intensity and an incredibly versatile voice of singer Dan Reynolds (who has lately been considered one of the best new frontmen in rock). There may be some hype about the band (especially since they have contributed the title track to the popular computer game ‘Assassin’s Creed III’ and as they are played in a series commercial on German TV), but in my opinion this is more than justified.
I’ve already come across these exceptional artists in summer 2012. The first song I heard, ‘It’s Time’, got me hooked immediately, but it wasn’t until I heard ‘Radioactive’ that they had completely lured me in. Since then I consider this song to be a total hit which includes everything that I love in music: A groovy beat which makes your foot tap along, an extremely strong and catchy chorus that will definitely motivate you to scream along fervently in a live setting, original lyrics dealing with a recent topic, and some nice electronic elements. Until this day, I need to spin this song daily and I just never get tired of it.
I was lucky to get to know that the debut album was already about to be released in the USA in September 2012. So I had to import it straight away to get the full deal - and I wasn’t disappointed. Far from it! Apart from ‘Radioactive’ and ‘It’s Time’, the album features many more hits. Some songs are calmer and even ballad-like (e.g. ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Demons’ and ‘Tiptoe’), some are groovy and have an infectious beat (‘On Top Of The World’, ‘Underdog’) and some won’t leave your head for days because of their catchy pop melodies and hook-lines (‘Bleeding Out’, ‘Hear Me’, ‘Every Night’). In general, the album puts you in a good mood, activates fresh energies and will never get boring at any second. You can really feel all the passion, creativity and commitment that the band put into the recording, and thus I really enjoyed the whole thing.
The band’s incredible musical talent and captivating arrangements that are on par with the big names in rock and pop music can clearly be felt in all songs. Fans of modern rock and pop music should definitely give it a listen and maybe also catch one of their highly entertaining live shows during their Europe tour in April/May 2013 – because I’m quite sure that in some years this band will have collected platinum awards and will play sold-out stadiums. They might still be an insider’s tip, but this will quickly change after this release – I’m sure. For me, they have definitely put out one of the albums of the year and they prove that there can indeed still be some albums that you can easily listen through from the beginning until the end. Must-have release!
Tracklist
01. Radioactive
02. Tiptoe
03. It’s Time
04. Demons
05. On Top Of The World
06. Amsterdam
07. Hear Me
08. Every Night
09. Bleeding Dog
10. Underdog
11. Nothing Left To Say / Rocks
12. Cha-Ching (Till We Grow Older)
13. Working Man
Line-up
Dan Reynolds – Vocals
Wayne Sermon – Guitar
Ben McKee – Bass
Dan Platzman – Drums
Website
http://www.imaginedragonsmusic.com / http://www.myspace.com/imaginedragons / https://www.facebook.com/ImagineDragons
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 10
Sound: 10
Extras: -
Total: 10 / 10
Tour Dates
2013-04-02 – Bristol (UK) – O2 Academy
2013-04-04 – Liverpool (UK) – O2 Academy 2
2013-04-06 – Glasgow (UK) – O2 ABC
2013-04-08 – Manchester (UK) – Club Academy
2013-04-09 – Birmingham (UK) – HMV Institute
2013-04-11 – London (UK) – The Forum
2013-04-12 – Amsterdam (NL) – Melkweg
2013-04-15 – Stockholm (SWE) – Debaser
2013-04-16 – Oslo (NOR) – Blaa
2013-04-18 – Copenhagen (DK) – VEGA
2013-04-19 – Hamburg (GER) – Große Freiheit 36
2013-04-20 – Cologne (GER) – Live Music Hall
2013-04-22 – Berlin (GER) – Astra
2013-04-24 – Prague (CZE) – Roxy
2013-04-26 – Vienna (AUT) – Flex
2013-04-27 – Zurich (SWI) – Papiersaal
2013-04-29 – Frankfurt (GER) – Gibson
2013-04-30 – Munich (GER) – Muffathalle
2013-05-02 – Brussels (BEL) – AB Box
2013-05-03 – Paris (FRA) – The Bataclan
2013-05-04 – Milan (ITA) – B. Factory
2013-05-07 – Barcelona (SPA) – Sala Apolo
2013-05-08 – Madrid (SPA) – Sala Sol
2013-05-09 – Lisbon (POR) – TMN Ao Vivo
Comments powered by CComment