Maroon 5

It Won’t Be Soon Before Long

November 08, 2007

By Mr. Marlowe

*** / ****

Released 2007

A friend of mine once remarked Matchbox 20 represents everything that is bad about music. Harsh words for sure, and especially bristly on the heels of my comment that along with Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, Matchbox 20’s Yourself Or Someone Like You was probably the best pure pop album of the ‘90s. Funny thing is my friend loves Alannis but would like to see Rob Thomas’ jaw wired shut. So goes, I suppose the strange, strange world of popular music tastes in the new millennium.

Enter Maroon 5 and their sophomore effort, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. Call me crazy but something about these California popsters reminds me of some sort of bastard offspring of Matchbox 20 coupled with Justin Timberlake. “Pop funk” is how the id3 mp3 tags describe the songs from the album, and really, that isn’t such a bad description. Besides combining the Matchbox 20 songwriting hook , chorus, lament formula with Timberlake’s falsetto gyrations, Jamiroquai are surely brazen influences on these mainstream peddlers of pop bliss. However, where those Brits put the funk first and the pop second, their American sort of equivalent definitely puts funk a far second to their pop inclinations. That isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but it does make the band seem a bit more like pop panderers than mainstream masterminds like, say Michael Jackson or Prince, circa 1984.

Still, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long is a very well put together pop effort from a band that continues to grow. It isn’t that Maroon 5 does anything particularly unique or outstanding that makes the album good, but rather they do all things well. The hooks, the harmonies, every production detail is streamlined for maximum precision and entertainment, in a good way. The band’s third single, Won’t Go Home Without You is a perfect example. Adam Levine opens with a signature high pitched yet soulful lament as a modest guitar and steady drum beat chug behind him. Suddenly, a twinkling piano line enters, Levine digs in his heels, and the chorus lifts us in its gentle grasp. But before we can fully digest we’re back to verse mode until the time is right to spring the chorus in a more full blast manner. This is exactly what good pop music is all about, hooking us in, teasing the big chorus, and then giving us exactly what we want the last quarter of the song. Maroon 5 does precisely that with Won’t Go Home Without You as well a handful of other tunes on the album, most particularly the funkiest track, Makes Me Wonder ultimately leading to a group of songs that would “rock” any middle aged office worker who still digs the ‘70s and is tuned to their city’s #1 pop radio station.

While all this sounds very calculated, and it surely is, for those in the mood for pop bliss with a funk aftertaste It Won’t Be Soon Before Long cuts the mustard. A bit of schmaltz here and there as well the ever-present Levine castrato are the album’s biggest liabilities but they not nearly as noticeable as they would be on a lesser band. The pop goodness makes you forget all the reasons you should dislike these guys and like Matchbox 20, circa 1997 you instead find yourself tapping your toe and singing along. Now Maroon 5 may not be my personal cup of tea but I can certainly see how they would be for many, many others. Quite simply, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long is a good pop funk album that deserves its place alongside Justin Timberlake and his modern brethren.

Best Songs: Makes Me Wonder, Won’t Go Home Without You, Not Falling Apart, Wake Up Call