[omrimayo]

Wipe your Eyes is the ONLY real good song in thi salbum and it's only in the deluxe and never gets realesed???
Such a BAD album, what happened to them!!@*&^@!

[gallimel]

Okay... longest post ever on ATRL... but it's not like you are obliged to read it (it's in 2 pages )

MY REVIEWWWWWW (I spent two hours writing it.. sorry if there will be typos or whatever mistake but I have a house to keep now and I can't spend more time than I did already over it )

Overexposed - Maroon 5 - Octone Records - June 2012

So here I am with this long overdue review of a record that, I better state immediately, really pleases me, and it does more so with each further listening.

I will try to express what the record feels like for me from a sort of “detached” point of view, but if some of you will like to go in the “insight” part I tried to give over each song, you will get more into what the record is supposed to be, out of a superficial impact the majority of people naturally will have.

I do believe (and the widest part of my music loving friends agree on this, and they have helped shape my impressions over this record too, as you have got from my past posts about it) that once music ain’t pre-fabricated, and the creators of it try to paint memory pictures of their lives through the exposition of some sort of really lived up frames, then any genre of it can have value.

I like pop if pop is sincere, just as much I am into rock music, and indie music, which more naturally seem to be connected with some sort of humanly lived truths generally.

I was scared a bit about Maroon 5 turning “full pop”, but unlike some of my closest friends, I had always faith they wouldn’t have screwed up the core of their inspiration “for money”.

Therefore I expected a record with a newer and poppier and more “kissing ass” type of sound, sure, but I was being confident that wold have not erased the true roots of what their songs have always represented to me for ten years, namely a beautiful, intense, often tearful series of pictures out of a singer songwriter life, that by accident has always looked very dorky interesting to me.

I like to think of Maroon 5 songs like the messy life diary of Adam Levine and his crazy, chaotic, romantic but always destined to fail love links.
I don’t know why but that grabs my attention: I don’t care about tabloids and I never read gossip magazines or sites unless I am at hairdresser - that’s the only thing you can read about there - but I somehow fall at times for some celebrities’ life antics. I wouldn’t care at all about those though if they were not put in musical forms through songwriting.
It’s hard to explain, but I hope you understand what I am trying to say there.

It’s funny for me to decode true life out from that... is like following a movie series or a series of books... somehow I always connected; it hasn’t happen often with other people’s music (and you can’t force that type of connection... you either feel an interest or not): probably only with Oasis’ music and Garbage’s one I had and still have (regarding Noel) the same olistic approach.

So let’s go into each song, together. (the writing credits go generally this way in records: first name is for the lyrics (and lyrics + music in the case of that first name being Adam), then it comes the music, then when post-given the production, so remember that when reading my review, because it’s important to know who is responsible for what )

The album opens up with one of my (and everyone I know) favorite:

One More Night. (8 on 10 for me) - Adam Levine, Shellback, S.K. & Max Martin

This reggae infused track has been explained on spotify by Adam and James as James’ absolute favorite and in Adam’s best crop of it; the sound they say is what they would love to push furtherly in their NEXT record, namely the fusion of reggae and dancey vibes with a guitar sound over a slight pop electro beat.
The song is happy, groovy, not too obvious in its rythm and it has something slightly hypnotic about it. It’s really a wonderful pop song, and the wayit’s a not so subtle singalong, but it maintains a very distinctive beat is very captivating to me.
It’s an EXCELLENT Summer Song choice (and in the past Maroon 5 were not really good in picking Summer tunes well out of their deck of sonic cards...)
Adam is a huge Bob Marley fan, and the song is about the perception of a relationship that is going downhill, and you know it clearly, but you just can’t cut ties yet, because something holds you on over it.
OMN depicts that “still gluing” factor as a sexual one, which works well with the beats and the dancey sexy feeling of Summer, but its nuances of disillusion could apply to many other relationship minus and pluses.

Now for the further insight over the trueness of the song, if you like you can read this: you know what I think about the video (and I think it’s another insight over the song meaning actually): the video tells that once career and family clash, you pursuing the first will drive the latter to crumble. This song is a take on one of the main reasons Adam and his former girlfriend Anne V split over: their time together was reduced too much due to their careers; this song is about the moments when they were trying to keep themselves glued to one another sexually to avoid a split that was inevitable given that their life patters were going way too detached from one another.

