The ‘80s inspired touches, the lo-fi editing, and the bass-heavy beats seem less like a sonic revolution than the resurrection of old styles, repackaged and resold by bands hoping to break the Top 40. The question nagging at my brain here, though, is whether Imagine Dragons’ “evolution” is just that-an evolution, a remix of who they’ve been thus far-or something more generic and less flashy than the holographic rainbow on the album cover would like you to think. The result is artful, fun, and contemporary. It brings in musical tenets of ‘80s pop and rock music-those synth beats and sumptuous guitar solos scattered amongst the tracks did not go unnoticed-while mixing in techniques that are popular amongst modern record producers like Calvin Harris and Flume.
Sonically, “EVOLVE” continues its balancing act. On the other end of the spectrum lie tracks like “I’ll Make It Up to You” and “Whatever It Takes,” which refer to a failing relationship and the pressure of success, respectively.
EVOLVE IMAGINE DRAGONS ALBUM ART SKIN
Take “Yesterday” for example: this track is a joyous shedding of broken skin that treats one’s resuscitation from the doldrums as a literal dance-the heavy-handed beat follows a ¾ time signature used almost exclusively in waltzes. The new album wrangles with darker themes than its forerunners, understandably, but it also balances the heavy ideas with lighter ones. Out of this dark time in Reynold’s life sprung “EVOLVE”, his post-bellum creative solution and the band’s symbol of reinvention. For Dan Reynolds, quiet time meant recuperating, writing music, and fighting an uphill battle against depression. Since February of 2015, when “EVOLVE”’s predecessor “Smoke and Mirrors” was released, the band has spent half their time touring, and the other half resuming quiet(ish) lives in their home base state of Nevada. Left to right: Wayne Sermon, Daniel Platzman, Dan Reynolds, and Ben McKee. The members of Imagine Dragons are tired of the way that things have been, ooh ooh.
EVOLVE IMAGINE DRAGONS ALBUM ART FULL
Listen to Slash's full interview on Apple Music's Southern Accents Radio here.“First things first/I’ma say all the words inside my head,” sings Dan Reynolds, the front-man of alternative rock band Imagine Dragons, on their single “Believer.” The single was the first to be released out of the 11 tracks on their latest album, “EVOLVE.” The song’s first verse goes on to color the rest of the album: it speaks of an airing of grievances, then a change of pace. Of course, Slash went on to great fame as a guitarist and while the last few years have been spent promoting his return to Guns N' Roses, Slash along with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators have a new album, 4, coming out in February. Revisit "Sunshine of Your Love," the first song that captured Slash's ear that made him want to play guitar, in the player below. It has since been certified as a platinum album in the U.S. Upon its release, Cream's Disraeli Gears peaked at No. "So Disraeli Gears, aside from being one of the great rock and roll blues records of the era, if not of all time, it also was what made me pick up the guitar in the first place." Slash met with a guitar teacher and during their first session he started playing "Sunshine of Your Love," to which Slash replied, "That's what I want to do." "That was the guitar, right, electric guitar, and that's where I picked up guitar," says Slash. "When I first went in to learn an instrument, I intended to play bass because Steven Adler, the original drummer for Guns N' Roses, when he and I first met, he already played guitar, and so we were going to start a band so I was going to start to play bass, but I didn't know really technically the difference at that time between bass and guitar." "Right off the bat, Disraeli Gears was the record that switched me from playing bass to guitar," recalled Slash.