Maps of Music

Mercury – Act 1 (2021)

Where the lyrics of Mercury – Act 1 take you, and where it was really made.

The album's name comes from the word 'mercurial', and it was recorded in studios spread across several US cities, plus Stockholm, New Zealand and Melbourne.

Key places

Shangri-La, Malibu (2021)

Recording site Shangri-La — Credits list Shangri-La in Malibu, California as one of the studios where the album was recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Ragged Insomnia Studio, Las Vegas (2021)

Recording site Studio at the Palms — Credits list Ragged Insomnia Studio as a recording location; the point uses city-center coordinates for Las Vegas. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Wolf Cousins Studios, Stockholm (2021)

Recording site Master Plan — Credits list Wolf Cousins Studios as a recording location; the point uses city-center coordinates for Stockholm. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Golden Age Studios, Los Angeles (2021)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Credits list Golden Age Studios in Los Angeles as a recording location; the point uses city-center coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Noise Coalition, Costa Mesa (2021)

Recording site Costa Mesa Studios — Credits list Noise Coalition as a recording location; the point uses city-center coordinates for Costa Mesa. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Base Recording Studios, South Melbourne (2021)

Recording site The Base Recording Studios — Credits list The Base Recording Studios as a recording location; the point uses city-center coordinates for South Melbourne. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Fifth studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons
• Released September 3, 2021 by Kidinakorner and Interscope Records in the United States
• Mercury – Act 1 is the first half of the album; it was later included in Mercury – Acts 1 & 2, released July 1, 2022
• Executive produced by Rick Rubin
• Name derived from the word 'mercurial', drawing on frontman Dan Reynolds' mental health struggles and the band's lack of specific genre classification
• Reynolds described the album as split into two sides: one organic and inward-looking, the other more aggressive and outward-looking

Background

• Preceded by the Evolve World Tour in 2018 and the album Origins, released November 2018
• The band did not tour to promote Origins and took time off to decompress and spend time with family
• Album announced June 30, 2021, revealing the cover art and release date
• September 2, 2021: small Brooklyn performance of five songs
• November 19, 2021: Amazon Music-exclusive EP containing recordings of those five songs
• Early 2022: modified to add 'Enemy' from the Arcane League of Legends soundtrack

Recording

• The band recorded the album in 2018, after Origins
• Studios listed in the credits: Ragged Insomnia, Shangri-La, Platzcaster West, Wolf Cousins, Golden Age, The Clubhouse, Noise Coalition, The Bibcage and The Base
• Serban Ghenea mixed most tracks; one track was mixed by Wayne Sermon at MixStar Studios
• Randy Merrill mastered all tracks at Sterling Sound

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band formed in 2008 and based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• Dan Reynolds met drummer Andrew Tolman at Brigham Young University in 2008; the two recruited other members to form the band.
• The band's lineup changed several times; Wayne Sermon and Ben McKee completed the core line-up by 2009.
• The band released their first EPs in Las Vegas and signed with Interscope Records in November 2011.

Members

• The current lineup consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee.
• Daniel Platzman joined as drummer in 2011 and was later absent from the band; Andrew Tolman served as touring drummer.

Career

• Debut album Night Visions (2012) peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200; the single "Radioactive" topped the Hot Rock Songs chart for 23 weeks.
• Smoke + Mirrors (2015) became the band's first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
• Evolve (2017) produced the chart-topping singles "Believer", "Thunder", and "Whatever It Takes".
• Origins (2018) debuted at No. 2 in the US; Mercury – Acts 1 & 2 (2022) and Loom (2024) followed.
• The band has sold more than 74 million albums and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance for "Radioactive".
• Critical reception of their albums has been mixed, though the band remains commercially successful.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album received mixed reviews
• More positive reviews praised its maturity, calling it the band's best album since their debut, Night Visions
• Other negative reviews criticized the band's attempts to mix too many genres
• AllMusic (Neil Z. Yeung): said the overall tone and narrative could use some polishing, but called it a huge step forward in the band's maturation process
• Pitchfork (Evan Rytlewski): found it hard to see signs of maturity and was unimpressed by the band's 'genre hopping'; wrote that despite Rick Rubin's presence, the band still sounded like they were firing their emotions out of a T-shirt cannon
• NME (El Hunt): gave the album two stars, pointing to its lack of cohesion and originality
• Evening Standard (David Smyth): called the album 'more irritating than inspiring'

Records

• Debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 with 31,000 equivalent album units (17,000 pure)
• Became the band's fifth top ten album in the US
• Top Rock Albums: No. 2
• Alternative Albums: No. 2
• Top Album Sales: No. 4
• Top Current Album Sales: No. 4
• Debuted within the top five on several Billboard charts

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The single 'Wrecked' was inspired by the death of Reynolds' sister-in-law.
• 'Monday' was the band's first song since Night Visions to feature contributions from former drummer Andrew Tolman.
• 'Enemy' with rapper JID was added to the album in February 2022 and became JID's first top 5 song in the US.
• Before release, the band ran an anagram campaign that sent fans to a password-locked page and a Discord channel.
• The Mercury World Tour ran from February 6, 2022 in Miami to September 10, 2023 in Berlin.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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