Thousands have found out the hard way that whilst the original sin city is one hell of a good time, its bright lights, shotgun wedding chapels and garish facades don’t survive on good luck or judgement. Las Vegas is a city built on relentless optimism and big gestures.
What this means is that even though Imagine Dragons might have skipped a few steps along the way to their arena sound, Night Visions is still an album that, at least for a few minutes at a time, will make everyday life seem just a little bit bigger. Album Reviews: Imagine Dragons - Night Visions. Despite this, "Every Night" will certainly have some listeners unconsciously reaching for a lighter to wave in the air before they realize what they're doing, and it's exactly these kinds of surface pleasures that we turn to pop music for in the first place. The problem is, while the band's electronically reinforced sound is definitely big, it sometimes feels as though it lacks depth.
While a move like this might seem overly ambitious for a freshman band, Imagine Dragons are able to pull the sound off, with songs like the already ubiquitous, seemingly soundtrack-ready "It's Time" having no trouble worming their way into whatever part of the brain it is that likes to trap songs against listeners' will. Dramatic and sweeping, the Las Vegas band works in the same vein as pop giants Coldplay, offering up track after track of hooky and emotional midtempo jams.
However, on their debut album, Imagine Dragons buck tradition and swing straight for the cheap seats, doing away with generations of sonic evolution in favor of the huge, arena-made sound of Night Visions. Things will start small and gritty, and then as the fame and crowds build, the sound changes to match the massiveness of the venues. Historically, there's a progression that bands usually follow before their sound goes full-on arena rock.