Night Visions is the debut studio album by American rock band Imagine Dragons. It was released on September 4, 2012 through Interscope Records. The extended track was released on February 12, 2013, adding three more songs. Recorded between 2009 and 2012, the album was primarily produced by the band themselves, as well as English hip-hop producer Alex Da Kid and Brandon Darner from the American indie rock group The Envy Corps. It was mastered by Joe LaPorta. According to frontman Dan Reynolds, the album took three years to finish, with six of the album's tracks being previously released on multiple EPs. Musically, Night Visions is primarily a rock album, although it also exhibits influences of dubstep, dance, indie and pop.[1]
On September 9 2022, Imagine Dragons released a tenth anniversary expanded/super deluxe edition that contained the original album with the addition of nine bonus tracks and two unreleased demos.[2]
Background[]
The band entered the studio in late 2011 to write and record their major-label debut extended play, Continued Silence, and additional material for a debut studio album. The EP served as a prelude to the band's debut studio album, with "It's Time", a song featured on Continued Silence and released as a promotional single from the EP in early 2012, serving as the lead single from the album, reaching #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 by the end of 2012.[3]
Promotion[]
Beginning on September 4, 2012 the album could be purchased on Amazon.com for $5 for one week only. The Best Buy edition could be purchased for only $7.99 with an in-store coupon.
The Night Visions album cycle boasted three singles and four promotional singles, with two offshoot extended plays and a live album over the course of ten months. Regional releases from the album differentiate between regions.[4]
Singles[]
"It's Time" was solicited to mainstream radio in January 2012, and was released as the band's debut single on August 18, 2012. It has notably become the band's first commercially successful single, reaching the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has since also peaked within in the top ten in Austria (#6), Belgium (Flanders) (#1), Belgium (Wallonia) (#3), Czech Republic (#10), Ireland (#9), and Japan (#7). The band performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The music video for the song was directed by Anthony Leonardi, which was nominated for "Best Rock Video" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.[15] A documentary about the making of the album entitled "Imagine Dragons: The Making of Night Visions" debuted November 7, 2012 on VH1's Palladia.
"Hear Me" was released as the second single from Night Visions on November 24, 2012. The following day, the song was released as a 4-track EP, featuring the previous two singles, "Radioactive" and "Amsterdam", as well as "The River", which was a bonus track on the Best Buy edition of Night Visions. "Hear Me", "Radioactive", "On Top of the World", and "It's Time" are all UK Top 40 singles.
"On Top of the World" reached the top ten in Australia (#10), Austria (#6), Netherlands (#10), New Zealand (#10), and Poland (#7). After also topping the charts in Portugal, it was released there on August 24, 2013 as the second single in Portugal and the third single overall worldwide.
"Radioactive" was originally released as a radio-only single from Continued Silence, and later, Night Visions in April and October 2012 respectively. The band performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It has since reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the number 1 on the Alternative Songs chart as well as peaking within the charts of Australia (#6), Austria (#4), Canada (#5), Denmark (#6), Germany (#4), Iceland (#8), Luxembourg (#3), New Zealand (#4), Norway (#2), Singapore (#3), Sweden (#1), Switzerland (#5) and UK (#12).
"Demons" was originally released to American Triple A radio on January 28, 2013 as a radio-only single from Night Visions. It was officially released as the fifth overall single from the album on October 22, 2013 in North America only. It reached the top ten in Austria (#7), Belgium (Flanders) (#2), Belgium (Wallonia) (#5), Canada (#4), Italy (#5), and United States (#6).
Tour[]
Before the release of Night Visions, Imagine Dragons made appearances on American radio and television to promote their extended play, Continued Silence and debut single "It's Time". The band performed "It's Time" on the July 16, 2012 airing of NBC late-night talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno".
The band embarked on two tours to promote Night Visions. The 35-date "Fall Tour 2012", featuring American electronic rock band Awolnation as opening act, saw the band travel across the United States in Autumn 2012 to promote the album's initial release in North America.[25] During the tour, the band appeared on the September 4, 2012 airing of ABC late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!. They also made a historical appearance on the October 29, 2012 airing of NBC late-night talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon performing "It's Time" to an empty audience during Hurricane Sandy's passage through the New York / New Jersey metropolitan area during that weekend.
