Line #47 YMMV/Maroon5


1	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In "Beautiful Mistakes", is Adam mourning the loss of an ex, or is he actually singing about the loss of a best friend (the late Jordan Feldstein)?
2	* AmericansHateTingle: The band was a [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff phenomenon in Chile]] for many years and they were loved in past concerts there and having a massive fandom. That is, until the 2020 Viña del Mar International Song Festival, one of the biggest Latin American music festivals of the world, where they were invited as the only band from the Anglosphere. Their poor performance and a reluctant Adam Levine, who also threw up shitty comments after the show, were object of a big controversy, even covered by international media. Since then, and despite the apologies Levine gave ([[LateToTheTragedy several weeks]]) after the show, all that fandom was gone and now the band is completely hated in Chile, to the point every now and then Levine has been trolled in Twitter by Chileans. Even more, when Americans ask questions about countries, one of the most common questions seen in Google's autocomplete feature is "Why does Chile hate Maroon 5?"
3	* AwardSnub: Maroon 5 only won a Kids Choice Award on their seventh nomination (in 2019). A big reason for this was that Music/OneDirection, who have a ''massive'' fanbase, were frequently nominated alongside them and won. Even once the Favorite Music Group category was 1D-free, Music/FifthHarmony then started to beat them. After the 2018 ceremony, Maroon 5 had the record for most nominations for the category without a win (6 times).
4	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Wiz Khalifa's rap about how hot his car is on "Payphone", which is a love song.
5	* BrokenBase:
6	** You either think Adam Levine is awesome/attractive or an egotistical douche. If his personality doesn't matter to you, you either love or hate his voice.
7	** "Animals" got plenty of this. Is it a great, anthemic song, or a creepy-as-all-get-out StalkerWithACrush anthem? And then there's the music videos...
8	** In general, most fans are pretty torn on whether the newer material they're putting out (from ''Overexposed'' onward) is any good in the first place, or just meaningless, studio-created schlock that overhauls the musicianship shown on their first three albums.
9	* CreepyAwesome: Is the music video for "Animals" disturbing as hell? Yes. Is it possibly glorifying stalking, rape, and cannibalism? Maybe.[[note]]Either that or it's displaying the horrors of these things in as much detail as a pop music video in 2014 can get away with.[[/note]] Is it incredible? Hell yeah!
10	* DesignatedHero: Adam in the "Payphone" music video. Sure, he was wrongly accused of being a robber by the cops, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he left the girl to fend for herself, stole Wiz Khalifa's car, and killed a bunch of cops while getting only a few cuts and bruises in the end. [[WebVideo/TheMusicVideoShow The Music Video Show]] destroys the video to pieces with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrWtfL_Pu58&list=UUs3VbL_OXrsjxqeWymuwK5g this.]]
11	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
12	** While largely forgotten by the general public, lead guitarist James Valentine is quite respected among guitarists.
13	** PJ Morton also gets a lot of praise for his solo career as a soul and gospel performer that is completely distinct from what you would expect from a member of Maroon 5.
14	* EpicRiff: "Moves Like Jagger" has quite the whistling hook.
15	* FirstInstallmentWins: ''Songs About Jane'' is still considered their best album. Overlaps with ToughActToFollow.
16	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: "Don't Wanna Know" has a ConceptVideo parodying ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' (and possibly also the beginning of ''Film/AHardDaysNight''), with the band (and various {{celebrity cameo}}s) dressed in cumbersome {{mon}} costumes while being chased down the street by people holding up smartphones. There's also a MidVidSkit where the director asks Adam Levine to put on a Pharrell Williams-esque hat and Levine refuses because it would make him look "silly"... [[HypocriticalHumor he says this as he's still dressed as a Squirtle lookalike]].
17	* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: "Sweetest Goodbye" and "Tangled" on their debut.
18	** During their 2009 tour, Levine and Carmichael realized that their old summer camp was on the way to their next gig and decided to stop there and spend the day hanging out with the campers.
