If success is determined by numbers, then Imagine Dragons are bathing in riches. ‘Night Visions’, their 2012 debut album, has racked up over 7 million worldwide sales to date, while mammoth single ‘Radioactive’ has shifted over 10 million. But despite these stats, they’re still tough to pick out in a crowd.
It’s definitely not for a lack of universally minded hits. ‘Evolve’, the band’s third full-length record in five years, is an ’80s-flecked, power-rock pumping station fit to burst with huge choruses. Lead single ‘Believer’ is a chart-botherer in waiting, while standout track ‘Mouth Of The River’ channels The Killers. But the four-piece’s bravado is often overdone and it all tends to blur into one. It has the effect of a band throwing everything at a wall and seeing what sticks. Occasionally they embrace a darker, more introspective side (doomy opener ‘I Don’t Know Why’; the vibey trip-hop of ‘Dancing In The Dark’), but they’re mostly unwilling to change the format. This latest effort might represent a small progression, but it’s far from an evolution.
