V
by Maroon 5
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 169 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 78 out of 169
  2. Mixed: 44 out of 169
  3. Negative: 47 out of 169
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  1. NolanLundgaard
    Mar 25, 2020
    5
    V by Maroon 5: 4.66

    Maps: 1 :) Animals: 1 :) It Was Always You: 1 :) Unkiss Me: 0.75 Sugar: 1 :) Leaving California: 0.5 In Your Pocket: 0.5 New Love: 0.5 Coming Back For You: 1 :) Feelings: 1 My Heart Is Open: 0.25 This Summer: 0 Shoot Love: 0.75 Sex and Candy: 0 Lost Stars: 1 :) 10.25/15 ~ .683 -> 4.66 Not a horrible album, but definitely falls short of Maroon    V by Maroon 5: 4.66

    Maps: 1 :)
    Animals: 1 :)
    It Was Always You: 1 :)
    Unkiss Me: 0.75
    Sugar: 1 :)
    Leaving California: 0.5
    In Your Pocket: 0.5
    New Love: 0.5
    Coming Back For You: 1 :)
    Feelings: 1
    My Heart Is Open: 0.25
    This Summer: 0
    Shoot Love: 0.75
    Sex and Candy: 0
    Lost Stars: 1 :)

    10.25/15 ~ .683 -> 4.66

    Not a horrible album, but definitely falls short of Maroon 5’s previous efforts such as Songs About Jane and Overexposed. Some songs are really good, but the lyric writing has taken a steep downhill, This Summer especially has a huge problem with this. Seems like Maroon 5 only wrote this song as an excuse to say the F-word 100 million times in the duration of 4 minutes. A lot of the songs are also super electronic, which I don’t really understand because Maroon 5 had so much success in their first couple albums. On the other hand, there are some gems in V, such as Maps, Lost Stars, and It Was Always You, it just depends on the song. V has its fair share of winners and stinkers, which brings down its overall score, though it’s still in the green. Highlights: Maps, Animals, It Was Always You, Sugar, Coming Back For You, Feelings, and Lost Stars.    … Expand
  2. asjklasjklas
    Sep 2, 2014
    4
    V—which makes a 'vague' indication that this Adam Levine, erm, Maroon 5's fifth studio album—has hooks and it has repetition of said hooks, that's not polished production, in my opinion. Even more so than their previous 2012 album Overexposure, which Levine has said was their "poppiest record to date", Max Martin, Shellback, Levine, and the dozens of other writers—rarely the band membersV—which makes a 'vague' indication that this Adam Levine, erm, Maroon 5's fifth studio album—has hooks and it has repetition of said hooks, that's not polished production, in my opinion. Even more so than their previous 2012 album Overexposure, which Levine has said was their "poppiest record to date", Max Martin, Shellback, Levine, and the dozens of other writers—rarely the band members themselves—make no attempt at creating a memorable hit-single. The second single, "Animals", is ridiculously catchy. That's it though. It's as if it was only tailored for that Kia Soul commercial and nothing more. It's not a memorable pop moment, it's a satisfying one. There's a difference.

    As executive producer, Max Martin must've exerted more energy into making number-one hits for Ariana Grande, Jessie J, and Taylor Swift. Because with V, it literally sounds like Levine and Martin just said, "Eh, we'll settle on a good radio song or 2. We're just satisfying our record label, anyway," which makes V lazy even by the laziest of standards. And what's with the excessive Auto-Tune? Levine has a hit-or-miss vocal range, sure, but I haven't heard of him sending any live audiences to the ear doctor. And don't say it's for "artistic reasons", the production doesn't even call for it.

