Maroon 5 - 'Songs About jane' (BMG) Released 19/01/2004

L.A. based five piece Maroon 5 burst onto the UK music scene earlier this year with the highly successful single Harder to Breathe.  Later in March they will play a sold out five-date tour across the country, promoting what they call “neo-soul rock”.  All before they’ve even got round to releasing a second single from their debut album 'Songs About Jane'. 

The album opens with lead single 'Harder to Breathe', the radio friendly rap-rock-funk song you cannot have failed to hear.  'Shiver' and 'Not Coming Home' are similar in style and will please those looking for more of the same.  For those who didn’t like it, this shouldn’t deter you from exploring the rest of this album.  'This Love' is a bluesy soft-rocker, build onto a simple piano line, while 'The Sun' and 'Sunday Mornings' display jazz influences.  The standout track is 'She Will Be Loved', simply one of the sweetest ballads in recent times.  A simple track with a sing-a-long chorus, it showcases the vocal talents of singer Adam Levine.

If anyone is worried that this album is one-dimensional, they need not be.  It is confident, and surprisingly good.  Rather than being the lighter cousin of nu-metal, Maroon 5 successfully fuse rock with elements of jazz and r’n’b.  While it won’t be to everyone’s liking, anyone looking for an alternative to the likes of Busted could do worse than start here.