Overexposed (album)
Overexposed is the fourth studio album by American pop band Maroon 5. It was released on June 20, 2012, by A&M Octone Records. The album was recorded between 2011 and 2012 and was driven after the moderate success of their third album, Hands All Over (2010), and later by the enormous success of the re-released edition, which was promoted by the single "Moves Like Jagger", recorded as a collaboration with Christina Aguilera. It is the band's only album not to feature keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and background vocalist Jesse Carmichael, who took a temporary break from performing with the group to focus on his studies and was replaced by musician PJ Morton. The band worked with different producers, such as Max Martin, who serves as the album's executive producer, Ryan Tedder, Shellback and Benny Blanco. Guitarist James Valentine only has four writing credits on the album (the other main writer being Carmichael).
Overexposed
June 20, 2012
Mid 2011–Early 2012
Conway Recording Studios
(Los Angeles, California)
42:10
- Benny Blanco
- D.J. Kyriakides
- Sam Farrar
- Shawn Kang
- Adam Levine
- Maroon 5
- Max Martin
- MdL
- Noah "Mailbox" Passovoy
- Matthew Rappold
- Robopop
- JR Rotem
- Shellback
- Sam Spiegel
- Ryan Tedder
- James Valentine
- Brian "Sweetwesty" West
- Noel Zancanella
The accompanying artwork, created by Los Angeles artist Young & Sick, is a colorful collage of illustrations seemingly inspired by the likes of Picasso and a range of modern cartoonists. Its title is a smirking allusion to Levine's ubiquity, while its sound is a reflection of how the group wishes to retain the large audience they won once again with "Moves Like Jagger". The album's lead single "Payphone", featuring rapper Wiz Khalifa, produced by Shellback and Benny Blanco, was released and performed on The Voice, on April 16, 2012. The song was a success, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as on the ARIA Charts, while it topped the UK Singles Chart, Canadian Hot 100 and Italian Singles Chart. The second single "One More Night", was released on June 19, 2012. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks, becoming their longest Hot 100 reign. All four singles released from Overexposed have reached the Hot 100 top-ten, including the last two of them: "Daylight" and "Love Somebody".
The album received a mixed reception from music critics. Some praised the album, calling it their strongest effort, but others criticized the direction the band decided to take, calling it a failed attempt to go mainstream. Additionally, critics and fans alike perceived the album as overly focused on Levine. It debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 38,000 copies, and on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 222,000 copies. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Overexposed was the 11th global best-selling album of 2012 with sales of 2.2 million copies.[1] To promote the album, the band embarked on the Overexposed Tour (2012–2014).
Composition[edit]
Influence and sound[edit]
Overexposed is a pop[15][16] and pop rock album[17] with dance-pop,[18] disco,[19] electropop,[20] R&B[21] and reggae influences.[11] According to the band's official website, the album is "a chock-full collection of undeniable, anthemic melodies."[9] Multiple critics stated that "Moves Like Jagger" served as the biggest influence for composing and writing most songs on Overexposed.[17][20][22] Additionally, they noted that the works by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna influenced the album's sound.[17][20]
Songs and lyrics[edit]
The album's opening track, "One More Night", is an "irresistible sexy reggae jam"[11] that features influences of pop and rock music.[24] Lyrically, the storyline follows or being able to untangle from the particular love interest.[24] The second track on the album, "Payphone" is a pop and R&B song[21] that contains hip hop beats and piano hooks.[25] Featuring a verse by American rapper Wiz Khalifa, the song explores the way a relationship used to be in the past.[26] "Daylight" is a soft rock song,[27] that carries influence from the works of English band Coldplay (who, incidentally, also have a song called "Daylight"). According to Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly, the song has choruses that are thickly produced and the only physical instrument that you can pick is Levine's larynx.[17] "Lucky Strike" is a funk song[17] that features dubstep and soul rock influences[23][28] and lyrically discovers the theme of sexual intercourse.[29] The fifth track on the album, "The Man Who Never Lied", produced by Brian West, is a pop and pop rock song[30] that finds the protagonist in a relationship trouble where he is playing the role of a good person.[27] According to Nate Chinen of The New York Times, in the song, Levine sings "about spoiling his perfect record of honesty to spare a quarreling lover some hurtful feelings."[31] "Love Somebody" is the sixth track on the album; a dance-pop song[27] it contains a Sly Stone-meets-Eurythmics synth hook.[19] The funk-laden[32] seventh song, "Ladykiller" features a guitar solo[33] and an elastic funk groove, combined with Adam Levine's blue-eyed soul vocal and pleasing echoes of Hall & Oates.[34] It was inspired by the work of American recording artist Michael Jackson, as noted by the reviewers of BBC Music and Virgin Media.[33][35]
