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V - Maroon 5 Maroon 5 | Interscope | Release Date: Sept 2, 2014

dddddddddd 57 Member Score Mixed or Average Reviews based on 16 Ratings ddddd. dddddd }-- Modscore Not Reviewed based on 0 Mods

dddddddddddddd Summary: The fifth studio album by Pop/Rock group Maroon 5. Record Label: Interscope Genre(s): Pop / Rock

Member Reviews d .iPositive: ████████████████ 8 d ....iMixed: ██████████ 5 d Negative: ██████ 3

Mod Reviews d .iPositive: 0 d ....iMixed: 0 d Negative: 0

[alexanderao]

I am so reviewing this!

I'll try to get it up by tomorrow night.

[Matty]

Originally posted by iHype.

Don't make fun of my English structure.

[Penk]

Poor Kimbra and her snubbage.

She only got 12 reviews on the real metacritic so I guess she wouldn't do any better here.

[Matty]

Originally posted by ATRL Feedback

Here is Ariana's atrlcritic score

[alexanderao]

Originally posted by Matty

Here is Ariana's atrlcritic score

Too high, but that's what I expected.

[EloiseheartsRiRi]

Yess at Maroon 5 being up for reviews. How much time do we have for the review?

[Matty]

Originally posted by EloiseheartsRiRi

Yess at Maroon 5 being up for reviews. How much time do we have for the review?

A week.

[Detonated]

Originally posted by Matty

Here is Ariana's atrlcritic score

Fair seeing that it does fall a bit short to it's superior.

[Almighty Gaga]

Accurate score for Ariana.

I'll write V's review tomorrow. Expecting 50-60ish for my score.

[Forevermore]

Let me listen to this on Youtube, so it does not corrupt my playlist.

[Bloomers]

Originally posted by Almighty Gaga

Accurate score for Ariana.

I'll write V's review tomorrow. Expecting 50-60ish for my score.

More than fair I think, I'm listening right now and better than Overexposed at least.

[Nait Phoenix]

OMG, I don't want to drag this album too badly… but…

[Bloomers]

Maroon 5 - V

V is Maroon 5's fifth album and V is the Roman Numeral meaning 5. Maroon 5 used to be a rock-band with a soul influence that brought a unique personality and sound to their music. It was a sound that was lightly funky that could appeal to the R&B crowd but still accessible for the pop/rock audience. However, sometime around their third album, and frontman Adam Levine's time on reality show The Voice, Maroon 5 began to push their sound toward mainstream pop; whether because they ran out of ideas for their music or to capitalize on the pop-leaning audience that watches the voice is anyone's guess.

Maroon 5 began bringing in outside songwriters to do the heavy lifting on their albums. On their newest, 'V,' Max Martin, Shellback, Darkchild, Stargate, Benny Blanco, and Ryan Tedder are just some of the producers listed. These producers have helped make hits out of songs by the biggest pop stars of recent times (Rihanna, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, the list goes on) and have even helped out Maroon 5 top the chart with songs like Payphone, Daylight, etc. There is nothing wrong with using outside producers and songwriters, but to sell pop songs that are written by committee, a performer must have charisma and an identifiable personality that comes across in the music, Adam Levine does not have these traits.

Adam Levine worked with Maroon 5 and was just as big a part of the band as the other members; because of this, the band came together and adjusted to the strengths of its members and Adam was able to sell Maroon 5 songs because the music was molded to him and the strengths of the band. He was always a relateable everyman, not a swaggering rock star that took command of the stage and of the songs. That being said, the smaller-scale songs on V are the strongest and have always been Maroon 5's strongsuit. "My Heart is Open," the Gwen Stefani duet, is a simple piano-string arrangement that works because of the simple topic of love, and the chemistry between Adam and Gwen rather than requiring a larger than life persona from Adam. The best track, bonus track, "Sex & Candy," is the closest to "Classic Maroon 5." It's a lightly funky song that doesn't try to be any bigger than it is; it's a warm little song that allows for personality to come through with lyrics like: "Hangin' round downtown by myself / and I've had so much time to think about myself / And there she was like double cherry pie / yeah, she was like disco Super Fly." The song is small-scale, but is much more complete sounding than the attempts at big sounding songs. Edit: Apparently, the song is a cover, but it still focuses on what Maroon 5 does best and ironically comes off as the most Maroon 5iest sounding song on the album.


