Red Pill Blues | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 3, 2017 | |||
Recorded | 2015–2017 | |||
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Genre | ||||
Length | 42:10 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Maroon 5 chronology | ||||
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Singles from Red Pill Blues | ||||
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Red Pill Blues is the sixth studio album by American band Maroon 5. It was released on November 3, 2017, through 222 and Interscope Records. This is the band's first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Sam Farrar as an official member, although he has featured on every Maroon 5 release prior and toured with them since 2012. It is also the final album to feature bassist Mickey Madden as a full member, making this their only album as a 7-piece band. The title of the album refers to the science fiction term of taking the red pill or the blue pill, which originated from the 1999 sci-fi film The Matrix . [5] The album is the follow-up to their fifth studio album V (2014) and features guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Julia Michaels, SZA, ASAP Rocky, LunchMoney Lewis, Future and Cardi B.
Red Pill Blues received mixed reviews from music critics upon its release, and peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200. The album includes the singles "Don't Wanna Know", "Cold", "What Lovers Do", "Wait", and "Girls Like You". The first two singles, "Don't Wanna Know" and "Cold", are included on both of the album's deluxe and Japanese editions respectively. The third single "What Lovers Do", peaked within the top ten in twenty-five countries including Australia, Canada and the United States. The album's fourth single "Wait", received moderate success, peaking at number twenty-four in the United States, thirty-five on the Canadian Hot 100, and seventy-nine in the UK Singles. The fifth and final single from the reissued edition of the album "Girls Like You", was released in a new version featuring rapper Cardi B and peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as in the top five in Australia and Canada. The band embarked on the Red Pill Blues Tour (2018–2019) in support of the album.
After touring in support of their fifth studio album V (2014) for over three years, Maroon 5 began planning a follow-up to V. After embarking on a short rescheduled headlining tour in North America in March 2017, the band recording new material for a sixth album at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. The band later posted teaser gifs and videos of members in the studio on their social media accounts in late March. [6]
At the 2017 Teen Choice Awards, held on August 13, 2017, Maroon 5 was honored with the Decade Award. In his acceptance speech, frontman Adam Levine confirmed that their sixth album would be released in November. [7] Levine later confirmed this in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music radio station Beats 1. [8] On October 4, 2017, the band revealed the album's name, Red Pill Blues, and announced the pre-order for the album on October 6. [9] [10] Describing the meaning between this album and the band's first album Songs About Jane (2002), Levine said: "I think this album and the first album are probably the most connected. This album seems to me like a cousin to the first album, there’s a relationship kind of like book-ended all the ones in between." [11]
The album cover art for Red Pill Blues was created by American photographer Travis Schneider and is inspired by filters featured on the mobile app Snapchat. [12] The cover depicts all seven members of Maroon 5 pictured on polaroid photographs with a filter on their faces. "We all use Snapchat, and the filters have become a huge part of the culture," frontman Adam Levine told Billboard in an October 2017 interview. [13] "We thought it would be funny to take some more straight-ahead band photos and sprinkle in a little fun." Guitarist James Valentine added by saying: "It's like, a part of the zeitgeist now. Adam [Levine] and his wife, they just love trading photos when we're touring and stuff. They're always doing those filter faces to each other, so I think it rose out of that. Adam always has fun with that."
It also won the bronze award at the 2018 Shorty Awards, with both the album's cover art for Best Use of Snapchat and the wallpaper promotion for Best Influencer and Celebrity Snapchat Campaign. [14]
Red Pill Blues was preceded by two commercial stand-alone releases, which were later included on both the deluxe and Japanese editions of the album. [15] The first stand-alone single was "Don't Wanna Know" featuring American rapper Kendrick Lamar, was released digital retailers on October 12, 2016, [16] and charted at No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Adult Top 40, Adult Contemporary, and Hot 100 Airplay charts. [17] A music video for the song's original version premiered exclusively on The Today Show on October 14, 2016. [18]
A second stand-alone single, "Cold" featuring American rapper Future, was released on February 14, 2017, [19] and charted at No. 16 on the Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Adult Top 40 chart. [17] The song's music video premiered the day after, February 15. [20]
"What Lovers Do", featuring American R&B singer SZA was released by the band on August 30, 2017, as the third single from the album. [21] A lyric video was uploaded on September 15, 2017, [22] while the music video for the song was released on September 28. [23] The single peaked at number nine on the Hot 100 and became the band's thirteenth top ten hit on the chart.
