Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long

I got the new Maroon 5 a little earlier than it's American release as a gift from a friend of mine who had received it from the band themselves. I got the Japanese extended version of the album, which I understand has 3 extra tracks on the record, so please forgive me if I speak about songs that are not on the American release.

On to the review:

I can still remember where I was the first time I heard "Harder to Breathe" back in late 2003. I was pulling out of my guitar player's driveway and had just turned on the car and radio was blasting B93.7, our local Greenville Hits station. As the song coursed through my car's crappy speakers, I knew that this band or artist, whatever it was, was something different. The song was funky and rocking, and I wanted to hear it again. As the song finished, the DJ said it was a band called Maroon 5 and I remember thinking that was kind of a weird name, but the next day, I went out and bought the album.

"Songs About Jane" was a good record but a little incomplete, in my opinion. It had hits and a couple of great songs outside of the hits, but there was a bunch of filler. Where that record failed, this album makes up for in spades.

It's rare that every track on a record is worthy of a listen, but this album comes through on that level. Starting off with the funky Michael Jackson/Quincy Jones infused "If I Never See Your Face Again" the band lets you know that it is at its funky best and really never lets up till the closing notes of "Losing My Mind".

I don't know that there has been a catchier hook in recent memory than the chorus of "Makes Me Wonder". The verses are weaker, but the payoff on the chorus is well worth the wait. The song also includes one of the best pre-choruses I can remember with the lines: "I still don't have a reason/And you don't have the time/And it really makes me wonder if I ever gave a ____ about you" - the melody leading to the chorus is great, plus it adds a release from the tension created by the opening/verse chord progession. I won't say it's a perfect song, because the verses are a little weak, but there aren't a lot of songs in the last 5 years that got me like this one did, with the exception of maybe "This Love" from the band's debut.

"Little of Your Time", "Wake Up Call", "Can't Stop", "Kiwi", "Untill You're Over Me", and "Infatuation" show the band at it's funky best. I'm not a huge fan of funk, but Maroon 5's walking the thin line between funk and pop is reminiscent of 80's Michael Jackson, in that it's successful in melding the two while making it palatable to the mass audience. My favorite of the funky tracks (outside of "Makes Me Wonder") is "Wake Up Call". The song is basically the story of Adam Levine's (lead singer) character walking in to find his lover with another man, and how the character reacts to said developments. Not the brightest of songs, but if I'm guessing it will be a huge hit...strangely enough, the darkest song lyrically is one of the catchiest musically.

The band does stray away from the upbeat funk long enough to let loose several songs that are bound to be in 13 year old's mix tapes for years to come. "Won't Go Home Without You" is this album's answer to "She Will Be Loved"; "Nothing Last Forever" hashes out the chorus used on the Kanye West hit "Heard 'em Say" to make a song that I have a feeling will be a hit; "Goodnight, Goodnight" enters territory I haven't heard from this band before, starting off sounding like a Three Doors Down and moving into Coldplay-esque territory.

Some of my favorite songs on the album are songs that are clearly homages to the band's influences. "Not Falling Down" starts off sounding like a modern take on Sting and the Police, giving it a modern twist on the chorus. "Better That We Break" is an obvious homage to the Beatles, with it's "Hey Jude" rhythmic structure and chord change. "Back At Your Door", with it's 6/8 piano ballad feel and lush string arrangement feels like a 60's jazz-infused pop that Dusty Springfield or Smokey Robinson would have felt comfortable singing.

All in all, this record is an incredible record. I don't know that it will have as huge a hits ("This Love" is a tough act to follow), but in my opinion the record has more hits on it. Every song on this record is enjoyable on some level.

The album gets 4.8 out of 5 stars.