Ok, I can't decide which of these albums is my true #1. I go back and forth.
The Imagine Dragons should come as no surprise, but there was a surprise for me when I first listened. I didn't know where they'd go with their sound. And after one listen, I was a bit underwhelmed, but as soon as my second trek through the record, I started to get it. Much like the album title, "Evolve", they evolved. It's still the Imagine Dragons. You still know it's them, but it's so different from what they'd done previous, I think it took a minute to click for me. Dan is a great lyricist, so the content was there, I knew it would be......it was the sonic departure that took a bit. Now I love it. I love what they did. I love that they had, seemingly, no fear in cultivating a new sound. I think this mindset sets them up for a long career. Highlights for me: "Believer", "Thunder", "Walking The Wire", "Yesterday" & "I'll Make It Up To You"
The Killers album, "Wonderful Wonderful", was a complete surprise for me because, after being obsessed with their first album "Hot Fuss" I had since written this band off. Always curious when they released new music, but always let down by it. They had lost me. Man did they bring me back with this album. I've gone back and listened to old stuff again, started to rediscover the stuff I had written off and am SO jacked for their show on January 17th at the Xcel. For the recording of this album they say they changed everything. Say they stopped worrying so much about how it was recorded and just focused on the music and the result was something more organic.......and I couldn't agree more. Highlights for me: "Run For Cover", "The Man", "The Calling", "Some Kind Of Love" & "Out Of My Mind"
I think this is worth watching......gives perspective on the Killers new album......including an explanation of the autobiographical song "The Man".
Perhaps the greatest example of the Imagine Dragons exploring different sound is this one, "Yesterday".