In 2013, a world tour, entitled the "Night Visions Tour", was executed in promotion of the world-wide release of Night Visions. Starting in February 2013, the 145-date tour saw the band perform across North America and Europe. During the tour, the band made their first national television appearance, performing "Radioactive" on the February 22, 2013 airing of CBS late-night talk show Late Show with David Letterman. The band performed in front of cameras during their appearance at the 2013 Isle of Wight Festival for Vevo's Summer Six series. The performance, which took place on June 15, 2013, was released on June 25, 2013. The band made another television appearance in the United States, performing "Radioactive", "Demons" and On Top of the World" on the July 4, 2013 airing of ABC morning television show Good Morning America.[5]
Critical Reception[]
Night Visions received mixed reviews from music critics. Brian Mansfield from USA Today gave Night Visions a favorable review, writing: "For all the group's musical mastery, it's the flourishes courtesy of producer Alex da Kid that make individual tracks stand out." Mansfield praised individual elements such as "the mandolin hook of 'It's Time', the jaunty whistle of 'On Top of the World', [and] the burbling guitar in 'Demons.'" and said that "those creative touches may seem like small details, but it's that imagination that gives these Dragons teeth." Gregory Heaney of Allmusic remarked that the album "sometimes feels as though it lacks depth", but nonetheless called it "an album that, at least for a few minutes at a time, will make everyday life seem just a little bit bigger". Annie Zaleski of Las Vegas Weekly praised Night Visions for being "well-crafted and wildly creative, and boasts solid songwriting—three things that are sorely missing on albums by so many younger bands." Lisa Kwon of Consequence of Sound gave the album a mixed review and felt that Night Visions "fails to match the fresh adrenaline rush that the band's first single had promised us when we first heard it on the radio or in commercials earlier this year." Chris Saunders of musicOMH panned the album as "so safe and middle of the road that it leaves you with the same hollow feeling that Las Vegas can, without the dizzying high and sensual assault that got you there in the first place."[6]
Track Listing[]
2012 Release[]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radioactive | 3:07 |
| 2 | Tiptoe | 3:13 |
| 3 | It's Time | 3:58 |
| 4 | Demons | 2:55 |
| 5 | On Top Of The World | 3:10 |
| 6 | Amsterdam | 4:01 |
| 7 | Hear Me | 3:52 |
| 8 | Every Night | 3:36 |
| 9 | Bleeding Out | 3:41 |
| 10 | Underdog | 3:27 |
| 11 | Nothing Left to Say (6:33), includes hidden song Rocks (2:11) | 8:56 |
2013 Release[]
This release had the same tracklist as the original release, with "Nothing Left To Say" renamed to "Nothing Left To Say / Rocks.
iTunes Bonus Edition[]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Working Man | 3:59 |
| 13 | Fallen | 3:01 |
Spotify Bonus Edition[]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Cha-Ching (Till We Grow Older) | 4:09 |
| 13 | Working Man | 3:59 |
| 14 | Tokyo | 3:14 |
Best Buy Bonus Edition[]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Selene | 4:00 |
| 13 | The River | 3:24 |
Target Bonus Edition[]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Cover Up | 4:20 |
| 13 | I Don't Mind | 3:17 |
| 14 | My Fault | 2:55 |
| 15 | Round and Round | 3:17 |
| 16 | The River | 3:24 |
| 17 | America | 4:33 |
| 18 | Selene | 4:00 |
North American Deluxe Edition[]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | My Fault | 2:55 |
| 13 | Round and Round | 3:17 |
| 14 | The River | 3:24 |
| 15 | America | 4:33 |
| 16 | Selene | 4:00 |
10th Anniversary Edition[]
| No. | Title | Legnth |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Cha-Ching (Till We Grow Older) | 4:09 |
| 13 | Working Man | 3;59 |
| 14 | My Fault | 2:55 |
| 15 | Round And Round | 3:17 |
| 16 | The River | 3:24 |
| 17 | America | 4:33 |
| 18 | Selene | 4:00 |
| 19 | Fallen | 3:01 |
| 20 | Cover Up | 4:20 |
| 21 | I Don't Mind | 3:17 |
| 22 | Tokyo | 3:15 |
| 23 | Love of Mine | 4:09 |
| 24 | Bubble | 3:22 |
References[]
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Visions
- ↑ https://shop.imaginedragonsmusic.com/products/night-visions-exclusive-expanded-edition-2lp
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Visions#Background
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Visions#Promotion
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Visions#Tour
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Visions#Critical_reception
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Visions#Track_listing