Then it comes

Payphone (7.5 on 10 to me) - Adam Levine, Benjamin Levin (Benny Blanco), Ammar Malik, Dan Omelio, Shellback and C. Thomaz

Payphone is a good compromise between the old style of Maroon 5 in Hands All Over, and the new direction they wanted for this record. The lyrics still long enough compared to some other songs in Overexposed, and the beat although reminiscent in its scheme (the chorus first) of Stereo Hearts (Benny Blanco being behind both tunes) has a kick ass attitude that immediately either clicks with you or not.
Adam and James said on Spotify about PP that when they first heard the music Blanco was preparing for it weren’t thrilled, but after Adam wrote the lyrics, that were intended to give a deeper and truetr meaning to the poppiness of the music, they felt okay with the results. That’s important: Adam says he likes the pissed off attitude of the chorus because it balances the other part which may be overly romantic - and they are - and this tells you in the end the song is meant to be a sort of “go off and **** you thanks” type of message.
The bold yet somehow frajile claims out of the lyrics are to me very well intertwined with the music beats, which sound bipolar as well; and I do love Wiz rap in it, because it’s the same perception about how a relationship that you wanted, but is no more firstly destroys you but once you’re over it - and this song is in that transitional moment between the melancholy and the awareness of being done for good surfaces - it gives you push for getting better and fluorish again for the true one you are.
I think Payphone was an excellent first single choice and even though it has polarized people, the fact it has been so well received worldwide (their fifth Worldwide Number one, which is amazing!) tells the song has a very good value which transcends bounderies of Countries’ tastes.

For the insight on the song, Adam described the song in an interview when it firstly came out as “willingly to be romantic, but without giving up on your true essence of person.” That means the song underline is this, regarding the message it holds on his past love story: I tried my best for this and you, but I won’t change who I am for you till the point I wouldn’t be myself no more. Adam recorded the song at the middle of January; his tweets around that time were at times strangely connecting with the fact no love effort would be right if it came to change the core of a personality. It’s clear that he was referring to the fact by those times he and Anne V were arguing MASSIVELY over the fact she wanted a commitment from him - engagement - and he couldn’t bend to the idea - thing that he has always stated clearly. Probably the song was written around the time insiders say they split firstly - before trying to patch up things in February, and before they tried to see what would have been like being away from one another enough to finally cut all the ties - albeit painfully - between 21 February and 29 March. Payphone seem a very strange and funny song but I felt it always, trying to connect it with the backgrounds of Adam’s life we as fans were allowed to sneak in, that it is one of the most intense and personal songs of the record, and I praise the way thay made this sound not self-indulgent or whiney at all (Misery for instance was way more whiney, and it was mirroring a similar moment in time).

Daylight (7 on 10 to me) - Adam Levine, Max Martin, Samm&Mason Levy

Daylight... it’s the song on the record I am always more fluctuant about and that is why I gave it only a 7, even though I think it’s an awesome love song.
The song is the most typical “old style” Maroon 5 ballad in the record as far as sounds and Adam’s vocals go.
It’s SHOCKINGLY a complete happy song though(I recall only Sunday morning being this happy and romantic in their past) and it’s Adam’s favorite track on the album (Spotify and other sources). He wrote it all by himself, and it’s easy to understand what it is about: the song paints the wee hours of the morning of two lovers which will be soon separated after a certain time together; they don’t want that time to come, and the song, sonically and wordly is the quintessential super sweet embracing tune. There’s a glance of triumphant production, even if low-keyed, that many have connected to Coldplay and rightly so... Adam is a HUGE Coldplay fan and that is not surprisning. the song will do well in singalongs on tour, but sometimes if I am not overly involved in the listening and I keep the track in background, I don’t get moved by it as for instance I get when I listen to the sadder ballads on Overexposed.
Maybe I am masochistic?

The insight places this song very early in year 2011 (even if it probably was adjusted by July/August 2011, before Maroon 5 embarked in their past summer tour and Adam and Anne would not see one another for almost 6 weeks). Those two moments were both out of long weeks of time spent together by the two... in both cases almost a month entire of life toegether which would be huge for far away lovers who normally could spend no more than 5 days in row together. Around the time Adam and Anne went to a vacation together in between January and February 2011, Adam wrote on twitter that he was “feeling forever changed” and that he was starting to write a song “that was feeling like She Will Be Loved” (the song he links the vibe of Daylight with in interviews). After July 2011 he re-stated something similar, and also in that case the two had spent many weeks together in Los Angeles, living the “almost married” type of routine while he was involved with The Voice (that was the time they shot the Vogue cover together naked... the moment of their maximum connection also as spread off for media to be seen: they had the total look of love painted all over their faces and whoever was folowing them on twitter couldn’t escape the spell).
I love that this still Adam’s favorite song on the record because it means there is absolute NO bad blood between him and his former lover, and being myself romantic I fall for things like these.
Someway it’s like this is the most “Thank you for everything we’ve been, which will be amazing even if it’s now just a memory” song ever, just for the fact that je keeps thinking this is his song on the album, and for instance that song is not... let’s say “Sad”.
It’s a beautiful song... soppy a bit too much for me (without the drama, that pleases me when it’s linked to soppy instead), but beautiful.
I think it could perform well on charts but NOT as well as other songs...mostly like 2007 I won’t Go Home without You (which was again adam’s favorite on IWBSBL).
It’s not as entangling and super connective sonically as a single should be in my opinon. It is though a good Fall song.

