Review Summary: help
Allow me to preface this review by stating that I despise this band, or at least; everything that they stand for, in regards to the impact that they’ve had on the music industry. Before posting this review, I checked over some of this album’s other reviews on this site, and found that somebody had drawn some excellent comparisons between this band, and Nickelback. In the original version of this review, I did the same; but it no longer exists, as I see no reason to have two reviews of the same album, with such similar content.
So, I decided to rewrite this review from scratch. Instead, this review is a desperate attempt to play Devil’s advocate, and defend this album. Everybody went into this album expecting, and wanting to dislike it. I would assume that this would result in people giving this album a considerably worse rating than it legitimately deserves. I decided that I would listen to this album, and try to find the best in it; and really try to justify why it wasn’t as bad as most would expect. As you will soon see, doing this was a struggle.
I would also like to note I’m not just a cynical prick. Imagine Dragons as a whole, has a number of qualities that I quite like, and I feel that this band i full of talented people, who are more than capable of creating good music. Their song “I’m So Sorry” of the album “Smoke+Mirrors” is fantastic, is the level of quality that I expect from this band, since I know that they can make songs that are this great.
And I’d also like to state, that despite the fact that band is pretty bad, this album at least has a really good album cover. And the covers utilized for all of their singles have also been great, with the single artwork for “Machine” being particularly nice. Major step up from the art used for their 2017 album “Evolve”, but still marginally worse than the incredible album art for “Smoke+Mirrors.”
So, this brings us to the album. “Origins” is the 4th album by the band Imagine Dragons, and it starts off very strong. “Natural” is the first track of the album, and it’s excellent. It’s arguably better than “I’m So Sorry” which is one of the few Imagine Dragons that I enjoy. “Natural” includes wonderful things such as lyrics that are bordering on being genuinely great, wonderfully energetic instrumentals, and an absolutely incredible vocal performance, that demonstrates Dan Reynolds’s fairly impressive range. This band’s trend of using heavily bitcrushed, thundering drums is actually something that I quite enjoy, although I’ve heard various opinions on this style. Regardless, this is one of the few songs on the album that uses them at all, and essentially the only one that utilizes them and actually ends up being more than just unpleasant. And on that note, “Natural’s” instrumentals are populated almost entirely by drums, with little to no other instruments being played here. There is some incredibly subtle piano in the background, as well as some backup vocals, but overall, this is a very drum heavy track, that ends up working out very well. At very least, I implore you to give this song a few more listens, as it really is an incredible song.
However, Natural being the first track on the album causes some problems. The first of which being that after Natural, this album doesn’t just steadily decline in quality. No- it faceplants straight into the bottom of the goddamn ocean, before proceeding to get crushed by the weight of the water above it.
From track two onward, this album is easily the worst album of 2018. It’s worse than “Trench”, it’s even worse than the tragedy that was “Anthem of a Peaceful Army.”
Try as I might, I was unable to find even the smallest of redeeming factors to the remaining 49 minutes of this album. And holy ***, I wanted to. I really really wanted to prove everyone wrong, and convince everybody that this album was worthwhile. I was fully prepared to give this album a 3.5, jerk off onto my keyboard, and post whatever typo ridden review would have been the end result, but I guess I can’t even do that.
Every single song after Natural is at best, generally unpleasant, and at worst; downright atrocious. This is album is easily the most wretched hive of scum and ***tieness in the galaxy. I’d rather not go into explicit detail about any of these songs, as I honestly cannot arrange these words in a manner that will allow me to accurately describe the effect that these songs will have on you, and your psyche.
And the worst part of all of this, is that even though these songs are all putrid, disgusting and horrible, in their own special little way; this album is so trite and banal that you won’t remember any of it a few minutes after the album ends. And that’s honestly the most offensive part of this album.
It was the perfect mixture of terrible, and forgettable. There is nothing of substance here. Your time would be better spent doing literally anything. Whether it’s harassing minors on the internet, or attempting suicide for the nth time, your life (or lack thereof) would have been a vast improvement, as opposed to you listening to “Origins” by Imagine Dragons.
The saddest aspect of all of this is that at this point, Imagine Dragons will likely never be able to redeem themselves. They will likely ƎvolvE into into something far worse. Within the next decade, Imagine Dragons, along with bands like Twenty One Pilots, will take the place of bands like Nickelback and Theory Of A Deadman, and usher in a new generation of *** music, which a solid 60% of their fanbases being right on the cusp of mental retardation.
But you’re all better than that. Stop listening to this music now, so they won’t keep making it. Make sure that the band, their manager, and their record label know that we’ve had enough of their ***. Support good bands, that know how to make good music. Honestly, just listen to anything but this.
