It has been a few years since Maroon 5 made an album that was worth listening to the whole way through.
Sadly, their 2014 record “V” does not break the streak. While the beats are catchy, the lyrics fall flat and have no feeling. Lead singer Adam Levine spends every track trying to sell the lyrics to the listener, giving them more power and passion than they are worth.
Nine out of the 11 tracks sound like the band is desperately trying to recreate their 2011 smash hit “Moves Like Jagger.” One of the slower tracks, “Leaving California,” was co-written by Fun’s lead singer, Nate Ruess and obviously so.
The song sounds like Maroon 5, with Ruess’ help, and tries to produce a hit equivalent to Fun.’s “We Are Young” or “Some Nights”.
The closing track “My Heart is Open” is a piano duet with Levine’s “The Voice” co-star, Gwen Stefani.
Her vocal style gives a nice touch to the ballad and it thankfully sounds like the band’s old music, giving hope that they are still in touch with their 1994 roots.
This record is possibly a product of the band trying (and failing) to keep up with the rapidly changing sounds, but after 10 years of making music, they seem to be simply running out of ideas.
It might be that Maroon 5 has lost its creative minds, trying to produce sugared-down pop alternative rock that teenagers seem to like.
This latest attempt might get Maroon 5 a spot on the charts, but it is not really working for them.
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