I know many of you may baulk at the inclusion of a review of Maroon 5 on the Rhythm & Booze site and to be honest I can understand why, the quintet’s recent output my have dominated the airwaves but in truth the likes of Moves Like Jagger has dogged the true music fan, the band seem to be somewhat unavoidable at the moment, with Mum’s, younger sisters and pop lovers the world over, flooding to their local supermarkets to pick up the band’s latest wares. (new album the rather aptly entitled Overexposed available now.

Well now whilst the iron is red hot (and coinciding with the tenth anniversary) the band decide to strike with the reissue of their debut, Grammy winning album Songs About Jane in new extended two disc format, featuring a plethora of rare and unreleased demos and B-Sides.

Much like now, ten years ago Maroon 5 dominated the radio airwaves (to the point of nausea) with the likes of This Love, Sunday Morning and She Will Be Loved, middle of the road safe pop rockers that saw Adam Levine and the boys seduce the nation with their faceless, bland sound-a-like wares. The album on the whole follows in much the same pattern as the aforementioned mega selling singles, the band serve the occasional funk ridden number such as Shiver, the “cough” rocker Harder To Breathe and the softer, more restrained one, Secret.

Highlights are rather thin on the ground for a music lover like me, sure there are a few tasty licks here and there and Adam’s near falsetto is an impressive weapon but on the whole there’s very little to lift the album out of the “comfort zone”.

The second disc of demos and unreleased material is pretty much more of the same, the demo version of Sunday Morning is laced with jazzy horns, whilst the other album tracks offer slight variations on the finished articles. Of the extra non-album tracks Take What You Want is worth mentioning as it’s pretty much the only track over the entire two discs that really see’s the band cut loose and rock out.

There’s also a documentary on here, accessible via your computer, so you too can discover how to charm housewives and write anthems for sheep.

If you already have an affinity for Maroon 5 and you’re something of a completest you might find something of interest on here, if however, like me, the very idea of daytime regional radio or commercial pap chills you to spine I suggest you avoid this like the plague.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 4

www.maroon5.com

‘Songs About Jane’ 10^th Anniversary Edition

Deluxe LP released June 25^th

It’s been a decade since Maroon 5 burst onto the music scene with ‘Songs About Jane’, their No.1, multi-platinum selling debut album of June 2002 which yielded five hit singles; ‘Harder to Breathe’, ‘This Love’, ‘She Will Be Loved’, ‘Sunday Morning’ and ‘Must Get Out’.
To mark the occasion, the deluxe ‘Songs About Jane’ 10^th Anniversary edition is being released by A&M/Octone on June 25th as a two-CD set, which includes demos of the 12 original songs and previously unreleased tracks like ‘Take What You Want,’ ‘Woman’ and ‘Chilly Winter,’ as well as ‘Rag Doll’ (a non-album B-side) and an alternative mix of ‘The Sun.’

The second disc provides access to two videos on www.maroon5.com

through PUSH technology when the CD is inserted into a computer, including unreleased in studio footage of the making of  ‘Songs About Jane’ and the official electronic press kit for the album.

It’s been quite a year for Adam Levine, who joined The Voice US for the first two seasons, and Maroon 5, who are also set to release their fourth studio album, ‘Overexposed’, on June 25^th via A&M/Octone, executive produced by Max Martin, with additional tracks produced by Benny Blanco and Ryan Tedder.

Three-time GrammyAward winners Maroon 5 have sold more 27 million albums worldwide – going gold and platinum in more than 35 countries with 2007’s platinum selling LP release ‘It Won’t Be Soon Before Long’ charting at No.1 in the UK and 2010’s ‘Hands All Over’ peaking at No.6.

The full tracklisting for ‘Songs About Jane’ 10^th Anniversary Edition is:

Disc 1:

1) Harder To Breathe

2) This Love

3) Shiver

4) She Will Be Loved (Radio Mix)

5) Tangled

6) The Sun

7) Must Get Out

8) Sunday Morning

9) Secret

10) Through With You

11) Not Coming Home

12) Sweetest Goodbye

Disc 2:

1) Harder To Breathe (Demo)

2) This Love (Demo)

3) Shiver (Demo)

4) She Will Be Loved (Demo)

5) Tangled (Demo)

6) The Sun (Demo)

7) Must Get Out (Demo)

8) Sunday Morning (Demo)

9) Secret (Demo)

10) Through With You (Demo)

11) Not Coming Home (Demo)

12) Sweetest Goodbye (Demo)

13) Take What You Want (Demo)

14) Rag Doll (Original Demo/Non-LP International B-Side)

15) Woman (Demo)

16) Chilly Winter (Demo)

17) The Sun (Alternate Mix)

PUSH video content:

1) The Making of “Songs About Jane” In Studio Footage

2) The Official “Songs About Jane” EPK