Review Summary: giving up on their dreams and finding better ones
Poptimism is about shaking off the shackles of idealized aesthetics, the theory that rock was considered the most valid and important genre because of patriarchal ideals that placed what men liked at the top of every totem pole. Linkin Park matters more than the Spice Girls, Gavin deGraw more than Justin Timberlake, etc. There's really no other reason for the ridiculous masses of unwarranted hatred towards all music teenage girls like, but it will always face criticism as a theory because it challenges the status quo, and because choosing to try not to be sexist is a political stance. In any case, the problems that poptimism faces were in full swing when the music world decided what to think about
It Won't Be Soon Before Long. This album was the exact moment when Maroon 5 decided to shed almost all of the credibility they had won with rock posturing previously, and they're all the better for it, no matter how much flack they get for the switch.
This acceptance of who they are, refocusing on Prince instead of Matchbox Twenty, leads to a heartfelt and campy album. Lyrics on here really dig through the band's previous layers of irony and metaphors to reveal the romantic saps they were all along - "The city looks so nice from here, pity I can't see it clearly, while you're standing there it disappears, it disappears" - and it's more meaningful as a result. "Can't Stop" is clearly trying way too hard to be cool with its chopped up guitar bits and synth embellishments, "Kiwi" is an overly obvious cunnilingual metaphor followed by an obnoxious guitar solo, and "Back At Your Door" is an unnecessarily left-field cowboy Disney harmony-fest. But it all helps make it feel so much more passionate. They're a band focused on writing music with mass appeal - there's no point in trying to be cool, especially without any real innovation. The problem with mass-produced music has never really been that it wasn't original enough - that's a given for virtually all music, and certainly for Maroon 5. It's the way so much of it doesn't feel genuine, and it’s the posturing to pretend to be more interesting than they really are that acts as an Achilles heel for the worst music.
It Won't Be Soon Before Long plays all its cards out on the table, and as cheesy as they are, there's something to be said for the honesty.
It allows for more relatable and empowered songs - "She Will Be Loved" was lovely and all, but it felt so hyperpersonal. "Won't Go Home Without You" is still clearly inspired by reality but it also seems like it could have been written for anyone, which makes it a song for the everyman. "Little Of Your Time" feels like something for dancing to alone, secretly in love but learning to work past the shame of liking sultry growls under an MTV filter, mixed with just enough slimy guitar rhythm to stay grounded. "Wake Up Call" is a stupid metaphor but the Britney Spears-style buildups and weird vocal squeals feel angry. "Makes Me Wonder" is just a brilliant pop song, full of genius hooks, easily one of their best. "Goodnight Goodnight" is legitimately depressing, with a tear-wrenching final "beyond." All these tracks are confident against all evidence, powerful because they think they are, not because they trick you into thinking they could be.
At its best, that's what pop music is, music that believes in itself enough to help the listeners believe in themselves. Sometimes, this is achieved here, and that's really hard to do. They never could have done it if they were still trying to become something they weren't, still living enslaved by rock and male superiority. When they let go, everything they had been building up to showed. This isn't to say Maroon 5 made some classic masterpiece here, but it's their peak, a moment where their talent crossed over with their intentions, while they still cared but didn't need to prove they mattered.
It Won't Be Soon Before Long isn't cool, it's not boundary-breaking, but it's uplifting, and ultimately, that's what really matters.
