Reflections (From the Vault of “Loom”??)
2
By Jacob Swindell
I was in high school when S+M came out, and even though I really liked Night Visions, it isn’t what got me hooked on Imagine Dragons. To this day, I’m still in the camp that S+M is the best album they’ve ever put out. I’ve listened to it more times than I can count, I know the themes and vibes inside and out, etc etc… when I saw they were going to put out Reflections, I was extremely excited to hear some of the songs that didn’t make the cut, expecting them to not be as good as the classic lineup, but at least close to them. Then I heard “Monica” and immediately became concerned. The song didn’t fit the S+M vibe in any capacity at all whatsoever; it was more akin to Mercury 1 or Loom, neither of which I am a big fan of and the latter of which I very much so dislike. I figured maybe it was just a one-off thing, but now that I’m wrapping up listening to the whole thing on release night, I can confidently say that, unlike the demos from the Night Visions anniversary album, this is nothing at all like S+M, so much so that I question whether this stuff was actually written during that era. Quite frankly, this feels like an insult to the fans that loved that album so much, like the band is insisting on doubling down on their new vibe and for some reason thinks that alienating their original fans who dislike it is a good idea. If I’m just crazy and people actually like their new direction with Mercury 1 and Loom, I’m not here to tell you to not enjoy it, and if you are one of those people, you may find something here. However, I’m willing to bet that 20-somethings like me, AKA the target audience for Reflections, are feeling pretty let down right about now. I don’t necessarily expect ID to ever go back to the sounds of their original 2 albums, but I for one thought they were on the right track with Mercury 2. I’ve wanted to give them one more album cycle to see if they course correct a bit after Loom, but regretfully, Reflections has left me hesitant to do so and with a bad taste in my mouth. I would give this 1.5/5 stars but will give it 2 to cut through the noise a bit since most 1 star reviews are a bit less… “civilized.”
