Maps of Music
Mercury – Act 2 (2022)
Where the lyrics of Mercury – Act 2 take you, and where it was really made.
Mercury – Act 2 was never released digitally on its own. Its only standalone edition was vinyl, which added "Enemy" from Arcane as the 19th and final track.
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Overview
- Mercury – Act 2: second half of Imagine Dragons' double album Mercury – Acts 1 & 2
- Released 1 July 2022 by KIDinaKORNER and Interscope Records
- Produced by Rick Rubin
- Released as a double album together with Act 1
- Standalone release: vinyl only, announced for 9 December 2022
- Vinyl edition includes "Enemy" from the Arcane series as the 19th and final track
- Core track list runs to 18 songs
Background
- Act 1 released 3 September 2021; the band then reported work on a sequel, with Rick Rubin again as executive producer
- January 2022: Dan Reynolds said the album would likely come out after the first leg of the Mercury World Tour
- Late March 2022 Apple Music interview: Reynolds said the album sounded different from earlier records and was influenced by hip hop
- "Bones" released 11 March 2022 as the lead single of Act 2
- Music video for "Bones" arrived 6 April, the same day the album opened for pre-order
- "Sharks" followed as the second single on 24 June 2022, with a music video
Sources: es.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org
Tracklist
| 1 | Bones | 2:46 |
| 2 | Symphony | 2:55 |
| 3 | Sharks | 3:10 |
| 4 | I Don't Like Myself | 3:05 |
| 5 | Blur | 2:55 |
| 6 | Higher Ground | 2:41 |
| 7 | Crushed | 3:08 |
| 8 | Take It Easy | 2:38 |
| 9 | Waves | 3:45 |
| 10 | I'm Happy | 3:05 |
| 11 | Ferris Wheel | 3:23 |
| 12 | Peace of Mind | 2:53 |
| 13 | Sirens | 2:35 |
| 14 | Tied | 4:01 |
| 15 | Younger | 3:11 |
| 16 | I Wish | 3:27 |
| 17 | Continual | 3:49 |
| 18 | They Don't Know You Like I Do | 4:17 |
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
- AllMusic: the second half of the album is weighed down by moments similar to the first, which dulls the momentum of the band's catchy choruses
- Rolling Stone (Maura Johnston): Act 2 does not reinvent the band but refines what made them one of the few rock acts able to headline international stadiums
- Rolling Stone: thematically the project deals with the existential aftermath of the loss described in Act 1, with songs full of self-disgust and regret, plus occasional optimistic moments
- Billboard Italia (Benedetta Minoliti): calls it the band's most sincere and honest project, with life and death at its center
- Billboard Italia: names "Take It Easy" as the track that works as a manifesto of the main themes of death, love, religion and lack of faith
Sources: it.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- Before the official release, the band posted a trailer for Act 2 on YouTube with fragments of "Younger", "Ferris Wheel" and "Symphony"
- A teaser posted on 15 June 2022 contained a fragment of "Sharks"; fans on the band's Discord assembled the opening seconds from pieces of different audio clips
- "Sharks" came out on 24 June 2022 with a music video and was later sent to Italian radio
- "Enemy" from Arcane appears only on the vinyl edition, as the 19th and last track
Sources: es.wikipedia.org