James Valentine announced on Twitter that "Wait" would be the fourth single from the album. [24] The song was officially released to US contemporary hit radio on January 16, 2018, as the album's fourth single. [25] It peaked at number 24 on the Hot 100.
A remix version of "Girls Like You" featuring Cardi B served as the fifth and final single and was released on May 31, 2018. [26] It was the first single from the re-release of the album and the most successful single. The song peaked at number one on the Hot 100 chart for seven weeks, becoming Maroon 5's fourth and Cardi B's third number-one. [27] It spent 33 weeks in the top 10, tying both with Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" and Post Malone and Swae Lee's "Sunflower" for the longest top 10 run in the chart's archives at the time. [28] [29] It became the first pop song to reach number one since "Havana" by Camila Cabello in January 2018. [30] "Girls Like You" set a record for most weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, remaining atop this chart for 36 consecutive weeks. [31]
"Help Me Out", featuring American singer-songwriter Julia Michaels, was released on October 6, 2017, as the first promotional single of the album. [32] The second promotional single, "Whiskey" featuring American rapper ASAP Rocky, was released to digital retailers on October 20, 2017. [33] Before becoming the fourth single, "Wait" was initially released as the third promotional single on October 31. [34]
On November 7, 2017, Maroon 5 played a concert at the iHeartRadio Theater in Burbank, California, to commemorate the release of the album. [11] [35] On October 26, the band announced they would embark on the Red Pill Blues Tour. [36] The tour began on May 30, 2018, in Tacoma, Washington and ended on December 31, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada, comprising 65 shows. The took place in North America from May to October 2018, with Michaels as the tour's opening act. [36]
On August 28, 2018, Maroon 5 announced new dates for the tour in 2019 in Australia, Asia and Europe. [37] Artists Cxloe (Australia) [38] and Sigrid (Europe), [39] were announced as the tour's opening acts.
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 4.9/10 [40] |
Metacritic | 58/100 [41] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [42] |
Entertainment Weekly | B [2] |
Financial Times | [43] |
The Guardian | [44] |
Pitchfork | 4.8/10 [45] |
Rolling Stone | [46] |
Slant Magazine | [47] |
The Times | [48] |
Red Pill Blues received mixed reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, the album has a score of 58 from eight reviews, indicating "generally mixed or average reviews". [41] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic wrote that after setting aside the album's title and cover, Red Pill Blues can be taken as a "sleek, assured affair, one that sustains a seductive neon-streaked mood from beginning to end." He found their "modern sheen" to contain "strong song foundations" that in turn makes it not "play like a collective rhythmic and melodic hook in search of an ear: each cut unfolds with its own internal logic, with the different textures playing nicely off each other." [42] Entertainment Weekly 's Madison Vain described the album as the "best and most cohesive set of the decade" due to the group collaborating with a "murderers’ row of Hot 100 collaborators" that "ensures there's hardly a stale moment." [2] Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan found Adam Levine capably nuancing the "Top 40 old soul navigating whatever the pop-music moment throws his way" role as he "works well alongside young talent" to prove himself as a "pliant star of Jacksonian ease and Stingly self-assurance." [46] Taylor Weatherby of Billboard wrote that the record "presents the most electronic production the band has seen to date" in the "classic Maroon 5 fashion" through "supplementing the synthy bass lines with irresistible beats and smooth vocals," while commending the collaborations and the lyrical portrayals of "relationship talk." [49] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney from the Financial Times said that although feminist listeners "may struggle to discern solidarity" in certain suggestive track couplets, the album still "makes its way through the minefield" since its "smooth high vocals and catchy tunes" gives the songs "a degree of charm" while its "deft production lends depth to the slick music." [43]
