V (Maroon 5 album)

Background

In 2012, Maroon 5 released their fourth studio album, Overexposed. The record was released during a time of commercial momentum for the band following the success of "Moves like Jagger" (recorded with Christina Aguilera), a single which lead singer Adam Levine credited as having "revived the group", and the album's lead single, "Payphone", which became both a critical and commercial success. Overexposed was described by the band as their "most poppiest [sic] record to date", with critics giving the album mixed reviews upon its release, describing the album as having lacked memorable hooks and charm, and having exposed their limitations. The album, however, was met with a positive note with praise directed generally at Levine's vocals and the album's production.

Recording

V was recorded by the band at Conway Studios in downtown Los Angeles, California over a year-long period from 2013 through to mid 2014. The recording sessions for V saw the band's keyboardist Jesse Carmichael return to the band after a two-year hiatus, which saw him absent during the recording and promotion for Overexposed. V also features a collaboration with Gwen Stefani called "My Heart Is Open", co-written with Sia Furler. James Valentine stated that the band has known Furler for a long time and working with her was "really cool".

Artwork

The album cover for V was created by South Korean photographer Lee Jung. It features a 1.3m neon lighted crosstube formed in the shape of the roman numeral for five, the title of the album. The red neon display is placed in front of a reservoir in the Gyeonggi Province, with mountains in the background. The Maroon 5 logo appears out of focus in the background as a sign perched on the side of the mountain, similar to the famous Hollywood Sign.

Promotion

Departing from then-active A&M Octone Records, the band signed with its related label, Interscope Records in May 2014 to release the album. V was unveiled by the band and Interscope on May 19, 2014, slated for a release date of September 2, 2014 in the United States. Through a signed contract with Live Nation, the band had also announced that they are also set to embark on a world tour in late 2014 through to early 2015 in support of V. The artwork for V was unveiled through a series of five puzzle piece clues released daily through the band's Facebook page from July 17 through to July 21. After the series was completed, the album's artwork, in addition to its track listing, were unveiled on July 21, 2014. Moreover, to promote the album, the band performed during the 2014 iTunes Festival at the Roundhouse in London, England, as a headline act on the night of September 11, 2014 (all of the concerts played as part of the festival were filmed and webcast live). The band started their Maroon 5 World Tour 2015 in February 2015 at venues mainly to take place in North America and Europe until September 2015.

Singles

"Maps" was released as the album's lead single on June 16, 2014. The teaser of the song was uploaded on band's Facebook page on June 11, 2014. The song peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 giving the band their ninth top-ten hit in the country. "Maps" also reached the top-ten in an additional fourteen countries, including a peak of number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Animals" was released as the album's second single on August 25, 2014. The song peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100, giving the band their tenth top-ten hit in the country. "Animals" also peaked within the top-ten in an additional ten countries, and has also sold in excess of 200,000 copies in the UK alone. Likewise with their previous single, Animals achieved platinum status in the US for sales exceeding 1,000,000 copies.

"Sugar" was released on January 13, 2015 as the album's third single. It is the most successful single from the album, reaching the top-ten in 24 countries, including number 6 in Australia, number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100.

"Feelings" was released on September 14, 2015 as the album's fourth single.

Promotional singles

"It Was Always You" was released as the album's first promotional single on July 29, 2014, peaking at number 40 on the UK Singles Chart and number 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

"This Summer's Gonna Hurt like a Motherfucker" was released as a promotional single on May 15, 2015. It is the sole new song from the album's reissue collection.

Critical reception

The album received generally mixed reviews upon its release. On Metacritic, V received a weighted average score of 55/100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In a four-star review, Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone called the songs "precision-tuned and lustrously polished, jammed with hooks and choruses that build a man cave in your brain." Brian Mansfield of USA Today gave the album two and a half stars out of four, remarking the album was "easy to digest and contains all sorts of flavors while still being its own thing." In a 86 out of 100 review for Billboard, Brad Wete argued the album "reveals that their foundation has not been removed." Writing on behalf of AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album three and a half stars out of five, praising the band for "[embracing] the tuneful, slightly soulful adult contemporary pop band they've always been".

Not all reviews were positive. Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly graded the album a C, suggesting Levine's songwriting didn't "live up to his ability to work a crowd." Writing for The Guardian, Tim Jonze gave the album two out of five stars, dismissing it as "evidence as to why most people can't remember a Maroon 5 song two seconds after it finishes." In a two star review from The Observer, Theo Leanse called the album "a gaudy chunk of over-produced electro-pop-rock", but noted its accessibility, saying it "flips a smug V-sign at us, knowing we'll never free its singles from our skulls." Evan Rytlewski gave a C+ review on behalf of The A.V. Club commenting the band "stayed hip", but only by "furnishing a too-perfect, soundstage ideal of whatever the kids are into these days." In the New York Daily News, Jim Farber criticized the hooks on the album for being "so annoying, you won't be able to scrub them from your mind." Annie Galvin delivered a 5/10 review for PopMatters stating, "As far as lightweight, easy-listening charts pop goes, V doesn’t totally offend the sensibilities, and that’s surely more than can be said about some of Maroon 5’s overly pandering, less exploratory 'pop-rock' peers."

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 164,000 copies. and earned their second US number-one album and their first since 2007's It Won't Be Soon Before Long. As of August 2015, it has sold over one million copies in the US.

In Canada, the album also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, with 15,000 copies sold for the week. In its second week, the album remained at number one with 7,700 copies.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for V are adapted from AllMusic and Discogs