Red Pill Blues by Maroon 5

I had found out about Maroon 5’s new album a few weeks after it was released, and I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the album. After listening very closely to all the songs, I have to say that this album is definitely worth downloading. This album falls in the genres of Pop Music, Contemporary R&B, Funk, and Soft Rock.

Maroon 5 was originally called Kara’s Flowers from 1994 until 1998 while they were in high school. During this time, they self- released their first album, Debut Album. When the album stirred the charts, they signed to Reprise Records. They then released another album called The Fourth World. This album got bad reviews and the record label dropped them. The band left the music industry so they could focus on college. When they finished college in 2001, the band remerged and renamed themselves as Maroon 5 and added guitarist Valentine. The band signed with Octone Records and released the album Songs About Jane.

The band won a grammy for this album. The band soon were hitting the charts with another three successful albums. They signed with Interscope Records two years after they added PJ Morton as a keyboardist and Sam Farrar as a touring member on multiple instruments. They released their newest album on November 17th of 2017. This album, compared to the others, is more updated and relevant. It is also very catchy and can get stuck in anyone’s head.

The band says that the album doesn’t have any true meaning and they let their fans decided the meaning of the album. The process in choosing the album name was not hard at all because they were tired and it was the eleventh hour, they had 20 minutes to choose the name. They discussed it and thought the reference of the movie The Matrix was really cool. At the time they did not realize that “red pills” are what anti- feminist men say when they start in the campaign. Of course the band wouldn’t have chosen this because they are all supporters of feminists. My thoughts on the title are very little. It’s a nice title and I love how they like to make small references to certain things. It makes the fans relate to the album more.

The tracks that stand out the most to me is “What lovers do” and “Wait”. They stand out to me because they are really catchy and were easily stuck in my head and had me dancing for months to them. The song”What lovers do” is the second song on the album and it features the rising musician SZA. The song is very up beat and fun to dance to at a party or in the car. I love the song lyrics but I don’t understand the meaning of them. For example, when it says ” I’ll bet the house on you, am I lucky or not, lucky or not, lucky or not? You gotta tell me if you love me or not, love me or not, love me or not?” Which makes me think that they’re talking about two lovers getting a divorce, yet, later it says “Been wishin’ for you, am I lucky or not, lucky or not, lucky or not?” Which makes me think that they are crushing on each other and are trying to let each other know.The song “Wait” is the third song on the album and is upbeat and very relatable. This is my favorite song on the album. It sounds as if it was playing in a club where you’re trying to forget your past relationships with your friends and are laughing about the memories of your exes. I feel the song is about a boy that realizes the things he did wrong and he wants the girl back, he realizes that he’s not a whole without her and he slowly falls apart. I’ve been through a breakup and this should have been the song I played to the boy. Comparing this album to the others they have released, I feel this is the most relatable album. It’s also the most upbeat one.

I give this album a rating of 9 out of 10 music notes because not only does it have cool references, but it is upbeat and fun while also being very relatable to people all over the world. After this album I am excited to here what comes next. I will be waiting anxiously for the release date of their next album. I would like to see more catchy and relatable songs. Those are always the best.