Evolve (Imagine Dragons album)

Evolve
Studio album by Imagine Dragons
Released June 23, 2017
Recorded September 2016 – May 2017
Studio Imagine Dragons Studio
(Las Vegas, Nevada)
Genre Pop rock
Length 39:12
Label
Producer
Imagine Dragons chronology
Smoke + Mirrors
(2015)Smoke + Mirrors2015		 Evolve
(2017)		 Live at AllSaints Studios EP
(2017)Live at AllSaints Studios EP2017
Singles from Evolve
  1. "Believer"
    Released: February 1, 2017
  2. "Thunder"
    Released: April 27, 2017

Evolve (stylized as ƎVOLVE) is the third studio album by American rock band Imagine Dragons, released on June 23, 2017 through KIDinaKORNER and Interscope Records. The album is the band's new material follow-up to their second studio album, Smoke + Mirrors.

After the release of Smoke + Mirrors and its respective world tour, a self-imposed hiatus for 2016 and cryptic messages from the band through their social media gained anticipation for their third album. The album was finally announced on May 9, with the initiation of the album's pre-order. In comparison to Night Visions and Smoke + Mirrors, frontman Dan Reynolds explained that the album will be an 'evolution for Imagine Dragons'.

The album was promoted by two singles: "Believer" and "Thunder" as well as an upcoming tour produced by Live Nation and supported with Grouplove and K.Flay will start in September 2017.

Background

In February 2016, after the success of their second album Smoke + Mirrors and a ten month long world tour, the members of Imagine Dragons vowed to take time off from the band. In an interview with Billboard, lead singer Dan Reynolds stated that the group would be on hiatus for the remainder of the year, explaining "We [Imagine Dragons] haven't stopped in, like, six years, so we've forced ourselves to at least take a year off."[1] Throughout 2016, the band contributed songs to the soundtracks for Me Before You, Suicide Squad and Passengers, as well as playing at several shows.

The band first began teasing their third album on September 13, 2016, with a picture of guitarist Wayne Sermon in the band's recording studio and continued releasing cryptic messages over the next four months. On January 24, 2017, the band tweeted "goodnight +",[2] effectively ending the Smoke + Mirrors album cycle.

Composition

Reynolds had noted that the album, compared to Night Visions and Smoke + Mirrors, is "an evolution for Imagine Dragons".[3] The album's sound has been described as pop rock[4] while containing elements of R&B, hip hop and EDM.[5][6]

Promotion

In the months leading up to the album's release, Imagine Dragons used the caption "ƎE" in multiple social media posts. The group announced the title of their third album on May 8, and started the album pre-order along with the release of "Whatever It Takes" at 9 PM PT.

Singles

Starting on January 28, the band tweeted a series of four videos to tease the album's first single. The time-lapse videos featured lead singer Dan Reynolds drawing surreal images on a drawing pad. Morse code was hidden in the videos and translated to "objects of same color". On February 1, "Believer" was released as the lead single. To promote the single, it was used in a Super Bowl LI commercial for the Nintendo Switch. It was also used in the trailer for the reboot of Murder on the Orient Express. The song has since peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.[7] Its music video starring Reynolds and actor Dolph Lundgren was released on March 7.[8]

On April 27, "Thunder" was released as the second single. It has so far peaked at number 54 on the Hot 100.[7] The music video was filmed in Dubai and directed by Joseph Kahn, and was released on May 2.[9]

Promotional singles

On May 9, corresponding with the album's pre-order release, "Whatever It Takes" was released as a promotional single and reached 92 on the Hot 100.[7]

On June 15, "Walking the Wire" was made available for download with any purchase from the band's online shop.[10] The song was accidentally released onto YouTube and Vevo a day earlier than planned, only to be taken down within a few hours.

Tour

On May 9, 2017, the band announced on Twitter the Evolve Tour,[11] which is slated to start on September 26, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. The tour will be produced by Live Nation, with Grouplove and K.Flay as special guests.[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?4.6/10[13]
Metacritic47/100[14]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The Guardian[15]
The Independent
The Irish Times[4]
London Evening Standard[16]
NewsdayB+[17]
NME[18]
Rolling Stone[19]
State[20]
The Times[21]

Evolve received a weighted average score of 47/100 based on seven reviews at Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14] In a three-out-of-five-star review from NME, Alex Flood wrote: "This latest effort might represent a small progression, but it's far from an evolution."[18] Hannah J Davies of The Guardian gave the album two stars out of five, calling the album "lifeless electronic-tinged arena rock".[15]

Commercial performance

Evolve debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 147,000 album-equivalent units, of which 109,000 were pure album sales.[22] It is Imagine Dragons' third top five album.[22] On July 28, 2017, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA.[23]

Track listing

Track listing from iTunes.[24]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."I Don't Know Why"
Mattman & Robin3:10
2."Whatever It Takes"
Little3:21
3."Believer"
  • McKee
  • Platzman
  • Reynolds
  • Sermon
  • Larsson
  • Fredriksson
  • Tranter
Mattman & Robin3:24
4."Walking the Wire"
  • McKee
  • Platzman
  • Reynolds
  • Sermon
  • Larsson
  • Fredriksson
  • Tranter
Mattman & Robin3:52
5."Rise Up"
Hill3:51
6."I'll Make It Up to You"
  • McKee
  • Platzman
  • Reynolds
  • Sermon
  • Tim Randolph
Randolph4:22
7."Yesterday"
3:25
8."Mouth of the River"
  • McKee
  • Platzman
  • Reynolds
  • Sermon
  • Tim Randolph
Randolph3:41
9."Thunder"
  • McKee
  • Platzman
  • Reynolds
  • Sermon
  • Grant
  • DeZuzio
  • Alex da Kid
  • DeZuzio
3:07
10."Start Over"
  • McKee
  • Platzman
  • Reynolds
  • Sermon
  • Larsson
  • Fredriksson
  • Tranter
Mattman & Robin3:06
11."Dancing in the Dark"
  • McKee
  • Platzman
  • Reynolds
  • Sermon
  • Grant
Alex da Kid3:53
Total length:39:12

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 4
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] 6
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[30] 2
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[31] 1
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[32] 1
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[33] 6
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[34] 2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[35] 1
French Albums (SNEP)[36] 3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[37] 3
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[38] 19
Irish Albums (IRMA)[39] 3
Italian Albums (FIMI)[40] 3
Mexican Albums (AMPROFON)[41] 4
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[42] 3
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[43] 1
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[44] 4
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[45] 7
Scottish Albums (OCC)[46] 3
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[47] 3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[48] 2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[49] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[50] 3
US Billboard 200[51] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[52] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[53] Gold 7,500*
United States (RIAA)[54] Gold 500,000double-dagger

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales+streaming figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gary Graff (February 23, 2016). "Imagine Dragons Shares Exclusive Clip From Concert Film: Watch It Here". Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Imagine Dragons on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Imagine Dragons' Next Album Will Be an "Evolution," Says Dan Reynolds". ABC News Radio. ABC Radio. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  4. 1 2 Murphy, Lauren (June 21, 2017). "Imagine Dragons – Evolve album review: Worthy of the hipster kudos it seeks"]". The Irish Times. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  5. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (June 22, 2017). "'Evolve' review: Imagine Dragons blur boundaries of rock and pop, again". Newsday. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen. "Imagine Dragons Evolve AllMusic review". AllMusic. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 "Imagine Dragons – Chart history (Billboard Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  8. ↑ ImagineDragonsVEVO (March 7, 2017). "Imagine Dragons - Believer". Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  9. ↑ ImagineDragonsVEVO (May 2, 2017). "Imagine Dragons - Thunder". Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  10. ↑ Dragons, Imagine (15 June 2017). "New song Walking The Wire comes out TONIGHT at 12am ET. But you can get it NOW w/ANY merch bundle for a limited time https://shop.imaginedragonsmusic.com/ pic.twitter.com/eQKIN1rIiL". External link in |title= (help)
  11. ↑ "Imagine Dragons on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Imagine Dragons To Release New Album 'Evolve' On June 23rd Via KIDinaKORNER / Interscope Records - With Evolve Tour Coming This Fall". PR Newswire. 9 May 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Evolve by Imagine Dragons". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Reviews and Tracks for Evolve by Imagine Dragons". Metacritic. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  15. 1 2 Davies, Hannah J (June 23, 2017). "Imagine Dragons: Evolve review – lifeless electronic-tinged arena rock". The Guardian. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  16. ↑ Smyth, David (June 23, 2017). "Imagine Dragons – Evolve review: Breathing fire with a new pop sparkle". London Evening Standard. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  17. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (June 22, 2017). "'Evolve' review: Imagine Dragons blur boundaries of rock and pop, again". Newsday. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  18. 1 2 Flood, Alex. "Imagine Dragons – 'Evolve' Album Review". NME. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  19. ↑ Hermes, Will (June 23, 2017). "Review: Imagine Dragons Meet Swedish Pop Gurus, Self-Flagellation Ensues". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  20. ↑ Hetherington, Nick (June 26, 2017). "Imagine Dragons – Evolve". State. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  21. ↑ Hodgkinson, Will (June 23, 2017). "Pop review: Imagine Dragons: Evolve". The Times. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  22. 1 2 Caulfield, Keith (July 2, 2017). "DJ Khaled's 'Grateful' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Gold & Platinum – RIAA". RIAA. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Evolve by Imagine Dragons on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  25. ↑ "JB Hi-Fi | Evolve (Deluxe Edition) – Imagine Dragons". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Evolve Imagine Dragons CD Album". CDJapan. Japan. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Imagine Dragons – Evolve". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Imagine Dragons – Evolve" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Imagine Dragons – Evolve" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  30. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Imagine Dragons – Evolve" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Imagine Dragons – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Imagine Dragons. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  32. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201727 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Hitlisten.NU – Album Top-40 Uge 26, 2017". Hitlisten. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Imagine Dragons – Evolve" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Imagine Dragons: Evolve" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums – SNEP (Week 26, 2017)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  37. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Imagine Dragons – Evolve" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  38. ↑ "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2017. 26. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  39. ↑ "Irish Albums Chart: 23 June 2017". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  40. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Imagine Dragons – Evolve". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  41. ↑ "Top Album - Semanal (del 23 de Junio al 29 de Junio)" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  42. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Imagine Dragons – Evolve". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  43. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Imagine Dragons – Evolve". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  44. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  45. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – Imagine Dragons – Evolve". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  46. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  47. ↑ "Top 100 Albumes — Semana 26: del 23.06.2017 al 29.06.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  48. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Imagine Dragons – Evolve". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  49. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Imagine Dragons – Evolve". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  50. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  51. ↑ "Imagine Dragons – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Imagine Dragons. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  52. ↑ "Imagine Dragons – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Imagine Dragons. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  53. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Imagine Dragons – Evolve" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved July 27, 2017. Enter Imagine Dragons in the field Interpret. Enter Evolve in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  54. ↑ "American album certifications – Imagine Dragons – Evolve". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 1, 2017. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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