If you have any contact with the current state of music, you're sure to have heard about the release of Imagine Dragons' third album, Evolve. With appearances at no.2 on the Billboard album chart, no.3 on the UK chart and Believer climbing to no.5 on Billboard's Hot 100, there's incontrovertible evidence that this is a popular record with the public at large. But is all this deserved?
The short answer is: Yes. Evolve is a fantastic album.
The long answer is: Maybe?
If Evolve is such a great album, why the confusion? Well, I'm struggling to judge just how good an album is – which, if we consider it, is a pretty good start for the record. In the interests of making that “maybe” ever more cryptic, I feel compelled to start by detailing all the good in the album. The songs are funky, there's plenty of variety in sounds and moods, and the production and quality are top-notch. In pure technical terms, everything sounds clean and crystal clear, with no instruments or details getting lost in translation. Like every Dragons record, it is a delight to listen to through quality equipment. Past that, the emotional side of things is as raw and powerful as ever. Tracks like “I Don't Know Why” and “Believer” serve as bitter tales of suffering and anguish (in true ID style) and while the rest of the album isn't quite as crushing there's still plenty of pessimism to go around. “Whatever It Takes” manages to sound optimistic in comparison to the rest of the album, but the breakdown near the end still contains some imaginatively miserable lines in true Dragons fashion (“I'm an apostrophe, a symbol to remind you that there's more to see” stands out in particular). So no, this is not the feel-good album for summer, and neither should it be! The unabashed misery is everything that ID are successful for, which brings me nicely into why that “maybe” is hanging over this section. You see, the problem Evolve faces is that it has to be compared to Imagine Dragons' first two albums, which is less favourable that the light it would otherwise be seen in. As a debut album, Evolve would be nothing short of a spectacular triumph, but when Night Visions and Smoke+Mirrors are accounted for, it somehow manages to fall short. I have already mentioned the commendable technical prowess shown by the record, and that remains true, but Evolve lacks the attention to fine detail that made Dragons' first two albums so truly spectacular. There aren't hidden effects to be teased out with careful listening, and one or two listens will easily cover all of the surprises. It's this want of extras which makes it harder to gush about Evolve that it would be about it's predecessors.
To finally resolve the long answer then: Yes, Evolve is brilliant and will be an album that millions will continue playing for aeons to come, all exaggeration intended. It is only held back by the fact that while it is a 10/10 album, earlier records were of a truly special 11/10 kind, pushing the boundaries of perfection. The only appreciable flaw of Evolve is that it isn't better than Night Visions or Smoke+Mirrors – but let's be honest, that's still a great place for an album to be.
I want to leave this review with a glowing positive, because I really can't emphasise how good Imagine Dragons are as a band, and Evolve is absolutely a worthy third offering. “Believer” is an instant classic, the successor to Radioactive that Smoke+Mirrors didn't manage to spawn. For your own sake, listen to Evolve, buy it, love it, play it forever – just make sure to appreciate it for its own merits.
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