While some may see Maroon 5 as among the snooziest rockers this side of, er, Coldplay, the American band are also one of the bestselling rockers this side of (oh all right) Coldplay. Now, almost as a nod to both these qualities, Maroon 5 have announced the release of a remix album. One with enough bumpin' beats to keep listeners awake and enough, well, Maroon 5 songs to climb to the top of the charts.
At the same time, Call & Response: The Remix Album hasn't exactly enlisted the usual cadre of pitchshifters and Korg-wranglers. Sure, Tiesto and Mark Ronson are involved - but so are psych-glam weirdoes Of Montreal and the experimental pop band Deerhoof.
Other DJs, remixers and interjectors include Paul Oakenfold, ?uestlove from the Roots, Cut Copy, Just Blaze, the Cool Kids and David Banner. Even Mary J Blige stuck her head into the studio to sing along with Ronson's Wake Up Call remix.
"I've always found it really interesting that a group of people looking at the same painting can all see different things," Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine explained to AllHipHop.com. For example, when Paul Oakenfold listened to If I Never See Your Face Again, he envisioned a cameo by Rihanna. And when we hear This Love, we imagine the fiery pits of Hell.
Producer Swizz Beats disagrees. "Maroon 5 is amazing and I've been a huge fan for a long time," he told AllHipHop. At least Kanye West seems to share our ambivalence. Despite having borrowed Levine's "talents" for his Heard 'Em Say, West is conspicuously absent from Call & Response's final tracklist.
To date, Maroon 5 have sold over 14 million copies of their albums. The remix album is out December 9.
