It must not be easy trying to stay popular each year. Once you perform music and gain fame, even if it is just for a little while, some acts feel like it is important to make music one way or another every single year to stay relevant which can lead you to the risk of overexposure. Acts that are guilty of this are Rhianna, Drake, Taylor Swift, and now, Maroon 5.
Maroon 5 is a band that started out in the early 2000's with 'Rock' music and made song decent songs like 'Makes me wonder'. 'Wake Up Call' and 'This Love'. With the latter song being a personal favourite song from Maroon 5. Then they came around the 2010's and turn a little more into pop music and ended up being considered one of the biggest sell-out acts in music history. And not only did they turned their way of music, they turned the quality in their singles. While they made songs that were decent once in a while with 'Moves like Jagger' and 'Sugar', most of the songs are more missed than hit.
It started with their album 'Overexposed' with songs like 'Payphone', 'One more Night', and 'Love Somebody' that are not as good as people might remember. Then we hit 'V' with songs that were worse with 'Animals' and 'This Summer's gonna hurt like a MotherF**ker'. As the years went by, the problems with Maroon 5 became more clear. The first was that the band became more of one man act with the rest of the band being somewhat background people. Seriously, does anyone remember the names of the band without researching besides the singer? Which leads to the other problem being the frontman Adam Levine. One is that his voice can be grating to listen too, and his lyrics in some of his songs can make him look like an a**hole.
Now we cut to 2016 where outside of Levine being a judge on 'The Voice', Maroon 5 have been absent throughout the year. We thought we were finally gonna get a year without the band, until suddenly not long ago, they released a single out of nowhere called 'Don't Wanna Know'. and it just shot up to the top 10. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from this song especially when I heard that they got popular rapper Kendrick Lamar to do a guest verse.
I listened to the song a few times. And.............. while it isn't the worst Maroon 5 song (And that's saying something) I wouldn't call it a good song. It just feels like they are no longer trying and are just making filler music just to make some more money.
The Production:
If there is one word to name the production of the song, it would be 'Lazy'. It is just 2-3 sounds being tapped over and over throughout the song. It just feels like they are just pulling back and trying to be too safe which is weird coming from Maroon 5.
The Singer:
I was never really a fan of Adam Levine and his singing voice. Even in the early days, I wasn't a fan but at least there was restraint and a tune. Now, he just sounds like he doesn't give a sh*t anymore. I'll give him credit though that at least the voice tone is a little laid back that when he goes high-pitched, it doesn't make me twitch in anger.
The lyrics:
So Adam is saying that he doesn't want to hear about how his ex is having fun and being loved by her new man the same way that he did. He basically complains about his everything reminds him of her and that blames her by saying lines like 'Are you happy now?' and none of it is interesting to watch. At this point we have seem Levine trash woman in multiple songs which usually makes him look like jerk, and this just adds into the pile. And in the songs, he tries to get us to feel bad for him which usually ends in failure.
The Guest Appearance:
Like I said, Kendrick Lamar has a guest verse in this song. And I wonder if it was really worth having him in it. He really doesn't really say anything interesting. It is basically 'Stop trying to get me mad with your love life' and the verse goes so fast that you barely hear much of it. Let me just say that unlike Maroon 5, I do like Kendrick Lamar. He is a amazing rapper and deserves credit for albums like 'To Pimp a Butterfly'. But you wouldn't know that if you look at his appearances in pop songs like Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood', or Sia's 'The Greatest' and this might be his worst one yet. And honestly, watching him perform in this song with little passion just depresses me.
Final Conclusion:
I can't think of much to like in this song. Say what you want about their other songs, at least there is at least some care in the music, this doesn't show that there is any interest in what they are saying. The production is bad, the lyrics are your basic Maroon 5 stuff you hear in other songs, Levine has no care in his performance and then the biggest insult is that they wasted Kendrick Lamar. You get one of the greatest rappers working today and you don't use him. All it does is make me sad that these are the ones getting popular and not any of Kendrick's own work which is something you need to check out if you haven't already.
As a ranking, I give it a 2/10, and that might be just me being generous. If this is what to expect from Maroon 5 in 2017, then we are in for a bumpy ride. For me, I'll stick to bands like Hedley, Marinas Trench, and Green Day.
I'll see you guys later, and have a Happy Halloween.
No comments:
Post a Comment