The eighth song on the album, "Fortune Teller" has a pop tempo piano beat, that meshes with the song to provide a mix of emotions. The song gives a sort of "I want you, but I can't decide for you" feel.[27] "Sad" is a piano ballad,[27] which highlights Levine's soulful tone that his voice possesses.[36] Nick Levine of NME labeled the song as "an Adele-apeing weepie".[28] Lyrically, "Sad" is a song on which Levine "achingly" declares the end of his relationship and his heartbreak.[37] The tenth track "Tickets" features twisting production that "comes through as a tight, techno-influenced pop song".[27] According to a reviewer of Billboard, the song is reminiscent of Maroon 5's 2010 single "Give a Little More"[27] and it has lyrics about someone being a snob.[17] "Doin' Dirt" is a high-energy, beat-driven song,[27] and a "a revved, funky club cut".[11] Its verses talk about "horndog rhapsodies", with lyrics such as: "I light you up when I get inside".[38] The final track on the album, "Beautiful Goodbye" was described as a "rhythmic ballad."[11] It's an acoustic ode that's bittersweet, but at the same time positive.[27]
Three additional tracks are present on the deluxe edition of Overexposed, including "Wipe Your Eyes", "Wasted Years" and either "Kiss", a cover of the 1986 single by Prince and the Revolution, or a cover of Let's Stay Together by Al Green. "Wipe Your Eyes" is a mid-tempo piano-driven track that contains a sample of the recording "Sabali" by the Mali musical duo Amadou & Mariam.[39] The song charted at number 80 on the US Billboard 200.[40] "Wasted Years" first appeared 7 years prior on the group's live album Live – Friday the 13th (2005). This version of the song was more in line with the funk rock the group were playing at that time. The song, contrary to popular belief, was not written for Songs About Jane, but instead for the band's eventual softmore album.[41] A demo of the song similar to the demos featured on the 10th Anniversary edition of Songs About Jane was recorded by Adam Levine and Sam Farrar, but has not been released.[42] The version of "Wasted Years" on this album has slightly different lyrics and very different instrumentation. It also contains a sample of "The Rill Thing" by "Little" Richard Penniman.[43]
Artwork[edit]
On April 10, 2012, the band debuted the artwork of the album on their official website.[44] Created by the LA based art project Young & Sick,[45] the cover art doesn't feature any images of Maroon 5 and is instead a colorful collage of illustrations seemingly inspired by the likes of Picasso and a range of modern cartoonists.[46] According to Natalie Finn from E! News, "the psychedelic Beatles-dipped-in-Cream cover is a where-do-you-look-first wink at the pop-music world, which is so crowded with egos and images these days that it becomes almost impossible to just focus on the music."[47] Allison Bowsher of MuchMusic described the artwork as a combination of the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles and illustrations of American show The Simpsons. The reviewer further noted that this is second time the band uses similar illustration the first one being on their 2002 debut album Songs About Jane.[48] Jessica Sager from Pop Crush wrote, "the bright colors and cartoon images are representative of the album's themes."[49] Similarly, Rebecca Francois of Global Grind wrote that the artwork is like Maroon 5's music "fun and pop".[50] Becky Bain of website Idolator, negatively reviewed the cover and wrote that "it is what an episode of The Simpsons looks like if you're on acid."[51]
Commercial performance[edit]
Overexposed debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, behind Linkin Park's Living Things, with sales of 222,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[88] A little over 1,000 copies sold separates the two titles.[88] Living Things also kept the album from reaching number one in many other countries. Overexposed is the band's fourth studio album, and follows 2010's Hands All Over, which also peaked at number 2, selling 142,000 in its first week.[88] Overexposed's start marks the band's best sales week for an album since 2007's It Won't Be Soon Before Long debuted at number one with 429,000 copies.[88] In the second week, the album fell to number 4, with sales of 68,000 copies.[89] It fell out of top 10 in its seventh week, but the album rose to number 5 in its eight-week, as the album benefitted from Amazon MP3 sale priced for $3.99 on August 17, 2012.[90] It sold 988,000 copies in the US in 2012, the 11th best-selling album of the year.[91] As of August 2013, it has sold 1,431,000 copies in the US.[92]
At the end of 2012, the album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
In Canada, the album debuted at number 3 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 17,800 copies.[93] The album has sold 30,000 copies in Brazil, being certified Gold.[94] The album was certified Gold in Japan after selling 100,000+ copies.[95] The album debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 38,000 copies, becoming their third British bestseller.[96] It was 3,000 copies behind of Linkin Park's Living Things, which debuted at number one with 41,000 copies.[96] The album sold 263,000 copies in 2012 in the UK.[97]
Notes
Maroon 5
Additional musicians