Following
their barely successful third album, Hands All Over, Maroon 5 has returned
with Overexposed, an album that is overexposed with too much generic pop
sounds and nothing solely original.
The band’s
release of the number one hit "Moves Like Jagger” was their last album’s most
successful single, but it came at the expense of it being a re-issue. With an
infectious whistle and a fun beat, “Moves” probably sucked a lot of originality
and star power from this once wildly original band.
Overexposed
starts off with a forgetful, reggae-scented track called “One More Night,” and
serves as the second single on the album. The second track, and first single,
“Payphone,” featuring rapper Wiz Khalifa, is one of the better tracks on the
album, but still tends to get annoying after a while.
I think it’s because singer Adam
Levine has a high voice and some of the notes he hits are just too extravagant
for my liking. It’s definitely not a bad song, but with radio overkill for the
past two months, it’s just a bit much.
After “Payphone,” the album plays
around with a different medley of sounds and genres without a clear focus on
what this band is trying to do. It’s been 10 years since their debut album, Songs About Jane, came out, and the band has definitely lost their rocker
edge since then.
Take the track “Lucky Strike.” It’s
a pretty good track with a nice tempo, but it sounds so boy band-ish to me. The
“oh oh oh’s” of the chorus sounds like the constant chanting of any song by the
British group The Wanted, but teeters on the verge of the Nickelodeon stupidity
of Big Time Rush.
The band also recycles some disco
and pop moods on the tracks “Tickets,” “Doin’ Dirt,” and “Lady Killer,” all of
which are pretty forgetful. “Tickets” even sounded like a rejected ABBA track
from way back when.
Alas, there were some highlights on
the album like the soothing “Daylight.” A track about not wanting to leave your
loved one when morning comes around, it stood out strongly from everything else
on the album. Levine’s vocals are more restrained and tolerable than a few
other songs on here, and the lyrics are beautiful.
“And when the daylight comes I'll have to go, but tonight I'm
gonna hold you so close. Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own, but tonight
I need to hold you so close,” Levine sings passionately.
Where all the other songs felt almost endless, this is the
one I wish were longer.
“Sad,” evokes an almost hokey Billy Joel vibe, with its
strong lyrics and sole piano accompaniment.
I think this is the strongest track for Levine’s vocals, which showcases
his lower register while balancing with his usual high notes.
I got a sense of Adele’s album 21 on this track. With
heartbreaking lyrics about regret over losing a loved one, it sounds like the
cousin track to her hit “Someone Like You.” It’s definitely another highlight
of the album.
While the album’s opening was forgetful, it’s bookend,
“Beautiful Goodbye,” was just that, beautiful. “Beautiful” sounds like
something you would listen to on a Caribbean island, with some nice rhythms and
a vintage record sound underlying the background. It also reminded me of Bruno
Mars’ song “The Lazy Song.”
While definitely not the worst
album of the year, it might be one of the worst for Maroon 5. Overexposed is
an album where the intrigue of it was propelled by “Payphone,” but won’t
prosper beyond that.