Jayson Greene of Pitchfork affirmed the group's "shrewd and easy touch with soft rock" in "Best 4 U", but felt that the album's "utter lack of libido" made it "so difficult to even finish" especially since "soft rock and sex have a tricky relationship, and so do sex and Hot 100 pop." [45] Michael Hann from The Guardian noted Maroon 5's continuation of producing "impeccably structured pop songs" with "Help Me Out", but felt that Red Pill Blues was not an R&B album "in any remotely experimental way." [44] Writing for The Times , Will Hodgkinson commented that despite the "vacuity of the music and the words," whose former was "made up of noises from Maroon 5's pop machine" and whose latter was "unconvincing expressions of love and sensuality delivered passionlessly by Levine," the record was nevertheless "unpretentious and actually quite fun." [48] Slant Magazine 's Zachary Hoskins mentioned that Maroon 5 has "rebranded themselves as Daryl Hall and six John Oates—or at least a watered-down Chromeo" with the record's release whose "retro sound suits them," yet felt that it still has its share of "bland, underachieving grist for suburban shopping centers and rhythmic pop radio" with Levine's "digitally augmented vocal acrobatics" still as likely to "irritate as ingratiate." [47]
Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Shorty Awards | Best Use of Snapchat | Bronze | [14] |
Best Influencer and Celebrity Snapchat Campaign | ||||
2019 | Juno Awards | International Album of the Year | Nominated | [50] |
In the United States, Red Pill Blues debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, with 122,000 album-equivalent units, of which 94,000 were pure album sales, becoming the band's sixth top ten album in the country. The album was kept off the top spot by Sam Smith's The Thrill of It All . [51] By the end of the year, Red Pill Blues had accumulated 596,000 album-equivalent units in the country, with 185,000 being pure sales. [52] On May 17, 2018, Red Pill Blues was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 1,000,000 units in the United States. [53]
It is also Maroon 5's sixth top ten album in Australia, opening at number seven on the ARIA Albums Chart. [54] The album entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number two, becoming their sixth top five entry in Canada. [55] Elsewhere, it debuted at number six on the New Zealand Albums Chart, [56] and at number 12 on the UK Albums Chart. [57]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Best 4 U" |
|
| 3:59 |
2. | "What Lovers Do" (featuring SZA) |
|
| 3:19 |
3. | "Wait" |
|
| 3:10 |
4. | "Lips on You" |
|
| 3:36 |
5. | "Bet My Heart" |
|
| 3:16 |
6. | "Help Me Out" (with Julia Michaels) |
|
| 3:13 |
7. | "Who I Am" (featuring LunchMoney Lewis) |
| 3:03 | |
8. | "Whiskey" (featuring ASAP Rocky) |
|
| 3:30 |
9. | "Girls Like You" |
|
| 3:35 |
10. | "Closure" |
|
| 11:29 |
Total length: | 42:10 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
11. | "Denim Jacket" |
| 3:52 | |
12. | "Visions" |
|
| 3:50 |
13. | "Don't Wanna Know" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) |
|
| 3:34 |
14. | "Cold" (featuring Future) |
|
| 3:54 |
Total length: | 57:20 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
11. | "Girls Like You" (featuring Cardi B) |
|
| 3:55 |
Total length: | 46:05 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
13. | "Plastic Rose" |
|
| 3:42 |
14. | "Don't Wanna Know" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) |
|
| 3:34 |
15. | "Cold" (featuring Future) |
|
| 3:54 |
Total length: | 61:02 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
16. | "Girls Like You" (featuring Cardi B) |
|
| 3:55 |
Total length: | 64:57 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Moves Like Jagger" (live) |
| 4:59 |
2. | "Stereo Hearts" (live) |
| 3:42 |
3. | "Animals" (live) |
| 4:30 |
4. | "Daylight" (live) |
| 6:56 |
5. | "Maps" (live) |
| 4:22 |
6. | "This Love" (live) |
| 5:01 |
Total length: | 29:30 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Moves Like Jagger" (live) | |
2. | "Sugar" (live) | |
3. | "Daylight" (live) | |
4. | "Payphone" (live) | |
5. | "Maps" (live) | |
6. | "Stereo Hearts" (live) | |
7. | "Harder to Breathe" (live) | |
8. | "This Love" (live) | |
9. | "Animals" (live) |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
16. | "Girls Like You" (featuring Cardi B; St. Vincent Remix) |
|
| 3:31 |
17. | "What Lovers Do" (featuring SZA; Slushii Remix) |
| 4:15 | |
18. | "Cold" (featuring Future; Gucci Mane Remix) |
|
| 3:39 |
Total length: | 72:27 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Girls Like You" (music video; featuring Cardi B) | 4:31 |
2. | "Girls Like You" (behind the scenes teaser; featuring Cardi B) | 0:31 |
3. | "What Lovers Do" (music video; featuring SZA) | 3:34 |
4. | "What Lovers Do" (behind the scenes; featuring SZA) | 3:20 |
5. | "Wait" (music video) | 3:35 |
6. | "Wait" (music video; Snapchat version) | 3:08 |
7. | "Wait" (behind the scenes) | 3:00 |
8. | "Cold" (music video; featuring Future) | 6:51 |
Total length: | 28:30 |
Notes
Sample credits
All credits are adapted from the Red Pill Blues liner notes.
