Mercury – Act 1

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Mercury – Act 1
In a golden background, an stencil drawing of a man falling down.
Studio album by
Imagine Dragons
ReleasedSeptember 3, 2021 (2021-09-03)
Recorded2018–2021[1]
Studio
  • Ragged Insomnia Studio (Las Vegas)
  • Shangri-La (Malibu)
  • Platzcaster West (Las Vegas)
  • Wolf Cousins (Stockholm)
  • Golden Age (Los Angeles)
  • The Clubhouse (New Zealand)
  • Noise Coalition (Costa Mesa)
  • The Bibcage (Los Angeles)
  • The Base (South Melbourne)
Length42:04
Label
Producer
Imagine Dragons chronology
Origins
(2018) 		Mercury – Act 1
(2021) 		Mercury – Acts 1 & 2
(2022)
Singles from Mercury – Act 1
  1. "Follow You"
    Released: March 12, 2021
  2. "Cutthroat"
    Released: March 12, 2021
  3. "Wrecked"
    Released: July 2, 2021
  4. "Monday"
    Released: September 3, 2021[2]
  5. "Lonely"
    Released: September 24, 2021[3]

Mercury – Act 1 is the first half of the fifth studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons, released on September 3, 2021, by Kidinakorner and Interscope Records in the United States. Imagine Dragons recorded the album in 2018 after their previous album, Origins. It was later modified in early 2022 to include "Enemy", from the Arcane League of Legends soundtrack. The album was executive produced by Rick Rubin, who also executive produced its successor Mercury – Acts 1 & 2, released on July 1, 2022, which Act 1 was included as part of.

Background

Following the conclusion of their Evolve World Tour in 2018, Imagine Dragons' fourth studio album Origins was released that November. Unlike their previous albums, the band did not tour in promotion of Origins, instead opting to take time off to decompress and spend time with family.[citation needed]

The album was announced on June 30, 2021, revealing the cover art and release date. [4]

On September 2, 2021, the band performed in Brooklyn for a small group of people playing 5 songs, including the tracks "Easy Come Easy Go" "It's Ok" and "One Day". On November 19, 2021, the group released an Amazon Music-exclusive EP titled "Mercury - Act 1 (Amazon Music Live)", which included recordings of the 5 songs performed.[5]

Concept

Frontman

Dan Reynolds described the album as split into two sides: one organic and looking inward, the other more aggressive and looking outward. The album touches on themes of loss, loneliness, and grief, while celebrating life:[6]

"I have watched my friends die to drug addiction. [...] The point of art is to share our darkest moments as well as the light ones. I believe that by singing about my own struggle with it, it hopefully will bring someone else some sort of peace or resolve. This record deals with a lot of searching and loneliness, struggling with the finite state of reality. However, I really wanted it to end on a celebratory note. Setting the foundation for a more steady and stable future. I wanted to end the record by focusing on all the things that make me happy. The simple things that keep me going every day. Looking to the future. Pointing out to myself all the beauty that surrounds me."

The album's name is derived from the word “mercurial”, drawing on Reynolds’ mental health struggles and the band's lack of specific genre classification.[7] The band enlisted Rick Rubin as the album's executive producer, whom Reynolds credited with pushing him to be less metaphorical lyrically and embrace the more “uncomfortable” aspects of songs:[6]

"Rick reminded me that over the last decade my fans have grown up with me. They not only want to grow with me, but they expected it. He told me to never worry about pushing them in uncomfortable ways. And that I really would be doing them a disservice if I ever tried to re-create the past or sugarcoat the present. I owe them vulnerability and honesty only."

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Evening Standard[9]
NME[10]
Pitchfork4.4/10[11]
Riff Magazine7/10[12]

The album was met with mixed reviews. The more positive reviews praised the album's 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.

Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic stated "While the overall tone and narrative could use a little polishing, Mercury: Act 1 is a huge step forward in their maturation process". Conversely Evan Rytlewski of Pitchfork, was hard-pressed to find signs of maturity and unimpressed by the band’s "genre hopping". He concluded that "despite the ostensibly humanizing presence of Rick Rubin, rock's patron saint of prestige, these quintessentially Vegas showmen still sound like they're firing their emotions out of a T-shirt cannon."[11]

El Hunt of NME gave the album two stars pointing out its lack of cohesion and originality.[10] David Smyth of Evening Standard called the album "more irritating than inspiring" and stated that "there are a few songs you might like here, but a few you'll violently hate."[9]

Promotion

After the band's break in 2019 - 2020 on March 3, 2021, the band published a photo of them in a studio recording on official accounts. On March 5, the band published a video of cassette with a mystery melody. The next 3 days they published four videos with anagrams. When the fans solved the riddles, Imagine Dragons confirmed that the double single "Follow You + Cutthroat" would be released on March 12, 2021. On March 23, the band performed for "Follow You" for the first time on The Late Show, and later on The Ellen Show on May 24, 2021. On June 29, the band published a snippet of the second single titled "Wrecked", which was later released on July 2. On June 30, the band announced the release of Mercury - Act 1. On September 2, 2021, the band performed on Amazon Music Live for a small group. On 19 November 2021, the group released an Amazon Music-exclusive EP titled Mercury - Act 1 (Amazon Music Live). On September 7, the band performed "Wrecked" on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

World tour

On 7 September 2021, after the release of Mercury - Act 1, Imagine Dragons officially announced the Mercury Tour in 2022 to promote the album. The band had not toured for their previous album, Origins, as they had decided to take a break. The tour began on February 6, 2022 in Miami, Florida and is scheduled to conclude on September 10, 2023 in Berlin.

Singles

The album's double-sided lead single, "Follow You" / "Cutthroat", was released on 12 March, 2021. The music video for "Follow You" came out on March 16, 2021 and "Cutthroat"'s music video came out on May 5, 2021. [13][14] The second single "Wrecked", which was inspired by the death of Reynolds' sister-in-law,[15] was released on July 2, 2021 and the music video was released on July 15, 2021.[14] The music video for "Monday" was released on September 24, 2021. "Lonely" was sent to Italian radio as the album's fourth single on the same day.

Track listing

Mercury – Act 1 track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."My Life"
  • Jason Suwito
Suwito3:27
13."One Day"
  • Dylan Wiggins
    • Shatkin
    • Wiggins
    		2:31
    Total length:42:04
    Additional track version
    No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
    1."Enemy" (with JID)
    • McKee
    • Platzman
    • Reynolds
    • Sermon
    • Fredriksson
    • Larsson
    • Tranter
    • Destin Route
    		Mattman & Robin2:53
    Total length:44:57
    Japanese bonus track[16]
    No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
    14."Follow You" (Summer '21 version)
    • McKee
    • Platzman
    • Reynolds
    • Sermon
    • Duhé
    • Hall
    • Little
    		Darner2:52
    Total length:44:56

    Personnel

    Some credits below were taken from the official photobook of the band in physical versions

    Imagine Dragons

    • Dan Reynolds – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, production, composition, programming
    • Wayne Sermon – guitars, piano, backing vocals, synthesizer, production, composition, mixing ("Dull Knives"), programming
    • Ben McKee – bass guitar, backing vocals, production, composition
    • Daniel Platzman – drums, percussion, backing vocals, production, composition

    Production

    • Rick Rubin – executive producer, production
    • Dylan Neustadter – engineering
    • Jason Lader – engineering
    • Jesse Shatkin – production, composition, engineering
    • Joel Little – production, composition, engineering
    • Jonathan Pfarr – engineering
    • Matthew Sedivy – engineering
    • Mattman & Robin – production, composition, engineering
    • Micah Natera – engineering
    • Samuel Dent – engineering
    • Brandon Darner – production
    • Justin Tranter – composition
    • Andrew Tolman (Goldwiing) – production, composition
    • Kaelyn Behr (Styalz Fuego) – production, composition
    • Mark Benedicto (New Haven) – production, composition
    • Jayson DeZuzio – production, composition
    • Aja Volkman – composition
    • Elley Duhé – composition
    • Fran Hall – composition
    • Jason Suwito
      – production, composition
    • Dylan Wiggins – production, composition
    • John Hanes – engineering
    • Randy Merrill – mastering
    • Serban Ghenea – mixing all song except "Dull Knives"

    Art Direction and Design

    • Matt Maitland - Big Active, London
    • Band Photography - Neil Krug

    Commercial performance

    Mercury – Act 1 debuted at No. 9 on

    Top Current Album Sales (No. 4).[17]

