DEEP DISCOG DIVE: Maroon 5

Years ago, I saw a Tumblr screenshot of a Twitter screenshot on Instagram that claimed Maroon 5 made a deal with the devil to get their songs to #1 in exchange for being nobody’s favorite. It has never been proven wrong, and I don’t think it ever will.

Songs About Jane is a masterpiece 💿 “This Love” is a really unique song musically imo, try to find another mainstream pop song that starts its progression with the dominant chord leading to the minor tonic with the 3rd in the bass 🤓

“I know this was named after a dead friend, but that’s no reason to make an album that’s so LIFELESS” fuckin brutal dude

cant believe they based a whole album in the name of my flowers

The maroon 5 downfall is tragic BUT the panic at the disco downfall is just… devastating

A while back, I had this idea for a TV show inspired by Maroon 5. It's a mockumentary about this successful band whose singer is the only one the public cares about, so while the singer gets all the fame, groupies, brand deals and press coverage, the rest of the band gets to just fart around and do whatever without much attention. Think of it like a cross between Parks & Rec and Metalocalypse. There'd be a running gag where the singer would show up every few episodes but you'd never see his face due to some clever blocking, except for the final episode where we finally see his face, and he's played by Adam Levine.

what's funny is how adam levine managed to make maroon 5 sound like his solo act when it's actually a band, while brendon urie managed to make panic at the disco sound like a whole band when it's essentially a solo act.

"Jagger" being the only thing people could think of to rhyme with "Swagger" in the mid 2010s was a low point for us as humanity for sure

The most impressive thing about Maroon 5 is the fact that they have managed to coast long enough to outlive the 20 year rule. With the retro 2000s movement gaining so much steam Levine would be an idiot not to embrace it. Even if that means throwing back to hinself.

Maroon 5 is truly the M. Night Shyamalan of music

Moves Like Jagger fascinates me so much. You can use it to pinpoint down to the microsecond when Adam Levine stopped trying. It's shocking, really.

The quality dropoff between every Maroon 5 album is like falling down some stairs lmao.

i didn’t realize i knew so many maroon 5 songs. don’t know how to feel about that

I love how the only songs Mic has dedicated a DDD to are AJR’s I’m Ready, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, and Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5. Definitely the songs of all time

I agree with Todd. Maroon 5 is the new Chicago. Started as a decent band with merit before becoming the biggest sell outs and making the worst version of their respective era's pop music.

Love them or hate them, you do have to admit it’s kind of impressive how they’ve managed to stay relevant all these years later. Similar to Coldplay too I would say. There’s not a lot of bands from that era that are still together and as massively relevant/successful as those two are.

I would love to see a deep discogdive of Matchbox Twenty/Rob Thomas. I feel like no one has ever talked about them positively or negatively and that really surprises me. 20 million albums sold, collectively the most weeks #1 on adult pop radio before Maroon 5 got huge, basically the kings of mini-van rock, yet nothing. Thanks for being awesome. I love everything you do.

In Bo Burnham’s Repeat Stuff music video, he has a moment where he sings at girls but every cut has a different girl in the shot in order to show how a lot of modern pop songs are written as vague as possible in order to create parasocial relationships. So yeah, Maroon 5 did the same thing genuinely in the Girls Like You music video, proving Bo’s point. Just thought that was interesting.

Wow, glad you're covering the legendary musicians who rhymed "you" with "ooh-ooh"!

My physics teacher is literally obsessed with maroon 5. He plays it during the beginning and end of class and a few times during tests. It’s so funny but at the same time I want to die it makes physics that much more excruciatingly painful

I'm now going to have to resist the urge to ask myself "Does Adam Levine know what this is?" when faced with ostensibly normal objects and concepts. Does Adam Levine know what a spork is? Does Adam Levine know the capital of Greece?

They got Stevie Nicks on a Maroon 5 album?!?!? What sort of black magic have they done to make that happen? Especially on that latest album? Dear god...

