''Imagine Dragons'' is the eponymous second

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.

(EP) by the American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band of the same name, released on August 24, 2009. It was recorded at

Battle Born Studios Battle Born Studios, located in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, is a recording studio owned by rock band The Killers. History Established in the late 1990s as Studio Vegas, the studio was taken over by The Killers in 2008. The studio was opened ...

. All songs were written and produced by Imagine Dragons.

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

was done by Robert Root. Tracks from the EP featured on

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after the band won a competition on Reverbnation. The track "I Need a Minute" cracked the

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

Radio 200. "Cover Up" appears on various deluxe editions of the band's 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 Englis ...

''. On October 15, 2021, the EP was re-released onto streaming platforms with the previously unreleased bonus track "Hole Inside Our Chests".

Release

On June 26, 2009 the band released the first song "Uptight" on MySpace. On July 24th, they released two songs "I Need A Minute" and "Cover Up". On October 15, 2021, the EP was re-released onto streaming platforms with the previously unreleased bonus track "Hole Inside Our Chests".

Cover art

The album art is an

autostereogram An autostereogram is a two-dimensional (2D) image that can create the optical illusion of a three-dimensional (3D) scene. Autostereograms use only one image to accomplish the effect while normal stereograms require two. The 3D scene in an a ...

, which features a dragon facing to the right.

Film and television

*"I Need a Minute" was featured on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's '' The Real World: San Diego''. *"Cover Up" was featured in commercials for

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

. *"Cover Up" was also featured in commercials for

BYUtv BYU TV (stylized as BYUtv) is a television channel, founded in 2000, which is owned and operated as a part of Brigham Young University (BYU). The channel, available through cable and satellite distributors in the United States, produces a number ...

's indie music show

AUDIO-FILES ''Audio-Files'' is a television music series produced by BYUtv. The series combines interviews, concerts, and behind-the-scenes footage of nationally rising indie bands. The show premiered on April 10, 2012, at 6:30 pm MST, 8:30 pm EST. On Marc ...

Track listing

Personnel

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 *

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 Hi ...

: bass guitar *

Andrew Tolman Andrew Tolman (born January 9, 1986) is an American studio musician and songwriter. He is a member of the cult club band The Moth & The Flame. He was also a founding member of the pop rock band Imagine Dragons. In 2016–17, Andrew went on tour w ...

: drums * Brittany Tolman: keyboard, backing vocals

Critical reaction

Jason Bracelin, writing in the ''

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal'' ...

'', described the EP by stating "Upon taking in this bunch's new EP you get the sense that they could probably turn the recitation of the ingredients to a bottle of Prell into an arms-in-the-air anthem. With outsized synth lines, ringing, perpetually cresting guitars and massive syncopated beats and cymbal splashes, Imagine Dragons don't make any bones about believing that bigger is always better... it'll only be a matter of time before a song like "Curse" is all over the radio."

References

{{Authority control 2009 debut EPs Imagine Dragons EPs Self-released EPs