Maroon 5 - Hands All Over

Maroon 5 are back with their third studio album Hands All Over. At this point, I'll admit that I had completely forgotten about It Won't Be Soon Before Long, their second album. Songs About Jane, however, their first offering, was an amazing album, with a whole host of incredible songs. Who can forget ‘Harder to Breathe,’ ‘She Will Be Loved’ and ‘This Love’? I had high hopes for this.

It's not that I've been disappointed, but I've not been as blown away as I thought I would. If you liked Songs About Jane, you will probably like this. And in some ways, that is my criticism. This is the same only without something, and I can't quite put my finger on what has changed. In places, it's a bit boring. ‘Stutter’ is a prime example. It plods along and nothing much happens. ‘Just a Feeling’ is strange. It's a ballad, but although this sort of song is why I love Adam Levine's voice and wanted to hear this album, it's somehow depressing rather than beautiful. His falsetto is unusual in its ability to pierce through all other sound and it's his unique voice that makes this song not awful. The mundane accompaniment and repetitive lyrics are rescued only by Levine. The first single is ‘Misery’ and it’s one of my least favourite songs from the album. It's far too upbeat for a song including the lyric "silence is slowly killing me.”

That said, this is a perfectly acceptable record for Maroon 5 fans, and I did enjoy listening to it, despite my criticism. It is unmistakably a Maroon 5 album. There are some catchy riffs and choruses, like those on ‘Don't Know Nothing’ and ‘Hands all Over’. ‘Don't Know Nothing’ is the one song off the album that I think would be incredible live. ‘Hands all Over" is full of attitude in a fantastically brash, yet empowered way. The addition of an excellent acoustic cover of Queen's ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ as the final track is an unexpected bonus and a really great finish.

In conclusion, this is an OK record. It's worth listening to once or twice, but it won't be my album of 2010. There's nothing particularly special on this album, there's no song that makes me press repeat, but most songs I would listen to again. It's a shame there's no stand out track, but it's still worth a listen if you get the chance.

Like it? Try The Fray, Jason Mraz, The Script, John Mayer

Hands All Over - Out Now - ★★☆☆☆

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