Todd from Todd in the shadows made a comparison between Maroon 5 and Chicago, and to be honest I think that makes a lot more sense than the garth brooks comparison. Chicago spent the late 60s to the mid 70s putting out very highly acclaimed albums that were very fun, a bit prog, horn heavy, definitely remembered fondly… then “If You Leave Me Now” dropped in 1976 and became their biggest hit ever. A kinda sleepy ballad with none of the classic Chicago touches like a horn section, but in my opinion, not a bad song whatsoever. But after the next couple albums didn’t perform well commercially, and one of their members died, they basically decided to change up producers, change up sound by diminishing the horn section to a couple cameos per album, and spent the 80s and 90s pumping out ballads using whatever sounds were popular for the time. Now personally I like most of those Chicago ballads but still, the comparison has to be made. Also, I think the other obvious comparison is Coldplay. Started getting popular around the same time as Maroon 5, and after their 2000s output spent the 2010s and the first couple years of the 2020s trying to follow trends to mixed results.

Fun fact: If you look in the dictionary for the phrase "Fell Off", you'll literally just get a picture of Maroon 5.

Maroon 5 are musical tofu. They absorb the things they are adjacent to, giving you a simulacrum of a flavor you like without actually being the flavor. But that also means they’re entirely synthetic, lacking in an identity of their own. They’re a substance that lacks its own substance. That gives them malleability, but also disposability, since the same experience can be gotten elsewhere and in better form. I don’t hate Maroon 5 for this, because there’s nothing to hate. There’s also nothing for me to like.

Sometimes it really sucks to be a hipster. I remember that Maroon 5's first 3 albums were the first 3 cd's in my first car. This band used to make me feel things when I sang along to them, but because the shit I like just isn't profitable enough, my favorite band stagnated into a sound I hate.

Ah yes, the band that Todd in the Shadows tolerates about as much as Chicago. Songs about Jane is great though.

Having seen Adam Levine play some low-key jam sessions and/or collab on The Voice with other musicians, and now having listened to some of the music their keyboardist has done, I have my theory for why Maroon 5 is still around: all the members know that it's a consistent cash cow, and then they can use that money to fuck off and do whatever interesting thing they like. No pressure to be "good" in the traditional sense (critical acclaim), but plenty of continuous money and radio play. I've seen when Adam Levine is really interested in what he's doing, and to me, it's really obvious that he sees Maroon 5 the way I see my day job, and anything interesting he might be doing musically isn't anything he bothers to record or release outside of some small live venues.

For real though, that song "Lost Stars" is PHENOMENAL and Gregg Alexander is the most underrated songwriter in the business

songs about Jane will always be one of my favorite albums of all time.

Maroon 5 is if you took a classic Shakespherean tragedy and made it into a band. Started off with such promise, but slowly over time fell from grace. Except in this metaphor the main character doesn't die and the play keeps going on forever and everyone in the theater just wants to go home.

I remembered when I was in my teenage years and I was a big Maroon 5 fan. And then I expanded my music tastes lol

In a weird way, Maroon 5 selling out like they did made their early stuff stand out way more. Had they just faded away going into the 2010s I probably never would have taken interest in them outside of maybe knowing a few early hits and not caring. The fact that they so aggressively turned into the money chasing Adam-centric pop machine and stuck around a solid 12 years past their expiration date just continuously eroding their quality is super fascinating to me. I almost hyperfixate on this band just because I find their career trajectory so interesting. I really have grown to enjoy those early records due to the sharp contrast of what came after. Definitely the band of all time

Maroon 5 is like that kid you were friends with in elementary school, and then you see them again in high school and they’re so popular now that they don’t care about you at all.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to make this comparison, but Maroon 5 is like those TV shows that last a decade or more and yet you can't find a single person who watches them.

They somehow sound like less of a band the more members they gain.

