Released September 4, 2012 Length 4:01 | Genre Indie rock | |
Recorded December 2010 at
Studio at the Palms
(Paradise, Nevada, United States) Label KIDinaKORNER
Interscope Writer(s) Ben McKee, Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon | ||
"Amsterdam" is a song written and recorded by American rock band Imagine Dragons, for their third self-released extended play, 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 and appears as the sixth track on the album.
Contents
Composition
"Amsterdam" runs at 115 beats per minute. 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 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 and 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.
On Night Visions, the song immediately contrasts the upbeat "On Top of the World", which appears as the predecessor track to "Amsterdam" on Night Visions, and is one of the album's darker songs, despite having a more uplifting tone than other tracks on the album.
Release
"Amsterdam" was exclusively released as a free download 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 90 concerts since its first play during the band's 2010 performances. 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".
Personnel
Adapted from Night Visions liner notes.