Maroon 5
Maroon 5 Songs About Jane
(J)
Review by Matt Robinson
Maroon
5- To whom might that refer? On the surface, it seems to refer to the
members of this poppy quintet (a la The Dave Clark Five, etc.). In
listening to the record, however, another group of potential refer-ees
emerge- namely the principle influences that permeate this album. For
example, “Sunday Morning” is Jamiroquai end to end, “The Sun” includes New
Bohemian guitar work, and “She Will Be Loved,” combines unnecessarily
overproduced front vocals with Sting-y backgrounds. Even Stevie Wonder
pops up here and there. So who could that fifth be? No matter- it’s all
good. In fact, it’s often better than good! Taking catchiness to new
heights, the mysteriously-monickered Maroon 5 take some of the best of
their collective musical memories and bring them through to the
even-more-modern age. Along the way, they leave a trail of hooky grooves
and simply strong performances that should stand at least the abbreviated
test of time that faces most Pop today.
So who is Jane?
- Matthew S. Robinson
c. 2004, M. S. Robinson, ARR
|