~22:00 Hypothesis: the obsession with talking about Jagger in that period arose not from an obsession with the man himself, but from the fact that it rhymes with the hot new slang term of the day, “swagger”. Swagger was the primary target, and Jagger was merely caught in the crossfire. From here, with the name Jagger now embedded in the public lexicon, Maroon 5 was only taking the next logical step...(?)

Despite the downfall, they still have good songs here and there, and maybe one day they and hopefully they can do an album that goes back to their old roots

The “pop songs constantly mentioning Mick Jagger” phenomenon was so wild to me bc I’m not from the US and was like 13 at the time having no idea who tf Mick Jagger was and why so many people were talking about him. Very “I have no idea who Mick Jagger is and at this point I’m afraid to ask”

everytime a maroon 5 song comes on the radio at work I feel like I'm being conditioned to like them

He really went from covering all time classics across genres to Maroon 5. Stay unpredictable

You should also do a deep dive of Christina’s discography! What a roller coaster!

I literally dropped everything I was doing cause maroon 5 is a guilty pleasure band for me, IWBSBL is still in rotation to this day!

My favorite piece of Maroon 5 trivia is that, before joining them, Matt Flynn played with Gandhi, a band headed by Page Hamilton of Helmet. There's a Gandhi demo floating around TRvid, and some of its songs even made their way into later Helmet album. If you know anything about Helmet you know how far their sound is from Maroon 5's

Absolutely love all your stuff. I think ABBA would make for a fantastic DDD :)

Songs About Jane is a legitimately solid pop rock/alternative rock album. It’s a shame the band strayed so far away from that sound.

“But I’m not gonna pretend like we’d remember it if these guys didn’t make animals mals” Someone help me off the floor 😂

I remember loving and falling out of favor with Maroon 5's songs. Misery was epic, Give A Little More is classic, Moves Like Jagger is iconic like its fellow Jagger contemporary Tiktok by Ke$ha, and from discovery on Spotify, Makes Me Wonder is iconic. But as they progressed, and as much as Animals reminded me of the FNAF frenzy, I fell out of love with them. And unlike Bruno Mars, it's not due to a tonal shift. It's just that they didn't vary it like they used to.

I don't know if this is the first DDD, where at the end I've said, "No thank you." Main thing I think about them, is once they opened for Mustard Plug, and Mustard Plug apologized to the audience. Any other random thoughts about Maroon5 are negative, whereas seeing Mustard Plug, with Catbite opening, was what I needed after a bad breakup and a night ill cherish forever.

Flabbergasted by the fact that you didn't highlight Tangled from Songs about Jane... Such a cool track. Imo it might be the best in their discography. It's such a "musicians' song". The amount of musicians I've spoken to who love this track is quite impressive. Especially for a deep cut. Even people who otherwise doesn't care that much for Maroon 5. I also know a couple of drum teachers who happen to regularly teach Tangled to their students. But I guess that's just the beauty of music. The fact that it hits us all differently and that there's something for all of us.

i was a kid/middle schooler when their early albums come out. ive got a nostalgia for some of their early records the way you really only can for stuff you listened to during that age. i stand by my belief that some of their singles are pretty good. catchy, good hooks, nice melodies. but to say they have some clunkers is putting it mildly

Mic, I hate Maroon 5 but I loved this video. It's honestly great that there's someone around who treats even (supposedly) shitty music seriously, and tries to dissect what's behind it critically without just making lazy cringe content. Good job as usual!

Even haters will still somewhat defend the first two albums.

