Adam Levine Denies Turning Maroon 5 Into Glorified Solo Project

Adam Levine is on top of the world. But despite the success of Maroon 5’s V, many critics are arguing that the band has simply become a showcase for Levine and his rise to pop super-stardom.

As previously reported by Inquistr, Maroon 5’s V topped the charts selling 164,000 copies in the week ending Sept. 7. This marks the second time, according to Billboard, that Maroon 5 has managed to take the top spot upon release of a new album. It also continues to push Adam Levine to new levels of popularity in the mainstream music world, only heightened by his involvement with NBC’s The Voice.

And therein lies the rub. Music critics are claiming Maroon 5 has become nothing more than an Adam Levine solo project. For example, The Daily Herald points out how songwriting duties, which used to belong to the group collectively, have now been shed in favor of “an array of of pop/Top 40 masters, including Tedder, Max Martin (the man responsible for the Backstreet Boys, N’Sync and Britney Spears’ biggest songs), Shellback, Sia and Mike Posner.”

The article continues its harsh review of V.

“The group picks up where its fourth album, Overexposed, left off by further pushing itself into the pop world with bubblegum pop infections that ultimately come off as front man Adam Levine’s solo project than a band’s album.”

And while it’s quite evident Maroon 5 has changed it’s sound dramatically, as previously reported by Inquistr, Levine denies transforming the band into a solo vehicle. In an interview with the Killeen Daily Herald, Adam discusses the making of V, and how the state of the songwriting has shifted in a positive way for each member of the band.

“We developed a really nice system on [Overexposed] — we found songs we were passionate about, developed them and put our stamp on them — and I think we all started to enjoy ourselves in the studio. This time we kept it going, but looked for different types of songs.”

Levine continued.

“Honestly, it’s a huge relief for me because for a long time it felt like making an album was this daunting task, and I had to be at the center of it. It wasn’t fun anymore. I was trying to control it all. But if you want to be a band that’s going to be around for 20 or 30 years, you’re going to have to change what you do at some point.”

Adam Levine can be seen on NBC’s The Voice starting September 22. Meanwhile, Maroon 5 will tour in support of V starting next February.

[Adam Levine photo courtesy ANDRE DURAO / Shutterstock.com ]