    To sum it all up, if you were expecting Adam Levine & the Scene (I'm sorry, I had to) to return to their glory days of actually sounding like a band intent on crafting pop gold like they did on Songs About Jane, Levine and his pick-up lines aren't even remotely interested in flirting with those expectations.    … Expand
  3. bfoore90
    Sep 24, 2014
    5
    I'll admit, Maroon 5 had me optimistic when they indicated that V was possibly going back to their "Songs About Jane" roots that made them famous. In a way, they did that and they still sorta sound like an actual band again with a fresh, new sound. While its certainly an improvement over "Overexposed," its not much of an improvement. Their lyrics are still shallow, Adam Levine still soundsI'll admit, Maroon 5 had me optimistic when they indicated that V was possibly going back to their "Songs About Jane" roots that made them famous. In a way, they did that and they still sorta sound like an actual band again with a fresh, new sound. While its certainly an improvement over "Overexposed," its not much of an improvement. Their lyrics are still shallow, Adam Levine still sounds like he's whining (with auto-tune this time!), production is still tacky, and it still sounds more like a album meant for the pop-driven music industry. Overall, its a slight improvement over "Overexposed" with good songs like "Maps," if you're one of the ones hoping for something even remotely similar to "Songs About Jane", "It Won't Be Soon Before Long", or even "Hands All Over" then you should probably not listen to "V"… Expand
  4. Mesmerize
    Aug 9, 2016
    6
    6.0 z
  5. adhamhany
    Sep 9, 2014
    5
    Well, they never were something extraordinary. However, I did like their earlier work; back when they first appeared. I was hoping for more of that in this album, more tracks like Sunday Morning (my favorite from them).

    Unfortunately, that's not the case here. The lyrics are shallow, and the music lacks emotion. It's not bad or terrible or anything like that, but it's a disappointment.
  6. Annoymous1
    Aug 15, 2015
    6
    A few exceptionally good songs, a lot of just "good" songs and then the songs that were just meh. That was pretty much this album, nothing exceptional or remarkable, really.
  7. beneightynine
    Sep 4, 2014
    6
    It may be a Grammy-worthy album, but Mr Levine chose to rely on the same collaborators (Shellback, Max Martin, Benny Blanco), leaving just one great track "Leaving California" to StarGate... Dr Luke, Ammo and Cirkut should have produced a track resembling "Better Than I know myself" instead of mashing-up "TGIF" and "Birthday" of Katy Perry.
    Many wanted names were absent: Ilya, The Dream,    It may be a Grammy-worthy album, but Mr Levine chose to rely on the same collaborators (Shellback, Max Martin, Benny Blanco), leaving just one great track "Leaving California" to StarGate... Dr Luke, Ammo and Cirkut should have produced a track resembling "Better Than I know myself" instead of mashing-up "TGIF" and "Birthday" of Katy Perry.
    Many wanted names were absent: Ilya, The Dream, Billy Steinberg, a featuring with Rihanna (on a Max Martin produced track), Sia (with a ballad produced by Greg Kurstin or Chris Braide)...
    Mr Levine has good vocals, but he didn't use them at their full capacity!    … Expand
  8. spongeswift
    Nov 12, 2017
    5
    V is not a great album but it also is not terrible. There are a few good songs that deserve 7 or 8's but the rest of them are just so one dimensional and repetitive. It's a pop/rock trainwreck that only pays off in a few of the songs.
  9. KZorroFuego
    Aug 1, 2015
    5
    Maroon 5 have always been a rock band that injected pop and R&B swagger into their music. Even so, on their first 3 albums, they still managed to cut the right balance of the two, still sounding like a rock band with sprinklings of the other 2 on top for good measure. When album #3 tanked, and then they had a runaway smash with the poppy, Benny Blanco-produced add-on track "Moves LikeMaroon 5 have always been a rock band that injected pop and R&B swagger into their music. Even so, on their first 3 albums, they still managed to cut the right balance of the two, still sounding like a rock band with sprinklings of the other 2 on top for good measure. When album #3 tanked, and then they had a runaway smash with the poppy, Benny Blanco-produced add-on track "Moves Like Jagger" the writing was on the wall. More of the same followed with the messy, half-focused Overexposed, and now, with the aptly titled fifth album "V", one look at the back cover and seeing Max Martin as executive producer (and a host of even more pop svengalis in the liner notes for each song) it's clear they haven't ditched this approach. I was tempted before listening to hope that maybe they had done what I hoped they would do - take the fact that they DO know how to play well live, and on record, and use that talent to push what a typical chart-bomber could be. Mostly, hopes were dashed, and while it's better than Overexposed, it's not all it could be.

