A Quick Look at Imagine Dragons

Hugely successful and popular band. What are they like? I'm taking a quick look. 

Wikipedia:

Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band currently consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee. Their debut single "It's Time" was released in Feb 2012, reaching the Top 20 of various charts around the world. Their debut album, Night Visions, was released in Sept 2012, reaching No 2 in America same week, and achieving Platinum sales by June 2013. From the album came the chart-topping singles "Radioactive" and "Demons". Rolling Stone named "Radioactive", which held the record for most weeks charted on the Billboard Hot 100, the "biggest rock hit of the year". MTV called them "the year's biggest breakout band", and Billboard named them their "Breakthrough Band of 2013" and "Biggest Band of 2017", and placed them at the top of their "Year in Rock" rankings for 2013, 2017, and 2018. Imagine Dragons topped the Billboard Year-End "Top Artists – Duo/Group" category in 2018.

The band's second studio album Smoke + Mirrors (2015) reached number one in the US, Canada, and the UK. This was followed by their third studio album Evolve (2017), which resulted in three chart-topping singles, "Believer", "Thunder", and "Whatever It Takes", also making them the artist with the most weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart. The album reached the top five in many countries. The band's fourth studio album Origins (2018) featured the single "Natural", which became their fifth song to top the Hot Rock Songs chart. The band has since released Mercury – Acts 1 & 2 (2022), a double album featuring the US top 5 hit "Enemy", and Loom (2024), their first album without longtime drummer Daniel Platzman. Despite their popularity and commercial success, the band's music has been consistently met with mixed critical reception.

Imagine Dragons have sold more than 74 million albums and 65 million digital songs worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. They have also earned 160 billion streams across music platforms. They were the most streamed group of 2018 on Spotify, the first rock act to have four songs, "Radioactive", "Demons", "Believer", and "Thunder", to surpass one billion streams each, and the only group in RIAA history to have four songs certified higher than Diamond. According to Billboard, "Believer", "Thunder", and "Radioactive" were the three best performing rock songs of the 2010s.

AllMusic: 

Rising from the Nevada desert in the late 2000s, Imagine Dragons perform with an energetic blend of arena rock energy and catchy pop choruses that has led them to global success. Winning their first Grammy Award in 2014 for the diamond-certified smash "Radioactive" from their debut album Night Visions, Imagine Dragons remained near the top of the charts for much of the 2010s, topping the Billboard 200 with 2015's Smoke + Mirrors. As their percussion-heavy sound shifted more toward radio-friendly, stadium-ready anthems, they secured worldwide favor with 2017's Grammy-nominated Evolve, which delivered a trio of multi-platinum singles in "Believer," "Thunder," and "Whatever It Takes." Heading into the next decade, the band continued to mature with the Rick Rubin-produced Mercury: Act 1 and its sibling set Mercury: Act 2. Their seventh album, Loom, pushed them into fresh new genres in 2024.

Recordings 

   

Night Visions (2012)

Listenable, but unremarkable on first listen. Similar to other modern pop-rock bands. 

All tracks are written by Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, and Ben McKee, except where noted.

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Radioactive"	Dan Reynolds Wayne Sermon Ben McKee Alexander Grant Josh Mosser	Alex da Kid	3:07
2.	"Tiptoe"		Imagine Dragons	3:14
3.	"It's Time"		Brandon Darner Imagine Dragons	4:00
4.	"Demons"	Reynolds Sermon McKee Grant Mosser	Alex da Kid	2:58
5.	"On Top of the World"	Reynolds Sermon McKee Grant	Imagine Dragons Alex da Kid	3:12
6.	"Amsterdam"		Darner Imagine Dragons	4:01
7.	"Hear Me"		Imagine Dragons	3:55
8.	"Every Night"		Imagine Dragons	3:37
9.	"Bleeding Out"	Reynolds Sermon McKee Grant Mosser	Alex da Kid	3:43
10.	"Underdog"		Imagine Dragons	3:29
11.	"Nothing Left to Say" (6:48)/"Rocks" (2:12)		Imagine Dragons	9:00

• Dan Reynolds – lead vocals
• Wayne Sermon – electric and acoustic guitars; mandolin (tracks 3 & 11); backing vocals
• Ben McKee – bass guitar (all); synths programing (tracks 1 & 2); backing vocals
• Daniel Platzman – drums (except 3, 6 & 7); drum machine (all); viola; backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Andrew Tolman – drums (disc 1: tracks 3, 6, 7; disc 2: tracks 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11)

Wikipedia 
AllMusic: 
Score: 

   

Smoke + Mirrors (2015)

Pleasant, but nothing particularly stands out. 

