Sleek, catchy pop rock from Maroon 5

If you are one of those people caught in pop music mode but eager to make the plunge to real rock or something else, then you are in the same quandary as Maroon 5. One of the hottest young bands today, the group composed of Adam Levine, lead singer and songwriter; Jesse Carmichael on keyboards; Mickey Madden on bass; James Valentine on guitars; and Matt Flynn, have already proven their mastery of pop music in their earlier recordings and fans are itching for them to branch out soon.

Maroon 5 has sold over 15 million albums around the world since it made its debut in 2002. Most of these were the studio releases like the first CD, Songs About Jane and from three years ago It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. Among the band’s big selling singles that helped propel these CDs to the top are This Love, She Will Be Loved, Sunday Morning and Makes Me Wonder.

Despite such successes though Maroon 5 still gets pilloried at times because its music is too pop. Their melodies are too pretty, the lyrics of their songs too sentimental and the overall feel of the albums, crisp and sleek. So Maroon 5 is everything that a pop band should be. The kids love their music and their parents are in no way objecting to having to listen to their very stylish songs. On the other hand though it might be good and it will certainly not hurt for Maroon 5 to try something else.

The fans who wondered if they should can now rest easy and observers who wondered if they could will now have to admit that Maroon 5 can. Hands All Over is still pop and is a very well-produced album. Vocals, arrangements and performances in this CD are these guys’ best to date. Amazing to find out how tight this band has become and the wonderful thing about this album is how Maroon 5 stepped out of its comfort zone and still made great music.

Title track Hands All Over is the hardest and the darkest that Maroon 5 has rocked in its entire existence. First single release Misery is catchy funk for the dance floor. Stutter is a vocal showcase for Adam; Out Of Goodbyes is country-rock and features Lady Antebellum, Get Back In My Life sounds like vintage Maroon 5; the light jazz cut Never Gonna Leave This Bed might just start a new part of the band’s career. Also included are Don’t Know Nothing, I Can’t Lie, How, Just A Feeling and Runaway.

And more good news. The Hands All Over CD available in the stores here is the deluxe collection with six extra cuts. Last Chance, No Curtain Call, an acoustic version of Never Gonna Leave This Bed and Misery, and a live rendition of Alicia Keys’ If I Ain’t Got You. And then here is another title that is not available anywhere else, not even in the deluxe one, but only in this edition of Hands All Over, an acoustic version of Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Nice.

Both the new CD and the single are doing very well. Hands All Over is No. 9 in the Top 200 Albums list while Misery is perched at no. 18 in the Hot 100. Here are the lists.

The week’s Top 10 tunes in Billboard’s Hot 100 Songs list: Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars; Like A G6 by the Far East Movement featuring Cataracs & Dev; Teenage Dream by Katy Perry; Just A Dream by Nelly; DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love by Usher featuring Pitbull; Dynamite by Taio Cruz; Love The Way You Lie by Eminem featuring Rihanna; Only Girl (In The World) by Rihanna; I Like It by Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull again; Club Can’t’Handle Me by Flo Rida featuring David Guetta.

And in the Top 200 Albums chart, these are the Top 10 sellers: Hemingway’s Whiskey by Kenny Chesney; I Am Not A Human Being by Lil Wayne; You Get What You Give by the Zac Brown Band; The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted by Gucci Mane; Recovery by Eminem; Clapton by Eric Clapton; Passion, Pain & Pleasure by Trey Songz; A Thousand Suns by Linkin Park; Hands All Over by Maroon 5; A Year Without Rain by Selena Gomez & The Scene.