Recorded in Los Angeles, CA in late 2011 and early 2012, Maroon 5′s fourth studio album Overexposed is a rich, pop-infused collection of tracks. The album was executive produced by Max Martin with additional tracks produced by Benny Blanco and Ryan Tedder. Maroon 5′s musicianship and frontman Adam Levine’s vocals are as distinct as ever on Overexposed, continuing to showcase the band’s ability for creating songs that have become part of the fabric of pop and rock music today. Maroon 5 began writing and recording the album during their most recent world tour and the resulting collection is chock-full of undeniable, anthemic melodies. The album includes such stand out tracks as the emphatic Payphone featuring Wiz Khalifa, the irresistible One More Night and the rythmic ballad Beautiful Goodbye.
$ 10.83
“Disappointing” would be putting it lightly,
A lot of critical things have been said about this album (see sampling below), but I think the most accurate and important one is this: “On much of the album, Maroon 5 barely sound like a band at all.”
That’s because Maroon 5 no longer really exists. They are no longer creating their own music. They recognized that all of the current hit music falls under categories like “disco-flavored dance-floor filler” or “dance-pop glitz,” and they knew to sell songs they’d need to hire outside help. Who’d they hire? Look up names like Max Martin, Ryan Tedder, Shellback, and Benny Blanco–these people are the new “Maroon 5,” and they are also Pink and Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson and Usher and Britney Spears and Taio Cruz and Adele and OneRepublic and Gym Class Heroes and Sean Paul and Avril Lavigne and Justin Bieber and Ke$ha and Flo Rida and Pitbull. I’m not making this up–it is a fact that almost all of the music we hear on the radio is created by the same few guys whose names you probably haven’t heard.
I think it would be fair to say that the Billboard 100 has never been in such a sad, homogenous state, and I think it would also be fair to say that the release of this album confirms that modern hit music is vapid and soulless–it is little more than brand names selling catchy hooks created by anonymous dance-pop gurus.
Adam Levine himself admits that Overexposed “is definitely our poppiest album yet,” and he admits that he has a “love/hate relationship with it.” Maybe he’ll get back to doing what he loves if we stop buying dance-pop glitz.
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Other things that have been said about this album:
* “Every song sounds as if it was custom made to play behind the montage of someone’s ‘journey’ in a TV talent show.” (The Independent)
* “It seems more like a collaboration between Swedish hitmakers and AutoTune than between Levine and members of his band.” (The Washington Post)
* “Even with various superstar producers on board, including Max Martin and Ryan Tedder, the album is stridently homogenous.” (Boston Globe)
* “Overexposed is a hit-seeking missile that doesn’t just slaughter Maroon 5′s reputation for sincerity, it festoons its corpse with glitter.” (The Washington Post)
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|Really fun album!,
After seeing so many bad reviews, I felt I had to weigh in. This album is definitely more “poppy” than their others, and that may be disappointing to some of Maroon 5′s loyal fans. While I am usually not one to dig pop songs, this CD makes me want to sing along and dance in my car. Granted, there are a couple of duds on this album, in particular “Sad”, but most of the others are just fun. I am hoping they will go on tour for this album soon because I can’t wait to see them perform these songs live. Don’t over-think this album. Just sit back, crank it up, and enjoy.
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|Clean Version,
Yes, this is the clean version. Edited songs are Payphone, Tickets, and Wasted Years. The explicit version shows [Explicit] in the album title.
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