Unfortunately, the rest of the album is made up of big-sounding arena-pop songs that are best left to bands like the Killers or Imagine Dragons, or singers like Rihanna or P!nk that capitalize on bombast and ridiculousness. There is nothing wrong with the songs, they're catchy: "Sugar," sounds just like "Birthday," by Katy Perry, "Unkiss Me," doesn't sound too far off from "What Now," by Rihanna or something from Sia's most recent album, and "Animals," could be another doppleganger to "Brave," by Sara Bareillies. The songs just sound incredibly generic when sang by an everyman. For what it's worth, "Feelings," and "It Was Always You," have a pretty catchy 80s synth dance beat and are highlights of the album on the strength of the songwriting alone, but Maroon 5 have done and are capable of much better.

Grade: D+

My Reviews

Maroon 5 - V (D+)
Ariana Grande - My Everything (C+)
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off (B-) / Charli XCX (B)
Hilary Duff - All About You (D)
FKA Twigs - LP1 (A-)
Pixie Lott - Pixie Lott (C+)
Beyoncé Featuring Nicki Minaj - Flawless Remix (B)
Nicki Minaj - Anaconda (A-)
Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang (D-)
Hilary Duff - Chasing The Sun (B)
Azealia Banks - Heavy Metal And Reflective (A)
Drake – 0 to 100 / The Catch Up (B)
Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear (D+)

[superben]

Maroon 5 - V

Flaws are present, but I will just focus on the positive points in this post #letthelightin

V is an enjoyable listen, albeit with not much depth and diversity. Most of the songs are instantly catchy with great hooks, but few are memorable. Either way, you can be assured that quite a few hits will be born from this album. The band knows exactly whatever people are into nowadays - only that they know too much that the overall sounds come off a bit manufactured and calculated. I honestly have no complaint, though: The album gives me major pleasure, even if it's just for this very week. But hey, I just want some fun listen, I'm not always looking for classic to get back every now and then.

Adam's voice here is just as yearning and powerful as ever, although less personality can be heard this time. The production is on point and masterful. The lyrics is nothing spectacular, but fortunately nothing embarrassing has come up.

My favorite tracks: Leaving California, Animals, Sugar

My rate: 7/10

[Sombra]

Maroon 5 - V

The album stars with the first single, 'Maps', which I loved as soon as I heard it, it's a really catchy simple pop song with an inviting chorus, the best bit in the song is definitely when playfully sings the chorus, sort of like Britney's "Shame on me-eh" on I Wanna Go. The second track is the second single, 'Animals', which is probably my favorite song off of this album. The chorus is so perfectly done and sounds a lot like Shellback's productions (which by the way produced this song and I Wanna Go) and I knew it was one of the Max Martin & Shellback productions, except Max Martin surprisingly wasn't involved in this song. 'It Was Always You' is my second favorite song, it starts off with an arpeggio reminded me a lot of Wrecking Ball, but the song overall is very different from Wrecking Ball even though every time I listen to it I have Wrecking Ball in my mind for some weird reason. The album then gets very uninteresting and boring, I'm going to skip from 'Unkiss Me' to 'Leaving California' because they're simply uninteresting and I have no specific opinions towards them. 'In Your Pocket' is the 7th track on the album and I found it really distinct, it wasn't as bubblegum-pop as the first two songs but it still felt like the song belongs to the same type, I guess? Although it gets kinda boring through the verses and the chorus because it felt unusual for Adam to sing in a normal voice, and then the bridge comes and it's actually really good! I really loved the 'Show me yours I'll show you mine' part, and I also would like to praise the vocal production and the harmonies in the chorus. 'Feelings' is my third favorite track of the album, it's super catchy and super fun. I loved the disco style of the instrumental and the song is really bright and just really fun. The other songs are boring and I won't bother reviewing them.

Overall, the album has it's highs and it's very low lows, considering I have to rate the whole album I'll have to go with 58 out of 100.

[Almighty Gaga]

V
Maroon 5

Very good choruses. Very average verses. Random boring tracks in-between.

Maps: V's lead single is a definite grower. At first listen, the song did nothing for me. It was after giving it a second chance that the track got stuck in my head. Ultimate bop.

Animals: Average track. Good chorus, below average verses.

It Was Always You: The best song on the album. Good production, very good verses, excellent chorus. A very energetic track that should become the second single.

Unkiss Me: Dull song. A filler track with nothing exciting. Ironically and thankfully, this song's verses are better than that terrible "unkiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiss miiiiiiiii untouuuch miiiiii" chorus.

Sugar: This one sounds very familiar. It sounds like something Pharrell Williams would produce/sing. Good song nonetheless. One of the album's highlights.

Leaving California: This song starts very promising but it all goes downhill from there. Pretty boring track.

In Your Pocket: Very good chorus, very forgettable verses.

New Love: Forgive miih. Forgive miih. That's pretty catchy.

Coming Back For You: Meh is all I can say for this one.

Feelings: Good song. A good balance between the verses and the chorus' is apparent in this track.

My Heart Is Open: The Gwen Stefani collab is a total letdown. There's nothing special in this track. I could see Gwen being a better guest on any of the other tracks on the album.

Shoot Love: Average chorus. Average verses

Sex Candy: This is the worst song on the album. A total snoozefest that serves nothing exciting or interesting melody-wise, lyrics-wise or production-wise.

Lost Stars: Stop doing ballads, Adam.

Highlights:

• Maps
• It Was Always You
• Sugar

     

        Maps: 10
        Animals: 8
        It Was Always You: 10
        Unkiss Me: 8
        Sugar: 10
        Leaving California: 7
        In Your Pocket: 7
        New Love: 7
        Coming Back For You: 2
        Feelings: 6
        My Heart Is Open: 5
        Shoot Love: 4
        Sex and Candy: 1.5
        Lost Stars: 2

63/100

Disappointments:

• Coming Back For You
• Sex and Candy
• Lost Stars

[❄ Frosty ❄]

"V" by Maroon 5

---

Maps - catchy guitar riffs. Maps has potential, but requires the listener to be patient to appreciate the track. However it fails to reach their recent masterpieces such as "Moves Like Jagger" and "Payphone", and even their debut single tracks. [ 7 / 10 ]

Animals - Quite generic filled with cliche lyrics and. Uses 'animal' to metaphorically to describe ones sexual desire. Pushing all that aside, despite the blatantly obvious generic sound, "Animals" is a mediocre pop tune. [ 6.5 / 10 ]

★ It Was Always You - Reminisces "When Love Takes Over" as my first perception of the track. The song begins slow but has a gradual build-up with a raw dance beat accompanied with guitars. It is another grower, but definitely more original and more appealing than the previous two tracks. [ 8 / 10 ]

Unkiss Me - I don't find this track very true to the style of Maroon 5. Seems to incorporate the formula of "Wrecking Ball", however it still succeeds to be heart touching track. Adam's vocals are indeed very emotional and touching. [ 7 / 10 ]

Sugar - A track that brings back the cheek and funk that Adam delivers very well. A pretty feel good track that picks up the pace and adds some flavor to the what has so far been a slow star for the album. Very Bruno and Pharrell inspired. [ 7 / 10 ]

Leaving California - Slightly misplaced I feel, just when the album was becoming fun we slow down again. The chorus drags on a little too much with 'Oh oh's', which fails to reach an almighty peak, that the song poorly foreshadows right from the beginning. It would sound okay if the album wasn't overfilled with slower songs. [ 5.5 / 10 ]

In Your Pocket - After the previous tracks left us a bit tired, this song fails to bring us back to enjoy the album. It is pretty boring. [ 2.5 / 10 ]

★ New Love - Adam adds some attitude to this follow up track. It has a nice build-up that reaches a catchy chorus. This tracks is a diverse one that showcases Adam's vocals. Possible the most upbeat songs on the album and memorable. [ 7.5 / 10 ]

★ Coming Back For You - This track brings so many elements that intrigues the listener to know what the direction the song is going. It has a mellow disco vibe to it along with an emotional build-up with a nice smooth chorus which Adam finishes with funky and confident vocals. [ 8.5 / 10 ]

Feelings - This track amplifies the disco sound and carry's Adam's confidence as he describes his passion and feelings for a girl. Adam treats us to rich and sugary vocals, which makes the track a little extra special. [ 7 / 10 ]