Lucky Strike (8.5 on 10) - Adam Levine, Ryan Tedder and Noel Zancanella

This song is THE PERFECT POP SONG on Overexposed. It is. It’s got it all: the groove, the beat, the sexy, the good instrumental kick, the visual, the chorus... EVERYTHING. It’s an infusion of good energy and everyone I know, regardeless of their Maroon 5 degree of like, absolutely love this song.
There’s something that captures your fantasy if you listen to it.. there is a reminiscing (but in positive) of some of the Misery lines and very aptly so. Adam and James said on Spotify that the song was shaped to be an album track (and I hope NOT!!! I want it as a single desperately!!!) where the band could have played all of their instruments well, no matter the final lenghts, to be energetic and mixing the dance pop filters with still some of the rock and funk.
I think the result is amazing. This is my jam when I want to be happy in the morning.

The insight is juicy: This song is in connection with Love Somebody. Back in October Adam wrote on Twitter along Ryan Tedder: they were in the Colorado studios of ryan and they were making these tao songs. They said straight one was a fun song, and the other a very important and romantic song. By those times Adam and Anne were seemingly still very unite; and the songs says that, but with a flip that you will read about in Love Somebody when I get there. About Lucky Strike, the title and the ambient is “bowling-linked”. Adam adores to bowl and whoever has had the pleasure to witness him at the Standard Hotel in LA knows.Adam and Anne along Adam’s friends used to bowl a lot in Summer and fall of 2011, so that is what the title is about: she was his lucky strike by then, and the sexual innuendos of the song don’t need many explanations other than those. I love that the chorus encompass the “She got me bad” out of Misery’s memory because it’s like Adam wanted to address how that line, which was sad in Misery, had been turned in a favorable thing through Anne (which starred in the video of Misery). Maybe I read too much in the lyrics... but I think not. Adam is very much a powerful and great connectors of hints when he writes, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that I suggest was very much his intention too.

The Man Who Never Lied (7.5 on 10) - Adam Levine, Brian West and Marius Moba.

On Spotify Adam said that this is “an HONEST song about, how ironic, lying”. And there we know the lyrics of the song are the most important thing. He said also he loves how the song has a very peculiar and “out of context” somehow musical layering compared to the rest of the songs. It’s at the same time meant to be pop because of its singalong-able chorus and “lalalala”, which maes it sound simple and shallowly “easy”... but then the sonic vest turns darker and suspended and you get the song is actually painfully true and personal. i REALLY love the thin unbalanced yet surprisingly fitting cross over between these two opposite elements. I think the song is a standout once you get into its sound; I love the way it’s sung and also its placement in the record (a thing that was certainly carefully studied).

As for the “inside” part... This must be one of the “January songs”, namely those songs spilling over from Adam’s soul when he and Anne first started to crack. I can’t avoid to link the “Hollywood Boulevard” screaming they were throwing at each other with the pictures I saw back in January of them cruising in the new vintage Porsche of Adam; I recall watching the picture a dear friend of mine, VERY into Maroon 5 and back then absolutely in love with the couple Adam + Anne said to me: “They look incredibly angry at each other in these pictures... I don’t like that.” The song speaks about issues and pressures and requests; but the hint that always makes it get its major depth as a song to me is that verse:

“Sometimes honesty is the worst policy
Happy ever after, happy ever after
Let it go, you never need to know
I don't wanna be picking up all of these
Tiny little pieces, tiny little pieces
Of your heart, won't do it anymore”

Adam in those days of January was keeping tweeting strange life messages about inutility of pretending to be someone else for fitting other’s expectations, and how sometimes people prefer lies to truths. I can’t avoid to link those lyrics to a female’s request for a ring or commitment and the very likely menace to leave if not on the verge to obtain it (Anne probably expected a ring for Christmas 2011, but she got a Louis Vuitton bag valuing over 35000 dollars instead...), with the answer in Adam’s head must have been “what do you want me to say? You know I don’t believe in marriage, but if I tell you this once again, you will break down again and I am tired of having you freak out and cry about this, so I won’t tell you my truths anymore, because you just don’t want that, you want your will to take over onto mine, and that’s the beginning of the inevitable end...”.

Whatever your readers opinion on marriage and relationship must be, everyone got to admit this is a pretty thick and sincere subject for a song. When I heard this song I was sure Overexposed was going to be a good record for me, because Adam hadn’t lost his skill of being truthful about his life through his music; he was keeping getting his “life therapy” through creational moments and that, as a fan, deeply satisfies and involves me (but I know this can be only a fan’s necessity... it’s normal if the majority of people listening to these songs could never understand how real and painfully true they are).