19	** The music video for "Sugar" is the band surprising a bunch of wedding couples by playing the song. While there is some question of how genuine the actual wedding "crashes"/"surprises" were, the brides were ''all'' genuine reactions. Even more, Maroon 5 then voluntarily played "She Will Be Loved" as the traditional first dance for all the couples afterwards.
20	* HilariousInHindsight: Keyboardist Jessie Carmichael took a one-year sabbatical from the band before the recording of ''Overexposed'', which is significantly more synth-heavy than the rest of their stuff.
21	* MemeticMutation:
22	** Misery x CPR x Reese's Puffs Rap [[labelnote:Explanation]]A mashup of "Misery" with Music/{{Cupcakke}}'s "CPR" and a rap from a Reese's Puffs commercial became a meme in December 2021. This led to a meme format where the three songs are used as a [[invoked]]CharacterAlignment chart of sorts, classifying characters based on which of the three songs best describes them ("Misery" for {{Wangst}}y types, "CPR" for perverts, and "Reese's Puffs" for {{Manchild}}ren and {{Big Eater}}s).[[/labelnote]]
23	** Family Guy singing "Memories" [[labelnote:Explanation]][[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaLZlOQapWs A cover of "Memories" by Wirah]] where various Family Guy and The Simpsons characters sing the song became a popular ironic meme in 2022.[[/labelnote]]
24	* {{Narm}}:
25	** The sex scenes in "This Love" are performed with such intensity that the fact they're both still wearing trousers and panties respectively can look incredibly ridiculous.
26	** The howl in "Animals" rivals the one in Music/{{Shakira}}'s "She Wolf" in terms of awkwardness. It doesn't help that the line "animals-mals" already sounds kind of silly.
27	* NightmareFuel:
28	** The domestic abuse situation between the mother and her husband in "She Will Be Loved". Worst part is that only the young man knows about it, as he finds out when he discovers the girlfriend's mother lying unconscious in a dark room after the party/altercation.
29	** The lyrics to "Come Away to the Water" (from ''The Hunger Games'' soundtrack).
30	** The music video for "Maps" features a very realistic scene -- in which the lead woman gets hit by a car, not to mention all the glorious shots we see of her bloody, bruised face. Compare the comical crash Levine got involved in in the "Misery" review for contrast. [[SoundtrackDissonance Not helping is how light-hearted the song itself is.]]
31	*** The entire video is an {{homage}} to Creator/GasparNoe's controversial film ''Film/{{Irreversible}}'', and models its graphic violence after the film -- although the lead woman of the film is subjected to a ''worse'' fate than what the video depicts. Of all bands to bring the idea of "if ''Irréversible'' was a music video" to life, it's unlikely that many would guess Maroon 5.
32	** "Animals" compares [[IntercourseWithYou sex]] with animals ''eating each other'', all set to a peppy, anthemic beat. While it's tamer than, say, "Gorilla" by Music/BrunoMars, the LyricalDissonance that occurs is just disturbing. And then there's the lyric video depicting some snakes crawling all over and ganging up on a rabbit. ''Then'' there's the ''official video'' coming from the perspective of '''an AbhorrentAdmirer[=/=]StalkerWithACrush''', plus more gore and animal carcasses than "Payphone" or "Maps" ever had! Scenes where Levine singing into the camera whilst wearing creepy photographer glasses and smeared in fake blood shirtless. And the shots of Levine and Prinsloo kissing whilst nude and doused in a fountain of fake blood. Doubles as FanDisservice and FetishRetardant.
33	** The Director's Cut of "Wake Up Call" ends with [[spoiler:Adam in the electric chair]].
34	** As hilarious as that conversation is, at the end of the music video for "Don't Wanna Know", Adam Levine and Vince Vaughn talk about being exhausted from constantly being on the run from their ''Pokemon Go''-esque stalkers. And how it never ends for them. Vaughn's character suffers physical bodily ailments from the constant stress and anxiety on him due to being chased around by Pokemon-Go stalkers. In-Universe, it's ParanoiaFuel for them. Imagine being a Pokemon always having to be on the move for if one were to stay in one place long enough or stop to catch its breath, the ''Pokemon Go'' stalkers would show up to capture it.
