Review Summary: Imagine Dragons have learned absolutely nothing from their past mistakes.
Like it or not, Imagine Dragons' insistence on shoving themselves down our throats doesn't seem to have any foreseeable end. There was once a time when this seemed like a good thing; while their debut singles "It's Time" and "Radioactive" could hardly be accused of being groundbreaking or original, they at least showed a band with serious ambition and talent, and at one point also seemed to show us a band that could be a step above all the Coldplays and Metrics that seem to enjoy plaguing the airwaves. Yet this bliss was sadly-short lived; their debut album
Night Visions seemed to lack any clear sense of direction or cohesion, instead opting to go for big spectacle and production value. However, if
Night Visions didn't seem to give you that impression, then their sophomore album
Smoke + Mirrors certainly will. Sure, their previous album was messy and all over the place, but at least there were some genius moments buried beneath it. There doesn't seem to be such grace here; sure there are a few decent moments on the album, but they're far and in between.
Smoke and Mirrors is exactly the type of album you'd expect from a band who believes their own hype. It's big, it's polished, it's spectacular, but those are on the surface only. Each track has tons of electronic effects and tons of sparkle, but as the saying goes, "you can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig". The band hardly make an effort to convince us that they aren't "the band who does 'Radioactive'". Instead of putting their focus on the songwriting, they proceed to slather as much polish and shine and glitter onto the tracks as possible. In fact, opening track "Shots" and lead single "I Bet my Life" seem to showcase this perfectly; the former starts off promisingly with a Coldplay-esque riff before suddenly launching into a 4/4 pop tune slathered with special electronic effects, hiding a very hollow core. The latter, on the other hand, showcases Imagine Dragons layering the track with big and bombastic choirs with nothing else to offer; the fact that it sounds a suspicious lot like KONGOS' "Come With Me Now" doesn't seem to help much either, and its lyrics are as cringe-worthy and saccharine as they get.
Those two songs both sum up the album as a whole. "I'm So Sorry" would probably be far more memorable if it weren't A) drowned in as many electronic effects as possible and B) a shameless Black Keys ripoff, with undoubtedly one of the worst choruses to come out of pop-rock in ages. "Friction" reeks of "try-hard" in so many ways; the Asian/electro-rock thing is already a tired cliche, the lyrics are stupid as hell, and while the track does attempt to shake things up a bit as it nears its end by throwing in some distorted power chords, it's too little too late, and you're left thinking about what could have been. "Polaroid" sounds like one of those songs you were taught in Sunday School, and perhaps this wouldn't be so bad if the band didn't go about it with such straight-faced execution. Thankfully, the album does start to calm down a bit beginning with "It Comes Back to You", but even then, there isn't much to salvage. Said track is a rehash of "Demons" in a different key, with some "do do do do"s thrown in there for good measure. I liked "Dream" a lot better when it was by Paolo Nutini and was called "Iron Sky".
If there is any positive to this album, it's the second track, "Gold". It's actually a catchy and fun track, and even ridiculous at times, which is what makes it even more fun to listen to. It boisters along with the same sense of urgency found on "Radioactive", and sounds like a post-2000s U2 track with some more stomp. The electronic effects are a tad overone, but I'm willing to overlook that when the track is as fun as it is. But this one track isn't enough to salvage the huge mess that surrounds it; the album lacks proper hooks and catchiness, and I doubt it would even work as background music, and it's so frustrating to see such a reasonably talented band limp along with the grace of a stray dog with a broken hind leg.
In other words, until Imagine Dragons decides to start taking themselves seriously, we shouldn't either, and until they stop working with producers like Alex da Kid and put their focus to actual musicality and songwriting, we will be forced to endure the same mindless crap again and again. Sure, while
Night Visions was messy and mediocre, at least there was some sincerity to it. Sadly, there's no such grace to be found here. But hey, whatever goes with the buying power of teenage girls, I guess.