Love Somebody (7.5 on 10) - Adam Levine, Ryan Tedder, Noel Zancanella & Nathaniel Motte

I love this song; it’s one of those that grew on me more after the first listening, as soon as I connected with lyrics and overall vibe. This si the second song with Ryan, and Adam said on Spotify the genesis started when Ryan sent to him (then in New York, WITH Anne) pieces of melodies and subject ideas. Too easy to project the fact his declared “total excitement about the music” translated easy, in that situation, in a Love song of quietness and expectation. the rythmic value of the song is aerial tender, caressing... the song and the vocals in it greatly depict the need of love, the moment when you start to perceive that the person you are with is of a different kind than just a drive by link. The song is very pure and mellow... the melody is soothing, and even if it’s a globally very simple song, it can easily connects with your ears and heart, especially if you get into its meaning through memories or expectations about things that are personal to YOU.
The insight though it’s a bit trickier than you could expect: the lyrics are really revealing of a mental and affectively mattering issue that concerns Adam about relationships. He can’t fully surrender to love (anybody who has folowed all of Maroon 5 song lyrics is by now well aware of that... some of the fans say he cannot last more than two years with anybody because after that time, the girls want the commitment and he just CAN’T seemingly give up on that request. Maybe the fact his parents divorced when he was a kid, and his first true love - Jane Herman - painfully affected him when leaving him has left a permanent negativity over his heart nobody seems able to heal? Who knows , let’s hope not for his sake... a life without family ties might be horrible, but a fake life of family ties would surely be worst, on that we might agree probably).
The lyrics of Love somebody (written presumably in the late Summer of 2011 and recorded again in October) tell well the relationship he was having was destined to face soon or later a defining moment. He claims he wants to surrender to love, but then what he states first is that he doesn’t want to “fall for you” because in that case “he would never recover”: that line explains the whole core of the matter: not believing love can forever last (that “happy ever after that doesn’t exist for him in the real world”), he thinks that the moment he would surrender to true love, would be the moment when he would prepare himself for the inevitable demise of that love, from which he wouldn’t be anymore saved from a shield.
I always become sad thinking this is what he feels towards love.
And the way this song affects me has probably very much to do with this overall feeling the lyrics transfer to me.
Again... I love this song because it’s true. It doesn’t try to depict a fictional life, a fictional person, a fictional feeling: it’s real life poured in music. I give double value to these things, I can’t help.

>>> CONTINUES >>>>>

[gallimel]

>>>> Part 2 >>>>>

Lady Killer (6.5/7 on 10) - James Velentine, Mickey Madden & Adam Levine

Lady Killer, along with Tickets and partially Fortune Teller is among the songs that I got into with more time requested until I finally understood their reason to exist.
Let me state that sonically I like them all; I like the darker shades of the rock-disco-electro infusion and in many ways these songs are the most creative part in the research of a new sound (the final output might be or not the best, but it’s undoubtedly a sonic research that we hear over these three tracks). These three songs are mostly the diversions of James and Mickey, with Adam there to patch their ideas in melodies and lyrics (but the lyrics he contributed the most are in Fortune Teller, not here).
What probably sets me a bit off with these three tracks is that forcedly, being them NOT about Anne, or about a lover of Adam, you feel that you are listening to a mood departure from the core of the record. It’s revealing that the most PERSONAL song on the record (Sad) is between the three less personal songs on the record, from Adam’s point of view... it’s like you need to clear your mind before and after Sad, to fully grasp its importance on the whole of Overexposed.

Lady Killer is a nice, enjoyable song, with interesting tidbits, and lyrics that can surely intertwine your mind, but what fails to totally capture me is this essence of “being out off the main field of inspiration” for the record.

The insight on this track (and the other two) is that they were written in November, while Maroon 5 were touring Northern Europe after Victoria’s Secret’s Fashion Show.
It seems that that was a pivotal creative moment actually, and not only regarding these three songs...
There are people saying that the famous line in Payphone when Adam says:

“You say it’s too late to make it,
but is it too late to try?
And in our time that you wasted,
all of our bridges burnt down”

are a hint about the moment when Anne was supposed to join Maroon 5 back from a photoshoot in South Africa to Russia, but she missed the plane and that made Adam really disappointed and starting to question if their relationship was going to survive the impossibility of patching their hectic careers.
Part of this disappointment translate also in the next song...
I trust enough the source that has reported this to a dear friend of mine so I tend to give some relevance to this insight... though no certainty can come clear off it.

Fortune Teller (7 on 10) - James Velentine, Mickey Madden & Adam Levine

Fortune Teller is a bit of an hybrid: it values what I said about Lady Killer, but here the lyrics are more connected also to adam’s situation, so the song has a level-up in my consideration compared to the homogenic feeling this record gives to me.
The melody is a bit monotone, but I think also it fits the subject... it’s like a negative mantra... something that stay stuck in your head when you start to think of bad things looming ahead over and over and over again and you can’t escape a gloom grasp onto your heart, that is start aching.
Again the lyrics are revealing of a complex yet stubborn anti-forever attitude:

“I'm not a fortune teller, I won't be bringing news
Of what tomorrow brings, I'll leave that up to you
I'm not a fortune teller, don't have crystal ball
I can't predict the future, can't see nothing at all

It doesn't mean I'm afraid of all the things that you say
But I just think we should stay stuck in the moment today
And as the seasons roll back, no matter how hard I try
Summer will end and the leaves will turn again”

The insight is in there... again a clear statement about disillusion of forever lasting love and a person who’s starting to grow sick of all the requests and questions for a more stable and organized future together. What makes the lyric being certainly Adam’s is that “it doesn’t mean I’m afraid of all the things you say” which means that he may not believe in need of marriage, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe he could commit to a life with somebody WITHOUT it. In Piers Morgan’s interview in late June/early July 2011 he said clearly he doesn’t probably see himself married -there Anne’s antennas must have risen up) but he certainly sees himself as a father and a family man once his career won’t be as rushing anymore. That fits the vibe of Fortune Teller. And makes it organic with Overexposed, even though in my opinion the song is nothing memorable, although it is surely something nice.

Sad (9 out of 10) - Adam Levine & James Valentine

Oh, how... SAD.
This is my favorite song on the record... the purest form of music art Overexposed has produced. The song that makes me cry. The song that in years will keep me tear up.
It’s a little amazing simple gem. It’s a perfect song that doesn’t need a genre to be felt. It’s just a REAL song. No filters. No bounderies. this is a heart who sings. A soul who sings.
I can’t really explain this to people who are not able to get into this song... I can only feel sad for them if they miss such a real brilliancy.
This song is what makes Overexposed a worthy record; and nothing makes go off my mind that if Overexposed was RnB, or more folkish, this song would have been considered a masterpiece, while instead it will get overlooked in the glitzy sparkling of the new pop sound of the record, and felt like a strange black sheep in there (see Rolling Stone reviewer).
This song NEEDS the insight to be explained and the insight is that on march 20, 2012 Adam shaved his head, and then wrote on twitter he and James were composing a last song for the record. On Spotify he simply says that is the most personal song on Overexposed and that it took him ten minutes to write it. After it, Jesse Carmichael said he played piano to “a beautiful new song by Adam and James” even if in the record they ended up using PJ Morton’s piano part only I fear, for problems with Octone Records (that saddens me if true).
Adam went on stating on twitter that “singing this new song in the studio gives goosebumps”.
It’s the song he wrote when he realized his relationship was ENDED.
It’s peculiar because by March 24, and this we know through the timing and words on Details Magazine, Anne was still with him; but they weren’t physically together since 6 weeks and that was probably their way to slowly and painfully and sadly end with one another letting distance overcome the tragedy of having to face one anotehr and say “Goodbye this time”. They knew they would have probably started it all over again and keep suffering if they had to cut ties face to face...
and everything anyone needs to know about the break up is in THIS SONG.
This perfect, amazing, heartbreaking song.
I don’t know how Adam was able to put on a brave face and record live The Voice episodes... you could tell how destroyed he was, how moody and sad he was... but only after hearing this song you get it all.
The way he sings it... I think this might be his finest performance as a vocalist EVER.
It’s just an outputs of a wounded, crying, yet inevitably aware soul.
I can’t even start to praise him enough for it.
This song says that love he had ended because in the end Adam and Anne, no matter how much they truly believed they loved one another, couldn’t find a compromise between their two different ideas of life together.
And neither of them could sacrifice their own concept to the other one’s.
Tragic and really SAD, in so many ways nobody can count.
I just cannot stop adoring this song.
It’s a rare and true moment of purity in a super pop record and it amazes me with its preciousness so much that my heart is warmer thanx to it.
It’s a masterpiece.
I don’t care what anybody says... to me this is a lifelong gift in music... it’s like Oasis’ Live Forever... I can’t avoid to BE IN THAT SONG with the whole of my humanity.
This is what music should be about.
True feelings, eternally encoded in notes and voices.

Tickets (7 on 10) - James Velentine, Mickey Madden & Adam Levine

To tone down the peaks reached with Sad, it was a good idea to insert another “unpersonal” song, as this one is about probably Mickey or James’ “lady friend”. On Spotify they say the song is about the typical Hollywood princess who wants to have a career without even have to try hard for it; it’s a song about the routines in Hollywood, the fake faces of the nightlife, the arrogance and the glitzes thataffect too many young souls that will never develop.
It’s a nice song because its rythm is carefree but I am sure people can connect to it because we have all met somebody like this person in our life, or soon or later we will.
It’s again a good song, that for me lacks that further layer to really get that plus and that quality of “belonging” to the record.
I understand that these songs could not be bonus tracks though: their less personal quality, I repeat, was important to let Overexposed be a “lighter” record, or we would have gotten “Songs About Anne” and surely that was never the intention neither of Adam, neither of Maroon 5 (there will always be just ONE heartbreak that will shape your life,- and that will always be only Miss Herman for him - ... Adam said it in a tweet 10 days ago to the director of a very famous 80’s movie, Cameron Crowe).

