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I have been patiently waiting for this release. Really, I have. I have put up with the re-release of the powerhouse debut album, Songs About Jane. I have spent several months frustrated by the acoustic and live re-releases of that same album. I mean come on… throw us a bone and include a new song or something guys, right?

The new album, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, drops today. So what’s the verdict?

Totally. Worth. The. Wait.

The dreamy Adam Levine and company have managed to paint a musical landscape that lies somewhere between the neo-funk Stevie Wonder-esque stylings of their hits like “This Love” and “Sunday Morning” and the sexy traditional rock sound of “Harder to Breathe” and “Tangled.”

Don’t buy this album expecting a retread of their earlier hits. There is no “She Will Be Loved” included here. Instead, there is a Beatles inspired ballad, “Better That We Break.”

The new tracks are completely refreshing, yet oddly familiar.

The first single, “It Makes Me Wonder,” (see the video here) is far from the best song. It’s also not an adequate representation of the rest of the album.

The best way I can think of to clue you into the sound of the new disk is to give you a little taste. Here’s “Little of Your Time.”

[audio:LittleOfYourTime.mp3]

Even after the initial screening of this album, I can safely say it won’t be leaving my iPod Top Albums list any time soon.

Buy it on
.

Key Tracks

• Little of Your Time
• Won’t Go Home Without You
• Kiwi
• Can’t Stop
• Nothing Lasts Forever

I mentioned the other day in My Picks from the Rolling Stone List that one of the upcoming albums I am really excited about is Maroon Five’s sophomore release, “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long.”

The video for their first single, “Makes Me Wonder” was released recently and everything about it is HOT HOT HOT!

The song is awesome. Now I’m even more excited to hear the rest of it.

Enjoy the video!

Rolling Stone has released their list of the Fifty Upcoming Must Hear Albums.

Here are the picks that I’m most excited about:

• Linkin Park “Minutes to Midnight”. The band is promising a departure from the rap-rock style they helped usher into the mainstream. They have teamed up with legendary producer Rick Rubin and may have even gotten a bit political.
• Rufus Wainwright “Release the Stars”. Rufus is calling this new album, “the culmination of all of my work.” Considering his past albums have been eccentric tours through music history, I can’t wait to see what he’s got up his sleeve.
• Maroon 5 “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long”. I adore this band. I was an early adopter and was blown away. Typically artists rush to get their sophomore albums out, and as a result they end up being crap (see also, Jason Mraz, Hootie and the Blowfish, etc). I’m happy to find that Maroon 5 have gone the Alanis Morissette route and spent several years working on the follow up to such a breakout debut.
• Travis “The Boy with No Name”. RS didn’t release any details about this one, other than a May 8th release date. I can tell you that I have loved their previous work, and will buy this one without a preview.

Which ones are you excited about?

My iPod currently has about 7500 songs on it. And if you take a look at my “Top 25 Most Played” playlist, you will find that three spots belong to songs from this fantastic album. Sure, as you might notice in some other reviews of this album, the songs slant to the depressing side of life; stories of a first born child being rushed to intensive care, and the disintegration of a relationship being well represented. Athlete is often compared to bands like [tag]Travis[/tag] and [tag]Coldplay[/tag]. I’ve never jumped on the “Coldplay is God” bandwagon that so many people seem to be on. Frankly, I prefer any song on Tourist to the best song off of “Rush of Blood to the Head.” I find Athlete to be better melodically and the slightly less polished production makes the emotional overtones seem more poignant.

I would like to want to draw a map
mark my hopes and draw some lines to match
all of the reasons why it can be like before

Key tracks
• Streetmap
• Modern Mafia
• Wires
• Half Light