Conspicuously absent from the laundry list of influences the Imagine Dragons so often cite is the Killers, the only other Las Vegas rock band of note. Imagine Dragons downplay the glamour the Killers found so alluring but they share a taste for the overblown, something that comes to full fruition on their second album, Smoke + Mirrors. Bigger and bolder than 2012's Night Visions, Smoke + Mirrors captures a band so intoxicated with their sudden surprise success that they've decided to indulge in every excess. They ratchet up their signature stomp -- it's there on "I Bet My Life," the first single and a song that's meant to reassure fans that they're not going to get something different the second time around -- but they've also wisely decided to broaden their horizons, seizing the possibilities offered by fellow arena rockers Coldplay and Black Keys. Despite the bloozy bluster of "I'm So Sorry" -- a Black Keys number stripped of any sense of R&B groove -- the group usually favors the sky-scraping sentiment of Coldplay, but where Chris Martin's crew often seems pious, there's a genial bros-next-door quality to Imagine Dragons that deflates their grandiosity. Certainly, Smoke + Mirrors is rock so large it's cavernous -- the reverb nearly functions as a fifth instrument in the band -- but the group's straight-faced commitment to the patently ridiculous has its charm, particularly because they possess no sense of pretension. This separates ID from the Killers, who never met a big idea they didn't like. Imagine Dragons like big sounds and big emotions -- and, if they can muster it, big hooks -- and the commitment to style over substance gives them ingratiating charm, particularly when they decide to thread in slight elements of EDM on "Shots" (something that surfaces on the title track as well), or Vampire Weekend's worldbeat flirtations on "Summer." Imagine Dragons purposefully cobble their sound together from these heavy-hitters of alt-rock, straightening them into something easily digestible for the masses but, like so many commercially minded combos, how they assemble these familiar pieces often results in pleasingly odd combinations. These guys are shameless and that's what makes them more fun than your average arena rockers.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Conspicuously absent from the laundry list of influences the Imagine Dragons so often cite is the Killers, the only other Las Vegas rock band of note. Imagine Dragons downplay the glamour the Killers found so alluring but they share a taste for the overblown, something that comes to full fruition on their second album, Smoke + Mirrors. Bigger and bolder than 2012's Night Visions, Smoke + Mirrors captures a band so intoxicated with their sudden surprise success that they've decided to indulge in every excess. They ratchet up their signature stomp -- it's there on "I Bet My Life," the first single and a song that's meant to reassure fans that they're not going to get something different the second time around -- but they've also wisely decided to broaden their horizons, seizing the possibilities offered by fellow arena rockers Coldplay and Black Keys. Despite the bloozy bluster of "I'm So Sorry" -- a Black Keys number stripped of any sense of R&B groove -- the group usually favors the sky-scraping sentiment of Coldplay, but where Chris Martin's crew often seems pious, there's a genial bros-next-door quality to Imagine Dragons that deflates their grandiosity. Certainly, Smoke + Mirrors is rock so large it's cavernous -- the reverb nearly functions as a fifth instrument in the band -- but the group's straight-faced commitment to the patently ridiculous has its charm, particularly because they possess no sense of pretension. This separates ID from the Killers, who never met a big idea they didn't like. Imagine Dragons like big sounds and big emotions -- and, if they can muster it, big hooks -- and the commitment to style over substance gives them ingratiating charm, particularly when they decide to thread in slight elements of EDM on "Shots" (something that surfaces on the title track as well), or Vampire Weekend's worldbeat flirtations on "Summer." Imagine Dragons purposefully cobble their sound together from these heavy-hitters of alt-rock, straightening them into something easily digestible for the masses but, like so many commercially minded combos, how they assemble these familiar pieces often results in pleasingly odd combinations. These guys are shameless and that's what makes them more fun than your average arena rockers.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

4 stars out of 5 -- "Member Yuqi expertly helms the classic R&B of ‘Polaroid’ to deliver a heartwarming message – moving on doesn’t have to come at the expense of the good times you had. This acceptance becomes the bedrock of the healing that happens on the second half of the album." © TiVo

Twenty years after their album Cruelty Without Beauty, British duo Marc Almond and Dave Ball have reunited to produce an album that’s tinged with mystery and a hint of worry (perhaps a reflection of a tormented era?). A torturous cold (Polaroid) rubs shoulders with a timeless evanescence (New Eden) in this collection of songs, which sees Almond mourn the utopias of the past that never came to be. Happiness not included is a polaroid snapshot of another time; it’s a Nostalgia Machine that’s often characterised by sadness and disillusion (sentiments that Marc Almond dramatically expresses, often with a touch of humour). In New Eden, he sings with real sincerity that can be taken at face value: “All those plans we made in the 60s / Seem naïve now we’ve grown old.” The lyrics are painted with anguish and stained with an elegant humour (especially on the magnificent I’m Not a Friend of God), and you can really feel the two companions searching for a New Eden somewhere between the lines. There’s also glamorous lyricism reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys on the track Purple Zone. © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz

There are parallel worlds. Some sort of no-man’s-lands that intrude between genres. That’s precisely where Initiative H operates. Between jazz (the band’s core DNA), electro, fusion, rock, and contemporary music, the band from Toulouse, France, is led by saxophonist David Haudrechy. With Broken Land, their music is more than ever an invitation to travel. Particularly since Initiative H’s compositions possess a strong cinematic potential. Like a daring soundtrack of its time. Just close your eyes, and images start flying by… An approach that is also a reflection on what it means to be a big band in 2018. And while elders like Carla Bley had already worked towards renewing the genre, Haudrechy and his numerous accomplices in turn make their fascinating contribution. © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

Interesting and pleasant, but the soundtrack to Louis Leterrier's Danny the Dog will throw longtime Massive Attack fans for a loop. The band's trademark deep sound is untraceable for the most part. It's probably a testament to how hard they stuck to the soundtracking rules, but this program music is rather run-of-the-mill, especially when compared to Massive Attack's proper albums, which -- to be fair -- would overtake most filmmaker's visuals. Harpsichords play over neo-noir beats and guitars echo forever as tension builds, and while the band's keen sense of sonic structure is intact, they're layering things much less than usual here and traveling some previously explored territory. Tracks like "Everything About You Is New" with its reverberating piano, and the faux rocking "The Dog Obeys" are so undistinguished you look have to look twice at the cover to make sure Massive is behind this. The Coil-esque "P Is for Piano" and the funky-fun "One Thought at a Time" almost make it worth it for everyone, but only the hardcore fans are going to get much out of the rest. They can pick away at the recordings and try to figure out who did what while everyone else waits for the next real album.© David Jeffries /TiVo

Thierry Muller, who previously released a couple of avant-garde electronics records as Ilitch, came back in 1985 with this new project, Ruth, which oddly enough does not include Muller's Ilitch collaborator, Ruth Ellyeri. At first glance, Ruth's pop sensibilities and up-tempo rhythms seem to be a 180-degree about-face from the bruising soundscapes of Ilitch, and yet there is still a heavy use of electronics and certainly a lot of creativity to make this more than just dance music. A similar analogy might be Cabaret Voltaire's shift in the early '80s from its original distorted industrial music to much cleaner sounds with a dance beat and female vocals, often spoken, but still retaining some earlier avant-gardisms. Ruth's music falls somewhere in the new wave techno-pop dance music camp, though with enough oddness that it doesn't come off as some slick sellout. "Waiting for Mabelle" from Ilitch's 10 Suicides is even reworked here as an upbeat avant disco number, smoothed of all the rough edges. Marc Duconseille's horn arrangements on the opening track, "Thriller," as well as the title track, add a cinematic quality to the music. The haunting cover of Can's "She Brings the Rain" focuses more on textures, as the intensity builds through the song, hinting more at Muller's earlier work, as does the much longer track "Tu m'Ennuies," with spoken word over keyboard squall. The CD also throws in some bonus tracks. Of these, the piece "Sans Mot" as well as the short hidden track at the end of the CD are in the experimental vein of Ilitch, and both quite good, whereas the two versions of the title cut, one an early demo of it without vocals, seem more like filler. © Rolf Semrpebon /TiVo

Interesting and pleasant, but the soundtrack to Louis Leterrier's Danny the Dog will throw longtime Massive Attack fans for a loop. The band's trademark deep sound is untraceable for the most part. It's probably a testament to how hard they stuck to the soundtracking rules, but this program music is rather run-of-the-mill, especially when compared to Massive Attack's proper albums, which -- to be fair -- would overtake most filmmaker's visuals. Harpsichords play over neo-noir beats and guitars echo forever as tension builds, and while the band's keen sense of sonic structure is intact, they're layering things much less than usual here and traveling some previously explored territory. Tracks like "Everything About You Is New" with its reverberating piano, and the faux rocking "The Dog Obeys" are so undistinguished you look have to look twice at the cover to make sure Massive is behind this. The Coil-esque "P Is for Piano" and the funky-fun "One Thought at a Time" almost make it worth it for everyone, but only the hardcore fans are going to get much out of the rest. They can pick away at the recordings and try to figure out who did what while everyone else waits for the next real album. © David Jeffries /TiVo

Dance/pop producer Jonas Blue presents his debut album, Blue. Having made a name for himself in the industry, Blue features a plethora of guest vocalists, including Joe Jonas, Liam Payne, RAYE, Jessie Reyez, and Nina Nesbitt.© Liam Martin /TiVo

A repackaging of 2021's chart-topping Dimension: Dilemma, Enhypen's Dimension: Answer adds a trio of songs to the original track list. In addition to the rock-tinged, bass-booming "Blessed-Cursed," the set also features the breezy, synth-washed gem "Polaroid Love." With the inclusion of these three new tracks, the Dimension story becomes a little clearer. On their own, they don't add much to the equation, but for fans in search of the more definitive Dimension experience, this fleshed-out album is the way to go.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo