We Must Free Up These Tired Souls

Maroon 5 created some of the best pop songs this decade with their four single of the debut album Songs about Jane selling over four million copies to date. As great as those for songs were, take them away from the album and what you are left with is a mediocre at best album aside from the great album closer Sweetest Goodbye. But the band has taken its time to record the follow up which was released back in 2002, three years before they picked up the Grammy for Best New Artist.

In the interim, lead singer Adam Levine took over John Mayer role as go to white boy for rappers, appearing on tracks by Kanye West and the Ying Yang Twins, as well as taking part in the Hollywood party scene, being link to more than a few “it” girls of the moment. Despite the long lay off between albums, the band’s sophomore effort, It Won’t Be Soon before Long could as well have been called Songs about Jane (or Jessica, Lindsay, etc.) II as the album again is very relationship heavy, leaning again towards the negative sides of them. There are a few quasi-political messages throughout the album, most notable in the first single, Makes Me Wonders, with lines like, “Give me something to believe in ‘cause I don’t believe in you anymore,” but too many people are reading into the political themes consider the lines, “Struggled to memorize the way it felt between your (suggestive lyric deleted),” also appear in the song.

The band also lets its influences shine threw more this time around as there are a few Studio 54 era dance tracks that sound like Michael Jackson through the Justin Timberlake filter (If I Never See Your Face Again, Makes Me Wonder) populate the album. Won’t Go Home without You could have been what She Will Be Loved may have sounded like had the band had been listening to Every Breath You Take on a loop while recording. Kiwi could be their tribute to early Prince complete with sexual innuendo this time with fruit instead of a car. And I dare you not to think of 3 Doors Down’s Kryptonite when listening to the opening chords of Goodnight, Goodnight.

Still nothing here comes close to the upper-echelon of the first record. Harder to Breathe remains the only good fast song the band has done. The band is still at its best when they slow things down like on Nothing Lasts Forever which is built around Levine’s vocals from Heard ‘em Say but the words fit much better here than backing a rap track as well as one of the nicest break up songs ever (take that Clarkson) with Better that We Break. Of course that was most likely just lip services as Levine probably just moved on to the next party girl.

Song to Download - Nothing Lasts Forever

It Won’t Be Soon before Long gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.