Doin Dirt - (7.5 on 10) Adam Levine & Shellback

This is back in Adam’s territory, but the time is back out of commmiserating haze and we are back in the sexy/disco club and fun territory.
This song is a banger and could do well as single, if released properly and in a convenient time.
It has boosty lyrics and beats, it has a wonderful “Studio 54” feeling at its sonic core, it’s retrò in many ways yet it’s also one of the most contemporary pop productions on Overexposed. I dare you not to shake when hearing it, especially if you’re in the mood.
There are not many layers of meaning... it’s just a feel good sexy song, with hints at doing dirt stuff which is an invite many would take happily at any moment coming from the right mouth
It’s a “just surrender and feel good” type of track, with a very nice and not so obvious melodic line which makes me very satisfied with it.

The insights? It’s probably a song that describes the moment of the two far away lovers, with Skype involved and maybe the difficulty of not stray away in alone times, given chances of “doin dirt”, but waiting for “doing it” with the lover instead.

I like this track a lot
It pumps me up right

Beautiful Goodbye (7.5/8 on 10) - Adam Levine, Benjamin Levin (Benny Blanco) and Ammar Malik

This song is the one that in days has become my listening pleasure.
At first I liked it, I obviously fell to the lyrics because their meaning is deep, but the aerial and someway laid back - yet again slightly reggae - vibe of it seemed off a bit to me. especially as a closing track.
Then I realized the easyness of the music and of the main sung line was due.
This song describes the moment when Adam and Anne spent the last night together (February 2012, before Stern interview of that month) or at the very least something in that vein.
In Adam’s head the fact the relationship was doomed was clear, since many weeks; and certainly Anne had to feel that inevitability too BUT that was not the last time they spoke and they could have spent a “goodbye time” in way more tender ways than if that was OPENLY admitted being their last night.
Therefore the melancholia and the unescapable strange sweetness of this song.
I now think it has been nailed PERFECTLY, and Adam on Spotify also states this song is dear and amazing for him, so fittingly shaped to be what it was supposed to be.
It’s such a romantic song... imagine the way two still in love people have to feel realizing that will very likely be their last time together; there is no bad blood between them, just still love, and regret for things that still cannot be changed... it must be HUGE to put all this in a song, and remain pure about it.

“All the pain you try to hide
Chose your mascara lines as they stream down from your eyes
And let them go, let them fly
Holding back, won't turn back time
Believe i've tried

Your eyes were so bright
And I remember your eyes were so bright
And I remember your eyes were so bright
When I first I met you, so in love that night
And now I'm kissing your tears goodnight
And I can't take it, you're even perfect when you cry”

There is the power of a goodbye that no one of the two wants or has the courage to call so, because they are both heartbroken over the way things have ended to be.
They cannot go on, but they know they also cannot step back, because doing it would make either of them not being true to themselves.

It’s again a very special song... I feel so much listening to it, and you can tell it how Adam again kept his vocals as pure as possible to let the message filter out.

He definitely did an amazing job in that.
Amazing.

Bonus Tracks

As far as bonus tracks go, I will review only the NON remixes, because honestly I think all of the remixes are fillers, and their artistic value is zero to me (I like them, it’s just that they don’t add a thing to the record in itself).

So let’s start with:

Wipe Your Eyes (7.5 on 10) - Adam Levine, Jonathan Rotem, Ross Golan, sample by Damon Albarn, Miriam Doumbia & Marc Moreau

I have the strangest feelings with this song.
I am not one listening to leaks, but back in October on this site there was the first snippet of this song and I didn’t really want to hear it but the way people were talking about the intro had me so worried I had to listen at least to that. And I HATED IT. That super crispy autotuned intro creeped the hell out of me and I was like scared that if I had to endure an entire album like that I could have as well died (not really that tragic... but you get me).

Then when I played the record first... somehow... I MISSED it (I know, it’s strange).
But then on Spotify James and Adam said they wanted so badly get the original sample of the song, and that they were delighted Damon Albarn agreed on that because they love him so much and were honored he let them use the sample.

