It Won't Be Soon Before Long

I'm lucky to have a good friend of mine working in the music industry, as I got to preview the latest Maroon 5 album before anybody else, just like all the other albums out there.

It's been 6 years too long since Songs About Jane was released, and a lot has happened since then. Maroon 5 has been spending plenty of time touring all over Europe for the past 3.5 years. It seems they wrote the new songs while living in Houdini's haunted house in Laurel Canyon making demos with their producer and old friend Jason Lader. And then another year long process of recording in Los Angeles.

After which, the album was completed in January of 2007, 12 songs were chosen that made the best album, plus beautiful photographs and the title It Won't Be Soon Before Long. It can mean whatever you want it to mean, but don't spend too much time thinking about it. In other words, it's about darn time that they produced another fantastic album, it's been far too long and we're having withdrawal symptom from Maroon 5's music!

Finally after 6 years, global neo-soul rock superstars Maroon 5 are back with their much-anticipated sophomore album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long. The follow-up to the 10x platinum, Grammy-winning Songs About Jane will be sexier and stronger, according to frontman Adam Levine, who looked to '80s icons such as Prince, Michael Jackson, and Talking Heads for inspiration. Recorded at home in Los Angeles with producers Mike Elizondo (Fiona Apple, Eminem), Mark "Spike" Stent (Bjork, Keane, Gwen Stefani), Mark Endert (Madonna, Fiona Apple), and Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Nickel Creek), the album promises to be a louder take on the pop sounds of their first effort.

Tracks like Makes Me Wonder, Nothing Last Forever and Won't Go Home Without You show lyrical imagination and some of the lyrics used are very real, talks about everyday life, sometimes funny, and it makes you feel good about yourself. I can predict that Nothing Last Forever will be their next single, or at least one of their singles along the line in the future. Makes Me Wonder is their current single, which hit the charts right at the top. Not Falling Apart has a U2 flavour in it with the strumming of the bass guitar in the background and the rock rhythms. Back At Your Door has a jazzy blues feel to the music, very sexy feeling in this song, not to the point of being sleazy.

It's been a long wait and a long time coming, and they say good things come to those who wait. But this album is definitely worth the wait, even if I had to wait a much longer time for it, I'm glad I waited for it. It's everything you ever wanted, hip, chic, trendy and has a nice 80s beat to it underlying some of the tracks, which gives it the distinctive feel of excellent music.

I foresee another Grammy Award coming their way!

9 out of 10 Stars