Review Summary: Maroon 5 get new drummer and get hairier, sexier, funkier and downright better while they're at it on second LP.
Five years? Is that honestly how long it’s been since Maroon 5’s debut smash “Songs About Jane”? It really doesn’t seem that way at all.
It could be because the band’s successes really came in 2004 with hits like “Harder To Breathe”, “This Love” and, of course, “She Will Be Loved”. It could be the fact that radio STILL hasn’t left that record alone. Or it could be that all those songs about Jane, love or hate them, have lasting quality that made the band so appealing to begin with.
It was going to be a big task to follow it up. Nevertheless, Maroon 5 have actually succeeded and created a truly fantastic album in It Won’t Be Soon before Long- an orgy of pop, rock, funk, soul and jazz that becomes more and more listenable on every listen.
It seems pretty obvious, going from the first two tracks “If I Never See Your Face Again” and “Makes Me Wonder”, that the band have found the funk. Singer/guitarist Adam Levine’s voice is, as always, distinctive and recognizable, but it also appears to have taken on a new found sexiness and confidence that you wouldn’t even come close to finding on the first record. The falsetto is still present, but stronger than ever, in addition to some flourishing vocal harmonies.
This change, too, is present in the lyrical content- lyrics like “If I never see your face again, I don’t mind” and “You don’t have the time/ and it really makes me wonder if I ever gave a f*ck about you” are proof enough that these are not love songs that the band are writing.
The strongest case here is “Wake Up Call”- a seriously funky song with a seriously dark underbelly. Levine paints a protagonist of a manic lover who catches his significant other in the midst of an affair and takes matters into his own hands. You won’t pick up on this the first time, maybe like the first time you listened to “Hey Joe”, but when it strikes a chord, it will strike very loudly and very prominently.
Elsewhere on the record, it seems the band have also discovered The Police (see “I Won’t Go Home Without You” and “Not Falling Apart”), a way to tweak with the mainstream guitar pop format (extremely present on album standout “Can’t Stop”) and…don’t laugh…Burt Bacharach (closing ballad “Back At Your Door”).
And it all works- the up-tempo tracks have tremendous energy, and the slower tracks, while occasionally repetitive, have wonderful emotional sentiment and often feature Levine at his vocal finest.
The guitar work on this album is also a hugely notable improvement from Jane, with James Valentine having some very memorable and catchy riff efforts, sounding like everyone from Andy Summers to Joe Trohman. His true standout, though, is the outro of “Kiwi”. The song is far and away the most psychedelic and rocked out thing the band have done, with verse instrumentation that could have been an outtake of Freaky Styley and dirty innuendo spattered throughout the lyrics. And when the guitar solo kicks in, it’s as sexy and wild as anything.
The song could make the late Rick James sound like an Evangelist reverend; and Maroon 5 can proudly stick this one up as one of the top songs of their career.
This record also marks the first recordings with new drummer Matt Flynn, and he really has brought something to the table with this album. The funk that is present in the bulk of this album would not be there if not for this guy’s very tight work behind the kit, his change in rhythms and tempos practically seamless.
Even though Levine, Flynn and Valentine are all key contributor’s to the record’s sound, bassist Mickey Madden and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael unfortunately play less of one. The bass is always present, but never outstanding, usually just following the guitar; and the effective keyboard moments are too far and few between.
Whilst this is slightly disappointing, it is only a handful of cons on an album absolutely full of pros- a slightly-left-of-centre pop triumph with top-notch production and excellent consistency. It’s a record that will keep old fans on board and, with any luck, win them a whole bunch of new ones.