35	--->'''Vince Vaughn:''' I'm exhausted. Look in these eyes. You can feel it, right?\
36	'''Adam Levine:''' Yeah.\
37	'''Vince Vaughn:''' I'm tired of running!\
38	'''Adam Levine:''' I'm sick and tired, baby. (fists bump him)\
39	'''Vince Vaughn:''' My feet are swollen, I got bunions. Siatic, check. I have a light tummy. It's embarrassing. I'm saying 'excuse me' all the time. And not because I'm burping, my tummy's bad.\
40	'''Adam Levine:''' Whoa.\
41	'''Vince Vaughn:''' Might blow a lot of ass.\
42	'''Adam Levine:''' I'm hot. I'm uncomfortable. I'm sweating my ass off. I gotta run around all day from all these...f--kin' kids.\
43	'''Vince Vaughn:''' Of course, you're tired. Of course, you're angry. I'm angry. I'm sick of that feeling that runs all over me. Then all of a sudden, the panic comes, you know? Like it's...right?\
44	'''Adam Levine:''' Sometimes it feels like a nightmare.\
45	'''Vince Vaughn:''' I mean, look at us... We're not built to run. We're a couple of just rolly polly lovable guys.\
46	'''Adam Levine:''' We just wanna have a good time...and shine, you know?\
47	'''Vince Vaughn:''' What happens if we stop running? Maybe it starts with us.
48	* SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel: "Sweetest Goodbye" is a lullaby.
49	* SequelDisplacement[=/=]MorePopularSpinOff: The band in general is this to Kara's Flowers, the band that featured an early version of Maroon 5 and which [[OldShame Maroon 5 themselves would rather forget about]]. And considering how successful Maroon 5 have been for almost 2 decades, there are many younger people who aren't even aware of Kara's Flowers.
50	* SignatureSong: By album...
51	** ''Songs About Jane'': "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved", with "Sunday Morning" and "Harder to Breathe" which are also well-known.
52	** ''It Won't Be Soon Before Long'': "Makes Me Wonder" and "Won't Go Home Without You". Also "Wake Up Call" to a lesser extent.
53	** ''Hands All Over'': "Moves Like Jagger", and "Misery" as a runner-up.
54	** ''Overexposed'': "One More Night" and "Payphone", with "Daylight" and "Love Somebody" which are also very notable.
55	** ''V'': "Maps", "Animals" and "Sugar" in first place. Also well-known are "It Was Always You" and "Summer".
56	** ''Red Pill Blues'': "What Lovers Do", "Don't Wanna Know" and "Cold", with "Wait" and "Girls Like You" not too far behind.
57	** ''Jordi'': "Memories" first of all, then "Beautiful Mistakes", "Lost" and "Nobody's Love".
58	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: ''It Won't Be Soon Before Long'', ''Overexposed'' and ''V'' have suffered backlash of this sort--the latter two more so as the band shifted from funky pop-rock to more straightforward pop.
59	* TearJerker: "She Will Be Loved"
60	** The music video for "Daylight", but more of in a SugarWiki/{{heartwarming\|Moments}} way.
61	** The music video for "Maps" is [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] and [[NightmareFuel frightening]].
62	* {{Wangst}}: Some of their songs about breakups can dip into whiny territory, including "Payphone".
63	* VindicatedByHistory: ''It Won't Be Soon Before Long'' was accused of being very different from their debut, ''Songs About Jane''. However, as their newer output has been put out, people have stated that ''Long'' was a good album because it still had the musicianship from all the band members, like ''Jane''. And it was also praised for branching out into different genres but didn't go too far into one genre and becoming generic. ''Hands All Over'' has also followed a similar trajectory, and it is fairly common nowadays for fans to consider ''Songs About Jane'', ''It Won't Be Soon Before Long'' and ''Hands All Over'' to comprise a "classic trilogy" of the band's albums.
64	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Invoked to some extent with "Makes Me Wonder", which looks like a normal song about love at first but takes on a new meaning with the RealitySubtext of Levine's frustration with the state of American politics at the time (ex: war in Iraq).

Context YMMV / Maroon5