Maroon 5
Additional personnel
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [97] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Austria (IFPI Austria) [98] | Gold | 7,500‡ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [99] | 2× Platinum | 80,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) [100] | 2× Platinum | 160,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [101] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [102] | Platinum | 100,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [103] | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [104] | Platinum | 15,000‡ |
Poland (ZPAV) [105] | 2× Platinum | 40,000‡ |
Singapore (RIAS) [106] | 2× Platinum | 20,000* |
Sweden (GLF) [107] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [108] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [53] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine, drummer Matt Flynn, keyboardist PJ Morton and bassist Sam Farrar. Original members Levine, Carmichael, bassist Mickey Madden, and drummer Ryan Dusick first came together as Kara's Flowers in 1994, while they were in high school.
Songs About Jane is the debut studio album by American pop rock band Maroon 5. The album was released on June 25, 2002, by Octone and J Records. It became a sleeper hit with the help of five singles that attained chart success, led by "Harder to Breathe", "This Love", and "She Will Be Loved". This is the band's only album to feature founding drummer Ryan Dusick.
It Won't Be Soon Before Long is the second studio album by American pop rock band Maroon 5. It was released on May 16, 2007, by A&M Octone Records, as the follow-up to their debut album, Songs About Jane (2002). The name was inspired by a phrase the band adopted to keep themselves motivated while on their tour.
American pop rock band Maroon 5 has released seven studio albums, three live albums, two compilation albums, one remix album, six extended plays (EPs), 36 singles, eight promotional singles, and 43 music videos. The group originally formed in 1994 as Kara's Flowers while they were still attending high school. With a line-up of Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick, they released their independent album, We Like Digging? in 1994. In 1997, they signed to Reprise Records and released an album, The Fourth World. After a tepid response to the album, the band parted with their record label and attended college. In 2001, the band regrouped and added James Valentine to the lineup, and pursued a new direction under the name Maroon 5.
Hands All Over is the third studio album by American pop rock band Maroon 5, which features guest appearances from American country band Lady Antebellum and singer Christina Aguilera. Produced by veteran producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the album was released by A&M Octone Records on September 15, 2010, and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. The standard edition of the album includes three singles: "Misery", "Give a Little More" and "Never Gonna Leave This Bed".
Overexposed is the fourth studio album by American pop band Maroon 5. It was released on June 20, 2012, by A&M Octone Records. The album was recorded between 2011 and 2012 and was driven after the moderate success of their third album, Hands All Over (2010), and later by the enormous success of the re-released edition, which was promoted by the single "Moves like Jagger", recorded featuring Christina Aguilera. It is the band's only album not to feature keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and background vocalist Jesse Carmichael, who took a temporary break from performing with the group to focus on his studies and was replaced by musician PJ Morton. The band worked with different producers, such as Max Martin, who serves as the album's executive producer, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, Shellback and Benny Blanco.
"Lucky Strike" is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5, and is the fourth track on their fourth studio album Overexposed (2012). The song was released on January 20, 2014, in Belgium, as the album's first and only promotional single. It was written by band frontman Adam Levine with producers Ryan Tedder and Noel Zancanella.
V is the fifth studio album by American band Maroon 5. The album was released on September 2, 2014, through 222 and Interscope Records. V was Maroon 5's first album to be released through Interscope after the band's previous label, A&M Octone Records, transferred them along with most of its artists to Interscope. The album also saw the return of keyboardist/rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist Jesse Carmichael, after his absence from recording, touring and promoting the band's previous album, Overexposed, which was released in 2012. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and produced with three hit singles, "Maps", "Animals", and "Sugar", peaking at numbers 6, 3 and 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, respectively. A fourth single "This Summer's Gonna Hurt like a Motherfucker", was released on May 15, 2015, from the reissue deluxe edition of the album. "Feelings" was released as the album's fifth and final single on September 14, 2015. The album received mixed reviews from the music critics.
