10 Rock Songs That Killed Bands' Career
3. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5
When you look back on the early years of Maroon 5, there's pretty much nothing that reminds you of the band that we know today. As opposed to the manufactured pop sound that we know and love(?) now, these guys were actually a pretty decent pop rock band, taking elements of funk and soul and incorporating it into some pretty decent rock music. Once Adam Levine got ahold of his star power though, Moves Like Jagger signaled the end of everything.
From the inclusion of Christina Aguilera to the two chords that repeat without fail for the entire track, this is basically just a snippet of a song that they stretched out for 3 minutes. Outside of the lack of effort, Levine also sounds like trash compared to his normal voice, taking the natural charisma of a song like This Love and layered digital effects on it until it sounds like it could have been sung by anyone.
For a band that's using this as a sort of victory lap, it feels treasonous to have them compare themselves to Mick Jagger on this song, looking to capture some classic rock worship that isn't really there. You're no Mick Jagger, Levine....you're just a guy looking to wear rock and roll as a mask instead of actually picking up a guitar.