Album Review - Maroon 5, "Hands All Over"

Megan Purazrang
WCB Music Writer

  
Maroon 5 
Hands All Over   
Released - August 18, 2010 
Producers - Robert John "Mutt" Lange,
Shellback, Benny Blanco
Label -  A&M/Octone

Something that is never at question is how successful a Maroon 5 album release will be. Since the debut album Songs about Jane was released in 2002, the pop-rock band had immediate and strongly recognizable hit singles such as “She Will Be Loved,” “Sunday Morning” and “This Love,” which allowed a worldwide interest to begin. This is without a doubt connected to lead vocalist Adam Levine’s distinguishing high pitch serenade.  The album to follow was It Won’t Be Soon Before Long (2007).

This trend is no different when it comes to their 2010 Hands All Over album. (Of course, The Voice hiring Levine as a coach most likely accompanied the successful album run.)

The introductory track is “Misery” and it is led by the staccato drum style of Matt Flynn and an up-tempo vibe along with a title that leaves no lyrical explanation. The single “Never Going to Leave This Bed” is the fifth track on the album also a song about distraught love. The bass line keeps the pulse of the song flowing in a lively manner.

The self-titled track “Hands All Over,” embraces a rock and soul essence. Unlike the draining theme of heart achy lugubrious, this song brings the saucy counter feelings to the table. It wouldn’t be appropriate to be a judge on popular music show and not have a featuring artist – but in this case they featured two. The most popular track of recent is “Move like Jagger” featuring co-coach on The Voice Christina Aguilera. The song is has a constant moving melody and easily catchy. The record ends with a sad ballad with a sluggish tempo and featuring cross-genre hit artist Lady Antebellum.

Maroon 5 always has something positive to bring the scene, it may be predictable but that is just how the music scene tends to be when dealing with popularity. Their use of a variety of genre styles is the key to their experimentation and growth. Maroon 5’s fourth record Overexposed was released on June 26, 2012.