All songs written and produced by Imagine Dragons (Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee and Daniel Platzman), except where noted.

Smoke + Mirrors

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Shots"			3:52
2.	"Gold"	Alexander Grant Imagine Dragons	Alex da Kid Imagine Dragons	3:36
3.	"Smoke and Mirrors"			4:20
4.	"I'm So Sorry"			3:50
5.	"I Bet My Life"			3:14
6.	"Polaroid"			3:50
7.	"Friction"			3:21
8.	"It Comes Back to You"			3:37
9.	"Dream"	Grant Imagine Dragons	Alex da Kid Imagine Dragons	4:18
10.	"Trouble"			3:12
11.	"Summer"			3:38
12.	"Hopeless Opus"			4:01
13.	"The Fall"			6:05

• Dan Reynolds – lead vocals, percussion, piano, keyboards, songwriting, production
• Wayne Sermon – guitar, songwriting, production
• Ben McKee – bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, horns, songwriting, production
• Daniel Platzman – drums, percussion, viola, songwriting, production

Wikipedia 
AllMusic: 
Score: 

    

Evolve (2017)

I'm getting Coldplay and Ed Sheeran vibes along with a bit of Arctic Monkeys. It's all quite soft and poppy and familiar. 

All tracks are written by Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, and Daniel Platzman. Additional writers are included below.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"I Don't Know Why"	Robin Fredriksson Mattias Larsson Justin Tranter	Mattman & Robin	3:10
2.	"Whatever It Takes"	Joel Little	Little	3:21
3.	"Believer"	Fredriksson Larsson Tranter	Mattman & Robin	3:24
4.	"Walking the Wire"	Fredriksson Larsson Tranter	Mattman & Robin	3:52
5.	"Rise Up"	John Hill	Hill	3:51
6.	"I'll Make It Up to You"	Tim Randolph	Randolph	4:22
7.	"Yesterday"	Alexander Grant Jayson DeZuzio	Alex da Kid DeZuzio	3:25
8.	"Mouth of the River"	Randolph	Randolph	3:41
9.	"Thunder"	Grant DeZuzio	Alex da Kid DeZuzio	3:07
10.	"Start Over"	Fredriksson Larsson Tranter	Mattman & Robin	3:06
11.	"Dancing in the Dark"	Grant	Alex da Kid	3:53

• Dan Reynolds – lead vocals, keyboards, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
• Wayne Sermon – electric guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
• Ben McKee – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Daniel Platzman – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Wikipedia 
AllMusic: 8
Score: 

   

Origins (2018)

This is very much Coldplay. 
 

All tracks are written by Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, and Daniel Platzman. Additional writers are included below.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Natural"	Robin Fredriksson Mattias Larsson Justin Tranter	Mattman & Robin	3:09
2.	"Boomerang"	Jorgen Odegard	Odegard	3:07
3.	"Machine"	Alexander Grant	Alex Da Kid	3:01
4.	"Cool Out"	Tim Randolph	Mattman & Robin Randolph	3:37
5.	"Bad Liar"	Odegard Aja Volkman	Odegard	4:20
6.	"West Coast"		Imagine Dragons	3:37
7.	"Zero"	John Hill	Hill	3:30
8.	"Bullet in a Gun"	Grant Jayson DeZuzio	Alex Da Kid DeZuzio	3:24
9.	"Digital"	Grant	Alex Da Kid	3:21
10.	"Only"	Fredriksson Larsson Tranter	Mattman & Robin	3:00
11.	"Stuck"	Grant DeZuzio	Alex Da Kid DeZuzio	3:10
12.	"Love"	Ido Zmishlany	Zmishlany	2:46

• Dan Reynolds – vocals; keyboards; acoustic guitar
• Wayne Sermon – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, violin, backing vocals; 
• Ben McKee – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Daniel Platzman – drums, viola, percussion, backing vocals

Wikipedia 
AllMusic: 6
Score: 

  

Mercury – Act 1 (2021)

Mostly recorded in 2018 the same year as recording the previous album, Origins. And all the tracks were included on Mercury - Acts 1 & 2, released the following year, 2022, so this album quickly became redundant. 

See Mercury - Acts 1 & 3, below, for track listing and personnel. 

Wikipedia 
AllMusic: 
Score: 

  

Mercury – (Acts 1) & 2 (2022)

I've settled on this band being another Coldplay. Pleasant, harmonious, well produced pop with some gloss of rock, to give them a little edge of spice. There's a deal of commercial modern electronic dance music about them. There's a coldness. A feeling of space in the music, to fill a stadium with happy pop goers.  It's well done, but it doesn't reach me. 

