It’s been five years since Maroon 5’s debut, and their sophomore album sounds like they spent every minute of that time crafting each note and phrase for maximum commercial potential and audience appeal. That may seem like a backhanded compliment at best, but this album is so unapologetic about being a pop confection that it’s hard to begrudge it its shining, calculated perfectionism. If Maroon 5 are going to be the favorite band of frat boys and soccer moms everywhere, then by God they’re going to give those soccer moms and frat boys everything they could possibly want.
That means riffs nicked from The Police (“Won’t Go Home Without You” handily recalls “Every Breath You Take”), white-boy funk for awkward, drunken dancing at office parties (“Makes Me Wonder,” “Can’t Stop”) and sappy ballads suitable for proms and/or weddings (“Goodnight Goodnight,” “Better That We Break”).
Singer Adam Levine rivals Justin Timberlake in panting and Coldplay’s Chris Martin in simpering, but he’s also got some surprisingly tart lyrics, such as those on “Wake Up Call,” which imagines a cuckold casually shooting his girlfriend’s lover and then just as casually asking, “Did I do something wrong?” And there are as many songs about betrayal and emotional emptiness as there are about genuine romance—a little bit of carefully crafted darkness being just another part of the well-balanced pop package. –Josh Bell