Wipe Your eyes is a lovely song; so tender. I feel it’s Adam’s way to homage a song that he adores, “Fix You” by Coldplay (he’s in love with that song, and he shares that love with his new ladylove, Behati Prinsloo, who similarly adores it).
The song clearly was composed again at least in Summer of 2011, given that by October it was already leaking and this means the problems between Adam and Anne were surfacing by then as well, at least in the way she was starting to ask for evidences of love from him (a thing every female generally can relate to... it’s just in our constitution I fear ), but what makes the song adorable is that Adam’s answer to that request is so sweet and tender and so un-sexual that it’s melty for the heart.
You can see the scene of him trying to console a lover out.. and the words go o so well with the way they are sung and the general vibe of the music, after a while you just surrender to the combination of elements and stop to question the reason for it.

Wipe Your Eyes is a beautiful track and like all the bonus ones, again as stated inspotify, it has a bit of the old vibe of Maroon 5 sound at its core (safe from the sample).

Wasted Years - 7/7.5 out of 10 - Adam Levine & Richard Penniman

Another track that at first subdued me and let me feel n doubt.
I have to explain that I have always adored the live version of Wasted Years and I jumped in joyful expectations when already over twitter the guys, months ago, said they would have remade it for the new record.
But... I didn’t expect the lyrical changes; I get they can fit... but somehow at first I was let down they had changed what I was considering perfection.
Same with the music...
I basically wanted e re-proposition in studio of the live version
But now I get the brilliancy of the new customization and I have no problems with it...
I still fail to sing the new lyrics correctly, but I advice everyone instead to listen to this song especially if they had no preconception or pre-love for the first raw version because it’s an amazing song in itself, that will and can be easily loved by non pop lovers also.

Kiss 7.5/8 on 10 - Prince

Well... I could have given more on this one because I think Adam sings it fantastically, and the lenghts of the jams on this song are all perfectly crafted and preciously sounding.
I love when the guys jam so creatively and when Adam lets his voice get back to the raspy tone and the cracks and stop the multi-layering in favor of a more nakedly engulfing approach to singing, which lets his way to totally being into the music shine best.
I have had the luck of witnessing him singing Karaoke live in his LA retreat once and it’s amazing the way his voice can actually be versatile and surprising, out of the typical manners.
This cover though faces the original which is unbeatable in my book (I am a Prince fanatic just as Adam and Jesse) so no matter how REALLY much I do love this rendition, anyone has to stay at least 2 points under Prince’s execution anyway (sorry Adam... believe me you kicked ass there).

All music lovers though shall pay homage to this cover, because it’s really fantastic. REALLY.

CONCLUSION

I know no one will ever read this much in a post but I had an immense pleasure putting down in words what I believe of this great record.
I am glad Adam and Maroon 5 declared to newspapers in UK that what pushed them in trying a new direction was the memory of the amazing work of Gwen Stefani on Love.Music:Angel.Baby.
First because I and some of my loving music friends had exactly the same record in mind to compare Overexposed with; and then because I adore Gwen and No Doubt and I always feelgiddy inside knowing Maroon 5 and No Doubts members are really good friends (till the point No Doubts drummer filled in for Matt Flynn in 2009 Fall tour because for a few dates he couldn’t be there, and he knew already all the songs ).

This record is a surprisingly GREAT one to me.
I’d give it an overall and solid 7.5 on 10, with an upward arrow actually because the more I listen to it the more I love it.

I don’t care if people like to dismiss it; I genuinely think they have done a great job here and the effect of this revamping will likely produce more music in the incoming two years, which makes me ecstatic.

I am happy it will sell really greatly on first week and I am sure it will keep on being a good seller enough to become at least platinum, which is impressive in the current state of music, and coming from a band that has been around from more than ten years.

This is my homage to one of my favorite music acts: THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THE TRUTH IN YOUR SONGS.
Catch you soon on tour.
Keep Rockin (or popping... whatever you want)!

[Ronaldista]

WOW! you didn't lie when you said your review would be very long

after reading all of it I'd really like to thank you for taking the time to type all this out and for posting it here. I enjoyed it a lot, I like how you reviewed each song in detail, first giving your general thoughts/impressions and then moving on to interpret it. it helped me see how personal this record actually is, I mean like I've said before I've always felt touched by certain songs on it because it felt very real what Adam is singing about, but I never knew all the stuff about his relationship with Anne or his thoughts on relationships/marriage, so that has made a lot of things clearer and now I feel even more connected with the songs because I understand what made him write them.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. Like you I'm a sucker for music that is personal and I admit I'm more inclined to like a song/album if I can tell the artist put their own feelings/experiences into it, and I can definitely feel that in this album.

[chilicheese01]

I just skimmed over the ratings.

Ladykiller should be higher; it's one of my favorite.

I'll read it tomorrow. I'm really tired right now.

[Sawdust]

That was a very thorough and elaborate review! I read it earlier today. Thank you for sharing, gallimel.

I've yet to listen to the album, but I bought it on Tuesday. It's just been such a hectic week for me. I want to sit down this weekend and actually process it. I'm more excited about this release than I was for Hands All Over. Momentum seems to be on their side, so I hope it's a successful project for the guys.