This is an odd album in that Act 1 was mostly recorded in 2018, while Act 2 was mostly recorded in 2022. It's probably the most sombre of the albums so far, and also the most boring. But, for me, to be fair, there's not a huge difference between the albums - indeed between the songs. But that is the usual complaint of someone who's not paying attention. And I'm not paying attention because there is little in this band's output that has made me care enough to listen closely. 

All tracks are written by Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, and Daniel Platzman. Additional writers are included below.

Mercury – Act 1 track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Enemy" (with JID)	Robin Fredriksson Mattias Larsson Justin Tranter Destin Route	Mattman & Robin	2:53
2.	"My Life"	Fredriksson Larsson Tranter	Mattman & Robin Brandon Darner	3:44
3.	"Lonely"	Fredriksson Larsson Tranter	Mattman & Robin	2:39
4.	"Wrecked"		Imagine Dragons	4:04
5.	"Monday"	Andrew Tolman	Imagine Dragons Goldwiing	3:07
6.	"#1"	Kaelyn Behr Mark Benedicto	Styalz Fuego New Haven	3:25
7.	"Easy Come Easy Go"	Jayson DeZuzio	DeZuzio	2:59
8.	"Giants"	Tolman	Goldwiing	3:30
9.	"It's OK"	Tolman	Imagine Dragons Goldwiing	3:22
10.	"Dull Knives"	Aja Volkman	Imagine Dragons	3:33
11.	"Follow You"	Elley Duhé Fran Hall Joel Little	Little	2:55
12.	"Cutthroat"		Imagine Dragons Rick Rubin	2:49
13.	"No Time for Toxic People"	Jason Suwito	Suwito	3:27
14.	"One Day"	Jesse Shatkin Dylan Wiggins	Shatkin Wiggins	2:31

Mercury – Act 2 track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Bones"	Fredriksson Larsson	Mattman & Robin	2:45
2.	"Symphony"	Little Talay Riley Adio Marchant	Little	2:55
3.	"Sharks"	Fredriksson Larsson	Mattman & Robin	3:11
4.	"I Don't Like Myself"	Marco Borrero	Mag	3:05
5.	"Blur"	Graham Andrew Muron Mick Coogan Nick Scapa	KillaGraham Coogan Nicky Blitz	2:55
6.	"Higher Ground"	Tolman	Goldwiing	2:41
7.	"Crushed"		Imagine Dragons	3:09
8.	"Take It Easy"		Imagine Dragons	2:38
9.	"Waves"	Fredriksson Larsson Tranter	Mattman & Robin	3:45
10.	"I'm Happy"	Tolman	Goldwiing	3:05
11.	"Ferris Wheel"		Imagine Dragons	3:23
12.	"Peace of Mind"	Suwito	Suwito	2:53
13.	"Sirens"	DeZuzio	DeZuzio	2:35
14.	"Tied"		Imagine Dragons	4:01
15.	"Younger"	Tolman	Goldwiing	3:11
16.	"I Wish"		Imagine Dragons	3:27
17.	"Continual" (featuring Cory Henry)	Henry	Rubin	3:49
18.	"They Don't Know You Like I Do"	Tolman	Imagine Dragons Goldwiing	4:17

• Dan Reynolds
• Wayne Sermon
• Ben McKey
• Daniel Platzman

Wikipedia 
AllMusic: 6
Score: 

   

Loom (2024)

Fairly upbeat EDM. Not my thing, but more lively and entertaining than previous Imagine Dragons albums. They've gone more EDM than previously. 

All tracks are written by Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Mattias Larsson, and Robin Fredriksson, except where noted.

Loom track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Wake Up"		2:47
2.	"Nice to Meet You"		3:10
3.	"Eyes Closed"		3:20
4.	"Take Me to the Beach"		2:47
5.	"In Your Corner"		4:00
6.	"Gods Don't Pray"		2:50
7.	"Don't Forget Me"		2:59
8.	"Kid"		2:40
9.	"Fire in These Hills"	Reynolds Sermon McKee	3:39

• Dan Reynolds
• Wayne Sermon
• Ben McKee

Wikipedia 
AllMusic: 8
Score: 

Discography

• Night Visions (2012)
• Smoke + Mirrors (2015)
• Evolve (2017)
• Origins (2018)
• Mercury – Acts 1 & 2 (2022)
  • Mercury – Act 1 (2021)
  • Mercury – Act 2 (2022)
• Loom (2024)