Maroon 5
Hands All Over

The debaser is sometimes useful. It has many flaws... but it's useful. Let me explain: a few years ago, I stumbled upon the sound of an unknown American band that caught my attention well before it did that of the general public, for having decided (and been fortunate enough) to record its first album in what I personally consider the mecca of modern music, the Abbey Road studios in St. John's Wood, London.

I immediately became a calm admirer, fascinated mainly by what I consider a great quality in the music of the new millennium: simplicity. Maroon 5 attracted me precisely for that reason: straightforward, immediate, simple songs, well played and with catchy melodies. I drank "Songs about Jane" at all hours of the day, persuading many friends of the peculiar "freshness" of the musical project of the five young men from Los Angeles.

I eagerly awaited the delayed release of the second work, "It Won't be Soon Before Long", which did not disappoint my expectations. Navigating the same sea explored previously, the five, with a new drummer, revitalized my enthusiasm, giving me 12 tracks to discover and rediscover, alternating ballads with rhythmic tracks with increasingly funky influences. I noticed a decent growth in their compositional and performing technique, which culminated in what I consider an absolute gem: "Kiwy", which still moves within me all the chords needed to trigger that healthy exhilaration, bordering on ecstasy, that only certain music can give me, and which I'm finding increasingly hard to come by.

Then I timidly become a debaserian, and I encounter, with barely concealed disgruntlement, all the crap that most of my more stubborn cyber adventure companions have poured onto the site over the years, reviewing or commenting on the works of the five maroons. I disagree, fight, defend as much as I can, finding comfort only in the invectives of some young girls attracted, I believe, more by the band's image than by their musical merits.

And I get to the point. "Hands All Over", alas, confirms to me that almost everything my cyber colleagues had vomited onto the band perhaps has a bit of a foundation.

Adam's voice (lead vocals), in this album, bothers me a little in the long run. It is indeed a bit too shrill, albeit always skillfully controlled. The musical ideas are embarrassingly lacking, and the album, instead of being the rightful continuation of the previously described growth, is a failed return to the origins. The tracks follow one another, and if you don't pay proper attention, you don't notice which track number is changing... always the same sounds that, although tastefully chosen, chase each other to the point of boredom... a sentiment cleverly fueled by vocal lines with predictable counterchants that make you mad. The melodies, a strong point of many past tracks, are redundant and much less successful, and even worse, often repeated too insistently (see "Now" and "Never gonna leave this bed").

But I can't be that oblivious. It's just not admissible... my innate narcissism won't allow it! And so, digging a bit, I find some "meat", and, out of fairness (and a bit of self-love), I point it out to you: "Give a little more and Stutter", tracks number 2 and 3, have all the rhythmic-melodic characteristics of the previous efforts. They sound good and make you tap your foot. The same goes for "Don't Know Nothing", where the bridge leading to the "Uh Uh" chorus is really catchy. Great sound in "Get Back in my Life" with some interesting bass/guitar riffs... but that voice starts to get on my nerves right in this track.  

Enough. No other song is definable as "bad", but labeling them as pointless is child's play. The lighter-waving ballad is then missing, which the five had gotten me used to ("Out of Goodbyes" tries but just can't make it). Notably, in the deluxe edition of the cd, "Last Chance", which works fairly well... why not include it in the version for ordinary mortals? Oh well.

Here it is. Thanks to the Debaserians who have opened my eyes, this group, with their latest effort, loses quite a few points. But my incurable optimism makes me hopeful for the future.

Rock on!