Review Summary: With a slick mix of Prince and Sting, Maroon 5 emerge as a power pop outfit to be reckoned with, filling the airwaves with the soundtrack to summer 2007.
After six years pining away in brit-pop simulacrum Kara’s Flowers, the four original members of the band that would later become Maroon 5 wised up. Adding guitarist James Valentine was just the wake up call that the boys needed to turn from syrupy ballads to funky soul-pop and break into mainstream charts with debut Songs About Jane. Sure lead-singer Adam Levine and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael spent some time in New York “discovering” Stevie Wonder and an urban sensibility, but it didn’t hurt that Valentine was a Berklee classmate of John Mayer, who granted Maroon 5 an opening act on his tour in 2002. Nevertheless, their song-writing talent was always plain to see. Principal writers Levine and Carmichael have a definite knack for melody and progression, even if the early Kara’s Flowers material lacked attitude, direction, and production value. What’s more, while Maroon 5 faltered during mid-tempo excursions on its debut, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long displays maturity not just in the pop-funk tracks, but also in the slower tunes, which have a posture that previously was lacking.
It Won’t Be Soon Before Long is blatantly embossed with Prince methodology, but not to the degree of forgery. What’s most impressive about this sophomore release is Maroon 5’s ability to emulate the styles of artists such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Sting, and even their former selves (Kara’s Flowers), and in so doing create their own sound that is without question distinctive and natural. While the first album displayed a reliance on the pop-soul of Stevie Wonder and topped the charts for nearly four years, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long reveals a penchant for the Minneapolis Sound and proves that Maroon 5 has only just begun to hit stride.
Detractors will argue that the album sounds overproduced and lifeless, mostly due to the drum-machine style and slick tone of faster tracks, but it is precisely these traits that give the album its groove and pop quality. Pop music is made for dancing and from the first riff of “If I Never See Your Face Again” the intention is clear: don’t stop ‘til you get enough.
The album does miscue, however, such as in “Little Of Your Time” when the chorus seems to inappropriately shift mood, or as evidenced by flimsy lyrics strewn throughout (“If you needed love, well then ask for love, could have given love, now I’m taking love”). Even in “Won’t Go Home Without You”, the prospective follow-up to hit ballad “She Will Be Loved”, the Sting emulation is not enough to salvage a lumbering groove and detached vocal. But these intermittent blemishes are unable to detract from an album that has potential to produce better than four hit songs.
In Levine’s defense the lyrics aren’t all bad. “Nothing Lasts Forever”, the original song that gave rise to Kanye West’s “Heard ‘Em Say”, houses some of the best lines on the album, and coupled with a strong melodic bass-line, Maroon 5 seem to master what Kara’s Flowers vainly attempted. Listeners are also treated with some tasteful King Of Pop styling in the muted guitar hidden in the background of lead single “Makes Me Wonder” and in the vocal ad-libs of “Kiwi”, which also incorporates a bit of New Wave pads and 80’s call-and-response via sultry female vocal.
Ultimately, to the chagrin of many, Maroon 5 fuse together the branding of multiple pop predecessors to issue an album that undeniably has a sound all its own. Funky it its own right and melodic as a natural progression from the dust of Kara’s Flowers, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long certifies Maroon 5 as a pop force to be reckoned with. While “as the summer fades” the novelty might slip away, the catchiness of the tunes will carry this album until the five-some once again invade the charts with power pop. Until then, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long is the standard soundtrack to this years’ summer vacation.
4 / 5 stars
- Jonathan Kroening
http://www.itsjustmusic.net
Highlights:
- “If I Never See Your Face Again”
- “Makes Me Wonder”
- “Wake Up Call”
- “Kiwi”
