Review of Singles Album by Maroon 5
The lead up to Christmas inevitably sees the release of 'best of' and 'greatest hits' compilations - the latter in the case of Californian sextet Maroon 5. In the decade-plus years that they've achieved commercial success, there have been five albums to draw on for this retrospective release, much of which you would expect to hear on their tours of South and North America next year.
For anyone who has forgotten or indeed not been familiar with the work of Adam Levine and company, this is a fine demonstration of their ability to blend genres. From the funk-rock of 'This Love' and 'Makes Me Wonder' to the still brilliant balladry of 'She Will Be Loved', this outfit show that when they get things right, they craft really enjoyable pop songs. Coupled with the helium-like vocals of Levine, they are distinctive and it is easy to see why they have achieved such popularity. Add in home-run hits like 'Payphone' and 'Moves Like Jagger' (which has one of the best hooks of the last five years) and this should be a very good release, even if it shows more recent material to not be as strong. Unfortunately, it isn't what is present that is most telling, but actually what is absent. This isn't a complete collection of the band's singles - 'Harder To Breathe' and 'Won't Go Home Without You' are two of the omissions - which are particularly conspicuous given the running time doesn't even touch 45 minutes. Even more frustrating is that there isn't a single piece of new material to be found here - so unless you are introducing the band to someone new, or know someone who is somehow a fan who doesn't own their material, this is a pointless record. If it wasn't for this being purely a cash-cow for a record company, this would more greatly appreciated.