Singles is the first greatest hits album by American pop band Maroon 5. It was released on September 25, 2015, through 222 and Interscope Records. The album includes 12 of the band's greatest hit singles released from their first five studio albums: Songs About Jane (2002), It Won't Be Soon Before Long (2007), Hands All Over (2010), Overexposed (2012), and V (2014).
"Don't Wanna Know" is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5 featuring American rapper Kendrick Lamar. The song was released on October 11, 2016, as the lead single from the former's sixth studio album Red Pill Blues (2017), included on both the deluxe and Japanese editions of the album. The song reached the top 10 in 23 countries, including number 6 in the United States. Critical reception to the song was mixed, with critics praising its production but criticizing Lamar's verse and repetitive chorus.
"Cold" is a song by American band Maroon 5 featuring American rapper Future. The song was released on February 14, 2017, as the second single from their sixth studio album Red Pill Blues (2017), included on both the deluxe and Japanese editions of the album. The song peaked at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Culture II is the third studio album by American hip hop group Migos. It was released on January 26, 2018, by Quality Control Music, Capitol Records and Motown. Culture II is a double album consisting of 24 tracks, and features guest appearances from 21 Savage, Drake, Gucci Mane, Travis Scott, Ty Dolla Sign, Big Sean, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Post Malone and 2 Chainz. It was executive produced by Quavo, alongside production work from a variety of collaborators including Metro Boomin, Buddah Bless, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Murda Beatz, among others. The album serves as a sequel to Migos' previous album, Culture.
American rapper Cardi B has released one studio album, three mixtapes, 38 singles, and 17 music videos. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she has sold 100 million equivalent units in the United States across albums, singles, and mixtapes, making her the 6th best-selling female digital artist in the country. Her debut album Invasion of Privacy was the best selling female rap album of the 2010s according to The Recording Academy. It also became the most streamed female rap album on Spotify history. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), "Girls Like You" was the 5th best-selling single of 2018 worldwide, selling 11.9 million units that year alone.
"What Lovers Do" is a song by American band Maroon 5 featuring singer SZA. It was released on August 30, 2017, as the third single from the band's sixth studio album Red Pill Blues (2017). The song contains an interpolation of the 2016 song "Sexual" by Neiked featuring Dyo, therefore Victor Rådström, Dyo and Elina Stridh are credited as songwriters.
"Wait" is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5. It was released on January 16, 2018, to contemporary hit radio as the fourth single from the band's sixth studio album Red Pill Blues (2017). The song was previously released as a promotional single on October 31, 2017. It was written by Adam Levine, John Ryan, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, and Ammar Malik and was produced by Ryan. It served as the third countdown single released from the album following "Whiskey".
"Help Me Out" is a song by American band Maroon 5 and American singer-songwriter Julia Michaels. The song was released on October 6, 2017, as the first promotional single from the band's sixth studio album Red Pill Blues (2017), also as included the sixth track on the record.
"Girls Like You" is a song recorded by American band Maroon 5 from their sixth studio album Red Pill Blues (2017). The track was written by lead singer Adam Levine, Starrah, Gian Stone, Cirkut, and Jason Evigan, with the latter two serving as producers. A second version featuring and co-written by American rapper Cardi B, was released on May 31, 2018, as the album's fifth and final single. The single version was included on the re-release edition of the album.
Invasion of Privacy is the debut studio album by American rapper Cardi B. It was released on April 6, 2018, through Atlantic Records. Originally planned as an EP and primarily a hip hop record, it also includes elements of trap, Latin trap and R&B. It features production from 30 Roc, Andrew Watt, Benny Blanco, Boi-1da, Craig Kallman, Cubeatz, DJ Mustard, Frank Dukes, J. White Did It, Keyz, Murda Beatz, Needlz, Tainy, and Vinylz, among others. The album features guest appearances by Migos, Chance the Rapper, Kehlani, SZA, 21 Savage, J Balvin, Bad Bunny, and YG.
"Memories" is a song by American band Maroon 5, released through 222 and Interscope Records on September 20, 2019, as the lead single from the band's seventh studio album Jordi (2021).
Jordi is the seventh studio album by American band Maroon 5. It was released on June 11, 2021, through 222, Interscope and Polydor Records. The album features guest appearances from Megan Thee Stallion, Blackbear, Stevie Nicks, Bantu, H.E.R., YG, and late rappers Juice Wrld and Nipsey Hussle. The deluxe edition of the album features additional guest appearances from Anuel AA, Tainy, and Jason Derulo.
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