I wasn't over the moon about "Payphone," but I do like "One More Night" a lot. I'm a big Maroon 5 fan, so I don't see myself disliking Overexposed. It may fall short of my love for the first two releases, though.

[Pelvic Thrust]

I love this album more than Hands All Over.

[Jeiboy]

TOP 5 in RANDOM ORDER:

One More Night
Fortune Teller
Sad
Lucky Strike
Payphone

ABOVE AVERAGE album NEAR AMAZING

[riskbreaker]

I love this album. It's amazing but definitely not their best.

1. It Won't Be Soon Before Long
2. Songs About Jane
3. Overexposed
4. Hands All Over

[Mr. Loco]

Originally posted by riskbreaker

I love this album. It's amazing but definitely not their best.

1. It Won't Be Soon Before Long
2. Songs About Jane
3. Overexposed
4. Hands All Over

I would just change the places for your top 2, even if both are flawless

[zpark999]

on songs about jane i liked about 6/12 of the song...

on iwbsbl... about 9/12

on hao 11/12 ( i hated the one with lady antebellum)

on overexposed about 9/12 also .. but the iwbsbl tracks were stronger

so my album rank is

1. Hands All Over
2. It Won't Be Soon Before Long
3. Overexposed
4. Songs About Jane

i know a lot of y'all like SAJ.. but i just really liked the singles (plus shiver)... the sun and sweetest goodbye we're ok.. and the rest we're just meh.... haha

FUN FACTS i noticed:
> they always have 12 songs on every standard release
> the first 2 tracks are always singles

haha XP

[gallimel]

Originally posted by borntodie

WOW! you didn't lie when you said your review would be very long

after reading all of it I'd really like to thank you for taking the time to type all this out and for posting it here. I enjoyed it a lot, I like how you reviewed each song in detail, first giving your general thoughts/impressions and then moving on to interpret it. it helped me see how personal this record actually is, I mean like I've said before I've always felt touched by certain songs on it because it felt very real what Adam is singing about, but I never knew all the stuff about his relationship with Anne or his thoughts on relationships/marriage, so that has made a lot of things clearer and now I feel even more connected with the songs because I understand what made him write them.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. Like you I'm a sucker for music that is personal and I admit I'm more inclined to like a song/album if I can tell the artist put their own feelings/experiences into it, and I can definitely feel that in this album.

Thank you

[gallimel]

Originally posted by Pelvic Thrust

I love this album more than Hands All Over.

A solid half of my friends do too. Some even like this more than It Won't Be soon...

I don't rate albums in order of preferences instead.
It really depends either if I like a record or not "in itself".

What I like is that every single album they put out was different in nuances and characterization from the others.

Therefore, if (like I did) I happen to get into each one for what they are, I can't compare the feelings or the sounds, and I end enjoying every record on its own value, and for what it communicates to me.

Of course I have a longer love relationship with SAJ, but that doesn't necessarily mean that is "my favorite".

Sometimes my favorite is the Acoustic EP, go figure (and I am a fan of the remix album as well )

[Smartypants]

I really don't understand why more people aren't talking about this album; it is really a pop masterpiece! I've never, ever bought a Maroon 5 album, but I have officially become a fan of theirs. My favorite album tracks are Payphone, One More Night, Love Somebody, and The Man Who Never Lied.

[iamstrong]

Daylight is everything for me

[gallimel]

Originally posted by Smartypants

I really don't understand why more people aren't talking about this album; it is really a pop masterpiece! I've never, ever bought a Maroon 5 album, but I have officially become a fan of theirs. My favorite album tracks are Payphone, One More Night, Love Somebody, and The Man Who Never Lied.

This album is a very good one. Time will set its value the right way; I am surprised how constantly it improves with listening and I am sure it will have a good longevity.

I am still displeased the way the bad organization in promotional strategies at Octone and Interscope deprived Maroon 5 of multiple #1 opening (the fact LP, with a very good album and good buzz, deprived them ONLY by 3000 copies of UK Album Chart #1 came as a surprise to me, re-enforcing my idea this era is being handled awfully by their label, which knows they won't be under at for much longer).

But I am confident this album will do well enough.

I am happy for them; 10 years in this business as a pop/notonlypop band is a huge milestone, and if you keep making new achievement (as they still have) it is sign you're doing something right enough.

[humbz]

I bought it yesterday.

[Razzle]

Originally posted by humbz

I bought it yesterday.

Do you like it?

[MusicTalker]

Originally posted by chilicheese01

Fortune Teller is so awful, I can't...

Yeah, that song is so weak for them, & total filler.

Link to the album survivor in my signature, please participate!

[humbz]

Originally posted by Razzle

Do you like it?

Yeah! Lady Killer, Fortune Teller, Tickets, Doin' Dirt and the first two singles are great.