★ My Heart Is Open (f/ Gwen Stefani) - The group collaborate with lead singer from No Doubt, Gwen Stefani, in this emotional song. It is quite similar "Broken Strings". but with a proactive chorus which is a tad frustrating due to it's repetitiveness. It's very refreshing to hear Gwen's voice, her contribution is perfectly executed which makes the track a worthwhile one. [ 7.5 / 10 ]

Shoot Love - This is the first of the bonus tracks on the album, which I commonly disregard due to them being fillers. Apart from a slightly catchy chorus, the song offers nothing more that makes the album interesting. [ 3.5 / 10 ]

Sex and Candy - A track that brings some RnB and soul to the album. Makes the overall album a little more diverse, but may disappointment the typical Maroon 5 fan base and many pop fans. It becomes pretty boring after the first listen. [ 5 / 10 ]

Lost Stars - The final song is stripped down and you can appreciate Adam's vocals greater as he can put forward emotion and passion without it being overshadowed by the production. Quite a nice listen that becomes more powerful as the song progresses. [ 6.5 / 10 ]

Final Note - The outstanding tracks on this album are diamonds in the rough. The album does require the listener to be patient, however that may not work when many of the tracks are generic, bland and are not captivating.

64 / 100

[❄ Frosty ❄]

It's nice reading the other reviews, they do not come across biased at all. I was expecting some extremely subjective reviews but I was proven wrong thankfully. It seems we have reached a very similar conclusion.

[Cola.drinker]

Originally posted by Bloomers

Maroon 5 - V

V is Maroon 5's fifth album and V is the Roman Numeral meaning 5. Maroon 5 used to be a rock-band with a soul influence that brought a unique personality and sound to their music. It was a sound that was lightly funky that could appeal to the R&B crowd but still accessible for the pop/rock audience. However, sometime around their third album, and frontman Adam Levine's time on reality show The Voice, Maroon 5 began to push their sound toward mainstream pop; whether because they ran out of ideas for their music or to capitalize on the pop-leaning audience that watches the voice is anyone's guess.

Maroon 5 began bringing in outside songwriters to do the heavy lifting on their albums. On their newest, 'V,' Max Martin, Shellback, Darkchild, Stargate, Benny Blanco, and Ryan Tedder are just some of the producers listed. These producers have helped make hits out of songs by the biggest pop stars of recent times (Rihanna, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, the list goes on) and have even helped out Maroon 5 top the chart with songs like Payphone, Daylight, etc. There is nothing wrong with using outside producers and songwriters, but to sell pop songs that are written by committee, a performer must have charisma and an identifiable personality that comes across in the music, Adam Levine does not have these traits.

Adam Levine worked with Maroon 5 and was just as big a part of the band as the other members; because of this, the band came together and adjusted to the strengths of its members and Adam was able to sell Maroon 5 songs because the music was molded to him and the strengths of the band. He was always a relateable everyman, not a swaggering rock star that took command of the stage and of the songs. That being said, the smaller-scale songs on V are the strongest and have always been Maroon 5's strongsuit. "My Heart is Open," the Gwen Stefani duet, is a simple piano-string arrangement that works because of the simple topic of love, and the chemistry between Adam and Gwen rather than requiring a larger than life persona from Adam. The best track, bonus track, "Sex & Candy," is the closest to "Classic Maroon 5." It's a lightly funky song that doesn't try to be any bigger than it is; it's a warm little song that allows for personality to come through with lyrics like: "Hangin' round downtown by myself / and I've had so much time to think about myself / And there she was like double cherry pie / yeah, she was like disco Super Fly." The song is small-scale, but is much more complete sounding than the attempts at big sounding songs.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album is made up of big-sounding arena-pop songs that are best left to bands like the Killers or Imagine Dragons, or singers like Rihanna or P!nk that capitalize on bombast and ridiculousness. There is nothing wrong with the songs, they're catchy: "Sugar," sounds just like "Birthday," by Katy Perry, "Unkiss Me," doesn't sound too far off from "What Now," by Rihanna or something from Sia's most recent album, and "Animals," could be another doppleganger to "Brave," by Sara Bareillies. The songs just sound incredibly generic when sang by an everyman. For what it's worth, "Feelings," and "It Was Always You," have a pretty catchy 80s synth dance beat and are highlights of the album on the strength of the songwriting alone, but Maroon 5 have done and are capable of much better.

Grade: D+

you know that the best song Sex and Candy is actually a cover, huh ?