"Amsterdam" is a song written and recorded by American rock band Imagine Dragons, for their third self-released

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, '' It's Time''. It appears as the second track on the EP. The song was later reproduced and remastered for inclusion on their debut album ''

Night Visions ''Night Visions'' is the debut studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was released on September 4, 2012, through Kidinakorner and Interscope Records. The album was primarily produced by the band themselves, as well as Eng ...

'' and appears as the sixth track on the album.

Composition

The song, originally featured on the band's '' It's Time'' EP released in March 2011, was one of the earliest Imagine Dragons songs to incorporate

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

into their traditional rock band set-up evident in their earlier works. The song, along with most of the ''It's Time'' EP, used electronic music to create the

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voices and musica ...

and

texture Texture may refer to: Science and technology * Surface texture, the texture means smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object * Texture (roads), road surface characteristics with waves shorter than road roughness * Texture ...

of the song rather than forming the melodies and riffs of the song. A similar concept was first used by the band for " Hear Me", a song off their 2010 extended play ''

Hell and Silence ''Hell and Silence'' is the third extended play (EP) by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons, released on March 12, 2010. It was recorded at Battle Born Studios. All songs were written and produced by Imagine Dragons. " Hear Me" was remastered ...

''.

Release

"Amsterdam" was first released officially on December 31, 2010, through a music video posted on their YouTube channel. It was exclusively released as a free

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

via iTunes for a limited time. The song was released as iTunes' "Single of the Week" on the week of the album's release in countries with respective release dates of the album. The single was first released in North America on the American September 4, 2012 release date, and again in European countries on the European February 7, 2013 release date of the album.

Live performances

"Amsterdam" is one of the band's most played songs, being played at an excess of over 300 concerts since its first play on August 6, 2010. The song was also a regular on the setlist of the band's ''Night Visions'' tour, on which they embarked in 2013. The song was usually played after the setlist opener " Round and Round".

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from ''Night Visions'' liner notes. Imagine Dragons *

Ben McKee Benjamin Arthur McKee (born April 7, 1985) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the bassist for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons. Early life McKee was raised in Forestville, California, and graduated from El Molino ...

bass *

Dan Reynolds Daniel Coulter Reynolds (born July 14, 1987) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist of the pop rock band Imagine Dragons. Reynolds also released an EP in 2011, titled ''Egyptian – EP,'' as a duo with his former wife A ...

lead vocals *

Wayne Sermon Daniel Wayne Sermon (born June 15, 1984) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead guitarist for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons. Early life Sermon was born on June 15, 1984 in American Fork, Utah to parents Jeff ...

guitar * Daniel Platzmandrums *Brittany Tolmanbacking vocals, keyboard Additional personnel * Brandon Darner – co-producer * Mark Everton Gray – recording * Mark Needham – mixing * Will Brierre – engineer * Joe LaPorta – mastering

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control Imagine Dragons songs Songs written by Wayne Sermon Songs written by Dan Reynolds (musician) Songs written by Ben McKee 2012 singles 2010 songs Kidinakorner singles Interscope Records singles Songs written by Daniel Platzman Songs about Amsterdam