Smoke + Mirrors
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LP / Format
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CRITIC REVIEWS
83
As if to reinforce their arena-rock bona fides, the group’s sophomore effort scales back on the electronic frippery, revealing the tightly focused rock juggernaut they are on stage.
80
The Las Vegas quartet’s second album ups the ante on the glossy, hit-making ambition of their debut, pitched somewhere between Coldplay’s epic romance and Mumford & Sons’ anthemic folk, with a hefty dose of digitally processed trickery.
80
Hits? Smoke + Mirrors bristles with them. Right now this Beach Boys fairy reviewer is repeat-playing the harmony-rich title track. Tomorrow, it'll be another song. A modern pop-rock gem.
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3y
70
These guys are shameless and that's what makes them more fun than your average arena rockers.
70
What's surprising is that throughout this album they keep surprising, something that is never favoured by corporates.
60
When they accept their pop appeal, as on the simpler, hugely catchy Polaroid, and the hip hop beats and flutes of Hopeless Opus, it feels great to have them back.
50
Smoke + Mirrors may seem too recycled and belabored to entice the unconverted, but the hints of hidden depths are a pleasant surprise. Many doubted Imagine Dragons even had hidden shallows.
40
Like Night Visions, it sounds like the product of a severe case of musical attention deficit disorder, as genres are spliced and mashed together like a hurriedly-assembled playlist.
40
The combination of self-pity, grandiosity and leaden spirituality can get trying. And all those attempts at musical worldliness can feel like stylistic tourism.
40
In truth, Smoke + Mirrors isn’t weird at all ... But their second album is largely flat-packed stadium pop at its most anonymous.
33
The frustrating thing about Smoke + Mirrors is the way it hints at playfully subversive elements but never quite delivers on them.
20
Dan Reynolds’ lyrics are consistently banal generalisations that suggest the deep and meaningful but, on closer inspection, prove to be completely vapid.
As silly as it is, this used to be my favorite album. It’s a bit embarrassing to think about because of how often I shit on this band nowadays, but when I think of artists that I’ve fallen in love with, Imagine Dragons was the very first. I vaguely remember wandering around a mall and stumbling into a Barnes & Noble, and soon coming across the newly-released deluxe release of Smoke + Mirrors on CD. As a ten year-old I immediately thought “yeah, this is the real shit I ... read more
So this review ended up being a lot longer than I expected.
We all have that one album that just makes you instantly happy or at least happier than you are currently, I have plenty but this has to be my favorite. Imagine Dragons made here what is essentially a more straight forward rock/Pop-rock album, with better production and mixing, and in general improvements on all fronts over Night Visions.
Shots is the opener, love the U2 ish riff. It's just a really fun synth pop/pop-rock song, ... read more
10 People / 100 Albums Challenge: Friendship Is Agony
Subject 01: Edgar (02/10)
Imagine Dragons follow-up to their breakout debut is honestly a legitimately great pop rock album. I'm not saying this is perfect or anything, but DAMN, this was legit a great time for me. I had a lot of fun on here, tracks like "Shots" and "Gold" were really great pop rock tracks with some really personal lyrics as well. In fact, pretty much the entire lyrical side of this album is improved ... read more
NOW THIS IS THE JAM. Right in this moment, Imagine Dragons aproaches their best level, and make an album that is rude, but without being too aggressive. The album is solid in his tracks, even in his "worst" ones.
pra mim esse é o melhor album deles, e eu acho que dificilmente eles vao fazer algo que supere esse album
Shots-80
Gold-85
Smoke and Mirrors-70
I'm So Sorry-75
I Bet My Life-80
Polaroid-100 (personal bias, my mom and I love this song)
Friction-70
It comes back to you-65
Dream-85
Trouble-90
Summer-70
Hopeless Opus-100 (again, personal bias)
The Fall-100
Yes I do rate songs based on the American grading scale
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Track List
| 1 | Shots 3:52 | 81 |
| 2 | Gold 3:36 | 75 |
| 3 | Smoke and Mirrors 4:20 | 72 |
| 4 | I’m So Sorry 3:50 | 74 |
| 5 | I Bet My Life 3:14 | 61 |
| 6 | Polaroid 3:51 | 67 |
| 7 | Friction 3:21 | 76 |
| 8 | It Comes Back To You 3:37 | 71 |
| 9 | Dream 4:18 | 77 |
| 10 | Trouble 3:12 | 66 |
| 11 | Summer 3:38 | 67 |
| 12 | Hopeless Opus 4:01 | 72 |
| 13 | The Fall 6:05 | 73 |
Total Length: 51 minutes
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3mo
This being the same rating as Night Visions is craazzyy. Their best album by a healthy margin, doubly so with the deluxe version
6mo
bring the tracklist down to 10/11 songs and replace half of them with the songs added in the deluxe edition and it'd be a solid album
Added on: January 10, 2015