Once upon a time, Maroon 5 were a real band. With Songs About Jane, Maroon 5s sleeper hit of a 2002 debut album, these guys presented themselves as potential saviours of pop music. Not quite a boy band and not quite a mainstream rock group, Adam Levine and company blended pop, R&B, jazz, soul, and elements of classic rock and roll into an unstoppable hit vehicle. Pop smashes like "This Love," "Harder to Breathe," and "She Will Be Loved" are the songs that most people remember, but the deep cuts of that record showed a band with real chops and a cool set of influences. In the years since that album however, Maroon 5 have devolved into a computerised version of their former selves. On "Overexposed," the bands appropriately titled 2012 disc, all of the soul of the debut had finally dissolved, completely replaced by cookie-cutter radio pop. The change has been underscored by the gradual shift away from organic instrumentation within the band. While only one band member has departed since "Songs About Jane," youd be hard pressed to find a trace of anyone other than frontman Adam Levine on the songs from "Overexposed." In fact, on its biggest hits, from "Payphone" to "One More Night" to "Daylight" all helmed by famous pop producers like Max Martin, Shellback, and Benny Blanco "Overexposed" sounds less like a band than it does a demonstration for all of ProTools slickest tricks. Anyone who has ever heard Levine sing live knows that the computerisation doesnt end with the musical arrangements either. Suffice to say that, for a guy who judges a show called "The Voice," Levine sure uses a lot of vocal augmentation to help with those high notes.
Craig is a Chicago-based freelance writer who like to talk incessantly about music on AbsolutePunk.net. He also does writing for marketing companies to "pay the bills," but his true passion lies with the pop culture sphere.