    Charts

    Certifications

    Certifications for Mercury – Act 1
    Region Certification Certified units/sales
    Canada (Music Canada)[63] Platinum 80,000‡
    Italy (FIMI)[64] Platinum 50,000‡
    Poland (ZPAV)[65] Gold 10,000‡
    Spain (PROMUSICAE)[66] Gold 20,000‡
    United Kingdom (BPI)[67] Gold 100,000‡

    ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

    Release history

    Release dates and formats for Mercury – Act 1
    Region Date Format Version Label Ref.
    Various September 3, 2021
    		Standard
    		[68][69]
    Japan CD Japan bonus Universal Music Japan [16]
    Brazil October 15, 2021 Standard
    Universal Music Brasil
    		 [70]

    Notes

    References

    1. ^ Imagine Dragons [@Imaginedragons] (September 3, 2021). "We spent the last three years working on this record" (Tweet). Retrieved September 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
    2. ^ "Dan Reynolds saying on Instagram that Monday is a single".
    3. ^ Stefano Fontana (17 September 2021). "Imagine Dragons - Lonely (Radio Date: 24-09-2021)". EarOne (in Italian). Retrieved 23 September 2021.
    4. ^ Imagine Dragons [@Imaginedragons] (June 30, 2021). "Mercury - Act 1 September 3 PRE-ORDER" (Tweet). Retrieved July 24, 2021 – via Twitter.
    5. ^ music.amazon.com https://music.amazon.com/albums/B09LVX8QBL. Retrieved 2024-04-15. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
    6. ^ a b "Imagine Dragons dive into the darkness with brave new album". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
    7. ^ Ruggieri, Melissa. "Imagine Dragons' Dan Reynolds dissects five 'vulnerable' songs on new album 'Mercury - Act 1'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
    8. Allmusic
      . Retrieved September 4, 2021.
    9. ^ a b Smyth, David (September 3, 2021). "Imagine Dragons - Mercury: Act 1 review: More irritating than inspiring". Evening Standard. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
    10. ^ a b Hunt, El (September 3, 2021). "Imagine Dragons – 'Mercury – Act 1' album review: weightier subject matter and messy genre-hops". NME. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
    11. ^ a b Rytlewski, Evan (September 7, 2021). "Imagine Dragons Mercury – Act 1". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
    12. ^ DeWald, Mike (September 2, 2021). "Review: Imagine Dragons positively unpredictable on 'Mercury – Act 1'". Riff Magazine. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
    13. ^ Rosenbaum, Marty. "Imagine Dragons will be dropping two brand new songs this Friday". Radio.com. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
    14. ^ a b Schube, Will (June 30, 2021). "Imagine Dragons Announce Highly Anticipated New Album, 'Mercury: Act I'". U Discover Music. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
    15. ^ Kreps, Daniel (July 15, 2021). "Imagine Dragons Ruminate on Grief in New Video for 'Wrecked'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
    16. ^ a b "マーキュリー - アクト1[CD] - イマジン・ドラゴンズ - UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN". Universal Music Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
    17. ^ a b "Imagine Dragons Score Fifth Top 10 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Mercury - Act 1'". Billboard. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
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    34. ^ "2021 36-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
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    37. OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry
      . Retrieved September 16, 2021.
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    39. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
    40. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Imagine Dragons – Mercury - Act 1". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
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    42. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Imagine Dragons – Mercury - Act 1". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
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    47. ^ "Rapports annuels 2021" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
    48. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2021" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
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    53. ^ "2022: La Production Musicale Française Toujours au Top" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
    54. ^ "Top of the Music 2022: Un anno di musica italiana" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
    55. ^ "Top 100 Albums Annual 2022". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
    56. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2022". hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved December 27, 2022.
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    60. Promusicae
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    63. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Imagine Dragons – Mercury - Act 1". Music Canada. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
    64. ^ "Italian album certifications – Imagine Dragons – Mercury-Act 1" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
    65. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Złote płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2022 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
    66. ^ "Spanish album certifications – Imagine Dragons – Mercury - Act 1". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
    67. ^ "British album certifications – Imagine Dragons – Mercury - Act 1". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
    68. ^ "Mercury - Act 1 by Imagine Dragons on Apple Music". Apple Music (US). Archived from the original on July 24, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
    69. ^ Physical releases for Mercury – Act 1:
    70. ^ "CD IMAGINE DRAGONS - MERCURY: ACT I". Umusic Store (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
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