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Artist of the week: Imagine Dragons

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Imagine Dragons may have a quirky name, but their music is solidly spectacular.  The group is fairly new; it was formed in 2008, and the seemingly random name, “Imagine Dragons,” is supposedly an anagram (for which the original words are still unknown).  Since 2008, they have released a series of EP’s, (extended play CD’s which contain fewer than eight tracks) and most recently, their album Night Visions, which came out on September 4th.  Imagine Dragons is quickly becoming one of my favorite bands, and I think that it’s about time that more people followed them.

Imagine Dragons aren’t anything near bubblegum pop, which is one of the main reasons I gravitated towards them.  Unfortunately, the whole ‘alternative’ genre tends to be overlooked in favor of those bubblegum pop songs.  However, ‘alternative,’ doesn’t mean weird in this case, it just means good.  The album is full of mainly upbeat songs which are all extremely catchy, and the few darker songs just give the album more variety.

The most popular song on Night Visions, “It’s Time,” has an ‘epic-journey’ sound to it; it’s the kind of song you play when you’re on a crazy adventure or road trip with your friends.  This may be why it was featured in the movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a dramatic, coming of age story about a boy entering high school.

But let’s revisit the song itself.  “It’s Time,” starts with a Queen-like beat of clapping and drumming, and as more instruments are added, the vocals start.  By the time the chorus rolls around for a second run, I guarantee that you’ll be singing along to the uplifting message of, “I’m never changing who I am.”

A close second in popularity, “Radioactive,” was the next song that caught my attention.  The first 20 seconds of the song are simply a facade of mellowness, which I realized quickly.  The calming beginning lines are replaced with an almost mechanic, dubstep-esque quality later on.

All the songs on Night Visions have a similarly happy tune and meaningful chorus, but each song has a slightly different sound.  From the 80’s pop twist of “Tiptoe” to the ‘I could see this being in the Lion King,’ vibe you get from “On Top of the World,” this album is chock-full of quality songs.

With all these fabulous tunes, one must think that this album is number one on the ITunes chart. Unfortunately, that would be a no. The only song that people seem to know is “It’s Time,” and contrary to popular belief, Imagine Dragons are far from a one hit wonder. In fact, I think that It’s Time for everyone to start listening to Imagine Dragons because they deserve some recognition.  It’s time.

 

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    Ms. MacwayDec 20, 2012 at 11:09 am

    Great article Emily! I have recently fallen in love with Imagine Dragons and totally agree that people should give the rest of the album a chance!

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