    "Maps" at least starts off with a more organic sounding groove, and more like a band playing than a few guys at keyboards cooking up thoroughly automated sugar-coated pop. Not that there's anything wrong with keyboard-driven pop, mind you. Just saying that it comes across as disappointing when that isn't exactly what you're expecting - or when you know the band putting it out is capable of doing both that and more organic music just as well. "Animals" is more of what M5 love doing - a track extolling the leering lover on the hunt. A bit well-worn at this point, but sticking with what you know can work. They try to tone the glitz down a bit with "Leaving California", and while it's a pleasant mid-tempo ballad with great ambition, it falls on Levine's voice. Straight up, he can't pull off the aw-shux-you're-leaving-me trope well in this setting - he needs a different backdrop for that. Following shortly after, the borderline creepy "In Your Pocket" sounds like one of the scrapped tracks from Overexposed that should have stayed scrapped. It sounds like a much more radio-friendly version of a rather crude internet-only track from a different artist - one featuring a jilted lover telling her other half "Something's going on, can I smell your...." well, you get the idea. Thankfully, this is a bump on the road, as Levine breaks out his Mariah Carey vocal-histrionics side for "New Love" - another mid-tempo burner which is, subject matter-wise, more his speed. And while "Feelings" is a pleasant enough track, it shows them starting to run out of ideas, as in the chorus it rides a beat and sound that is photocopied straight out of "Moves Like Jagger." Learning and adapting from what has been a hit in the past is one thing. Copy-catting it again down the road to make another song is just lazy work. Gwen Stefani lends a nice hand on the closing duet "My Heart Is Open" which is a nice breather after the overly busy, sometimes over-caffeinated remainder of the album.

    Bottom line - Maroon 5 the rock band is dead - or at least on life support, buried under the pop trappings of Dr. Luke, Shellback, Benny Blanco, Ryan Tedder, and more of-the-moment names. And it's understandable - if you find what works and pays the bills, I understand the need to go for it. One would think by now that they don't need to pay the bills that badly, and have the leeway to take chances. Maybe by album 6 they'll finally feel ready to. One can only hope.    … Expand
  10. SumitSumbria
    May 28, 2016
    5
    Another album in the crowd with familier sounds and themes. Not at all impresive. "Suger" and "This Summer" are the best tracks in the album. "Animals (Danny Olson Remix)" is my personal favourite.
    Jewel of the album - "Sugar"
  11. Willduffy
    Nov 4, 2020
    4
    I wasn't a big fan of a couple songs in this album, but overall I think it's great. A great upgrade from Overexposed and basically a better version of Red Pill Blues.
  12. GamePlayer77
    Jun 3, 2021
    5
    This is the most alright thing I've ever listened to.

    FAV TRACK: It Was Always You
    LEAST FAV TRACK: In Your Pocket

Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Most Discussed Album of 2014
68
#68 Most Shared Album of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
55

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. AllMusic
    Sep 8, 2014
    70
    Sometimes, the group achieves a delicate balance between the two extremes--"It Was Always You," "New Love," and the aforementioned "Feelings"--but the best moments on V are when Maroon 5 embrace the tuneful, slightly soulful adult contemporary pop band they've always been.
    Read full review
  2. Absolute Punk (Staff reviews)
    Sep 5, 2014
    5
    Nearly every song on this record is misogynistic in some regard, from the obvious predatory ramblings of “Animals” to the Robin Thicke-level douchebaggery of “Feelings.”
    Read full review
  3. The New York Times
    Sep 3, 2014
    50
    V is like a peppy new Nissan Altima: It won’t give you too many problems; it won’t attract stares; it probably won’t get stolen. Its parts are reliable, though none have the pulse of “Moves Like Jagger,” the 2011 hit that gave this group new life.
    Read full review
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