Fun fact “Tangled”, “Secret”, “Not Coming Home” and “Kiwi” all feature backing vocals from Rashida Jones of all people. Talk about degrees of separation

Sunday Morning IS Maroon 5's best song!!

my mom says to tell you the walk off the earth cover of girls like you all on one instrument is much better than anything maroon 5 has ever done

I have never listened to a full Maroon 5's album, but I absolutely love some of their singles. "This Love", "Makes Me Wonder", and "Misery" are great and fresh songs (maybe because I don't hear that type of sound in modern music). "Moves Like Jagger" is a bop, and I love the energy that Christina brings to that song. And omg, the four singles of Overexposed just bring me so much nostalgia for my early teenage years (especially "Love Somebody", I love it). "Maps" is okay, and I do like "Animals". But "Sugar" though? I'm in love with that song: It's funny, it's carchy, it's simple. Post-Sugar Maroon 5's music hasn't hit the same to me, but that's mostly because I HATE the popular sound of 2017-2020 trap, hip hop and / or tropical beats that were everywhere back then. I'm curious about their future. I just don't see them reaching the same heights as the ones from the early 2010's, but it's interesting to see what they do next

I love deep discog dives of mediocre artists... more of this please.

The reason Garth isn’t huge is because he’s not on most streaming services.

I'm so glad to see you calling Sunday Morning their best song (probably)! I still love Songs about Jane and this song in particular has always had a special place in my heart. I listened to it as a teenager during my first airplane flights to get over my anxiety during takeoff and landing

I don’t care what anyone says Wake Up Call is one of their best songs to this day

Maybe its a bit of an obscure track, but my Maroon 5 nostalgia is for a feature Adam Levine did with Canadian rapper K'Naan on his song Bang Bang. It's just such a peppy, silly song and it still makes me smile to think of it.

For the longest time I thought Moves Like Jagger was called Moves Like Dragons. That whistling is vaguely "oriental" and I only ever heard it in background situations, like at work. I had no idea that song is 12 years old. Midwest pop radio just plays whatever and I haven't paid attention to who is on the charts for like two decades.

absolutely did not expect this 😭 but makes me wonder will always be a bop

I actually wonder if their current pop success is causing their 2000s output to be forgotten, to the point where once they call it quits their music will be forgotten entirely. You could say it really makes me--

found myself knowing a lot of songs despite not caring for their music that much. it's a really interesting phenomenon how they remained occasionally popular on such level. they even do not have a complete flop album anyway, great dive as usual!

"You will like at least one song on each album" pretty much sums up Maroon 5's staying power.

I get what you're saying about Garth, but he was the first country star to really be an inescapable, world-conquering pop star. I'd probably argue that almost every successful male country artist since has followed his blueprint to some extent. His impact is still clearly felt that way.

I mean... I greatly dislike what this band became, but I love Songs About Jane to this day, and I don't think anything will change that. I honestly think it's one of the best debut albums ever made, that makes me so sad. Considering what they turned into, and all.

It Won’t Be Soon Before Long deserves to be remembered the same way Songs About Jane is. Some of the most infectious hooks of the decade.

ADAM LEVINE BEING PART OF COMMUNITY SEASON 4 MAKES SENSE

The intensity and genuineness with which you say, “Thank you Wiz Khalifa, I love you.” kills me lmaooo

In the last video Mic said we were going to hate the next band he chose for the DDD. I looked at this thumbnail and suddenly everything made sense….

Wow it really was that quick of a change. Those first three albums basically bookended my childhood their first (one of my older sister’s all time favorites that she played all the time) came out when I was in third grade, and their third durning my junior/senior year of high school. As an adolescent I considered myself a maroon 5 fanatic I was ecstatic to see them coming in concert on my birthday! And begged for those tickets. Originally I thought I was just outgrowing pop music but seeing it all laid out like this yeah those first albums were a distinct era for the band, and for me.

Here in Chile as a country we kind of hate Adam Levine, and use his instagram page to share recipes of traditional chilean's food. I agree with your selection of best songs...Sunday Morning is lovely and the hit from the second one makes the difficult follow up to Songs About Jane a triumph

Since the twitter tease I knew we were in for an all-timer. And as much as I can't stand most of their hits, I do still enjoy the hell out of those early first two records singles.

As someone who was an honest to goodness real life fan of Maroon 5's work as a kid in the early 00's, you captured my feelings perfectly.

I think the fondness of songs about Jane also stems from how ubiquitous it was at the time - you couldn’t help having it soundtrack some part of your life. Also I personally slayed This Love on og singstar, so maybe I’m biased!

Maroon 5's V album was the first album I ever owned. I think everything that happened in their career, before and after V was worth it, just for that one album

"i know it's named after a dead friend, but that's no reason to make an album so lifeless" i spat out my drink, man, when you're not pulling your punches, you're *really* not pulling your punches

I love that Moves Like Jagger got it's own section bc to me that was the turning point of Maroon 5, of where they crossed over and became the Maroon 5 that we know today. Hit machine, corporate pop rock Maroon 5, etc. Everything before and up to this point was good to solid pop rock, after this, they did exactly as you said, chased hits wildly regardless of quality (and sometimes it was quality -- Maps is great and so is One More Night -- Sugar and Girls Like You on the other hand are very much not) It's not often that you can trace a single song as the turning/pivotal moment in an artist's discography that defines their M.O. since then, but 'Moves Like Jagger' is 100% percent the turning point for Maroon 5.

Can you do a dive on First Aid Kit? It’s a Swedish folk band made up of two sisters and I adore them to bits. They only have 6 albums but I think they are genuinely incredible and I need more people to know about them. Also when the two harmonize? I ascend to another planet it’s so beautiful-

Honestly, not including any of One More Night was a stroke of genius. Pausing the video, opening up a new tab (incognito obviously) and searching maroon 5 one more night only to hear what that song actually was hit me like a fucking truck

maroon 5 appearing on Comedy Central embodies their new works.

Returning strong with the greatest band of all time

I hate how nostalgic I am for the singles from the first five albums

maroon 5 was my fave band when i was in elementary school so this was a really fun throwback video for me, i’m glad you liked hands all over!! music has been a very important part of my life since i was a little kid, but i’ve always been pretty embarrassed to mention how maroon 5 was lowkey the first band i truly followed. it was great hearing your positive opinions of the first couple albums and it brought back some fun memories :)

Looks like it’s time for the strangest combination of early 2010s nostalgia and complete anger at myself for once thinking this was my favorite band I will ever experience.

"I know it's named after a dead friend but that's no reason to make an album that's so lifeless." 💀

I love watching the entire histories of musical acts that I never will realistically ever listen to

"i know this was named after a dead friend but that's no reason to make an album that's so lifeless" DAMN mike that was cold

my friends think i'm crazy with how obsessed i am with sunday morning so thank god someone else gets how good it is

I've stuck with them for so long simply because they were my first CD and first musical love. The early melody driven music they made led to me modern alternative rock and a lot of great classic rock that I deeply enjoy. Their new albums are definitely not my favorite, but I can usually find a song or two in there that scratches that original itch that they did for me. Also REALLY glad you shouted out Closure! That song feels like the band honestly getting closure on them being a musical act like they were, and saying goodbye to it with one long band R&B jam session for the ages. I never thought I would have an 11 minute song on repeat, but it's simply amazing.

I have been following your essays and am thankful for a lot of them but the thing that is making me comment for the first time is the bit about Missouri/Misery. I was flailing and squeaking like a seal for a solid 2 mins.

I went and saw John mayer this year with supporting act YEBBA and she was performing with PJ Morton. Great shout out for a greatly underrated musician

I hope to see a deep disco dive for Yellow Magic Orchestra. Because that's gonna be an interesting experience

My interest in M5 started and ended with Harder to Breathe, the first thing I ever heard by them. I remember hearing it playing in a Target electronics section and thought it was pretty good. Went home and listened to some of their other stuff and said never mind

I would love to see a Discog Dive for OneRepublic. Hope that this series continues during 2023

You should do a deep discog dive on Prince just because it would be so much effort. 39 studio albums, 3 posthumous albums, a few deluxe editions with like 30 bonus tracks each. It would be fun.

Songs About Jane is a classic