Review Summary: "Smoke + Mirrors" isn't a particularly classic album, but it's not piss poor either.
It’s a strange world we’re living in today. And the music world is even stranger. There exist a million bands that are happy with recycling the same tunes over and over again, but are still loved by their fans. With that, though, come a great number of haters as well. Ideal listeners are always looking for something “new”, and bands that are successfully able to reinvent themselves with each new release are few and far between. But, then, a band like Imagine Dragons comes along, that possesses a lot of talent, but is still discarded by the “ideals” as being just another one of the pack.
While
Night Visions was propelled by the massive success of its singles,
“It’s Time” and
“Demons”, the album had enough promise within itself to make the listeners come back for more. It didn’t have much variety, but it showed that, if the band wanted to, it can really deliver. And that is what they have done with
Smoke + Mirrors, their sophomore effort.
The album starts with
“Shots”, an upbeat song, which has Imagine Dragons’ signature catchy chorus, but that is where the comparison with their previous songs ends. The song was eventually released as a single, but shows a desire to experiment, and that’s a trait shown throughout the album. It perhaps crams too much into a single piece, but it’s evident that Imagine Dragons weren’t going to be satisfied with their old selves.
“Gold” follows with another upbeat song, but the time signatures are unlike anything you’ll find in general mainstream music. In fact, it’s mainstream in an almost revolting way. It’s the kind of thing that slips through the cracks, all the while quenching your thirst for something new.
“Smoke and Mirrors” also boasts of a variable time signature, and while it ultimately falls flat, it’s a laudable attempt at the very least.
“I’m So Sorry” is an album highlight, and is elevated by Dan Reynolds’ excellent vocal work.
The 3 preceding tracks keep showing doses of variety displaying Caribbean, Folk and Eastern influences respectively. We then enter the mellow section of the album with
“It Comes Back To You” and
“Dream” providing a couple of easy listens. The album picks a frenetic pace with
“Trouble” and
“Summer” – which are two songs that can be loosely related to their previous work - before signaling things out with
“Hopeless Opus” and
“The Fall”.
Smoke + Mirrors isn’t a particularly classic album, but it’s a very spirited effort nevertheless. With the success that Imagine Dragons had, one would have expected them to rest on their laurels and try to milk the popularity. But, what they’ve shown here is a band that is not afraid to experiment, even when they are at their highest. These songs all have sing-along abilities and can be massively over in a stadium, but sprinkled in between are moments that can only be appreciated if one listens to this on his own.
They could have easily brought out an album that was a virtual photocopy of
Night Visions, but they’ve gone for something else entirely, whilst still retaining some of the elements from Album #1 so as to not alienate their fans on a whole. They may have tried to be too smart here, but at least they tried. Let’s not discard a near miss as a complete failure; after all, it’s the effort that matters the most.
Recommended Tracks:
“Shots”
“I’m So Sorry”
“Polaroid”
“Summer”
