The lead-off track from this album is the hit ""Harder To Breathe", which was the song that got me hooked. The next song, which is even better, is "This Love", a song that was played to death on VH-1.
Some of my favorite songs on the album include "Shiver", "She Will Be Loved" (also in heavy VH-1 rotation), and "Sunday Morning", in which Adam Levine shows off his best Stevie Wonder side. That's a song I find singing over and over.
Another stand-out track includes the faux-live track "Not Coming Home", which sounds just a little TOO perfect to be an actual live track, but is actually one of the best songs on the album. This song features background vocals by Rashida Jones, the super-hot daughter of producer-composer Quincy Jones, and former star of TV's "Boston Public".
The album ends with "The Sweetest Goodbye", a very sweet indeed song in which Adam sounds so much like Stevie Wonder, I found myself putting on sunglasses and bobbing my head back and forth to it.
I was also very impressed by Ryan Dusic's drumming on this album. The drums were, loud, clear, and REAL. Being a musician, I prefer to hear the sound of real sticks hitting real percussion, rather than listen to samples and synth drums. I hope their next album has more of this most excellent drumming.
I do have a couple of complaints about this album though. First, whoever mastered it mastered it a little too "hot", and I can detect a little slight distortion in the mix, even at low volumes. This album is too good to be released with a flaw like that, and I think Adam and company should have it re-mastered at the first opportunity.
Second, I think the lead guitars were turned down WAY too low. On "Harder To Breathe", I always find it disappointing that I can't hear the guitar solo. That's part of the "alternative" sound: more emphasis on drums, less on guitars. Well dammit, I'm a guitar player and I say turn up the guitars!
I haven't had a chance to see this group perform live, but if the opportunity comes up, I definitely wanna see them, but ONLY with Ryan playing drums. On their current tour leg, he's been out with a shoulder injury and they have another guy filling in for him. He's a good drummer, but he just doesn't play with the same "feel" and the same sound as Ryan. I heard them play live on a New Year's Eve special and I could tell without even looking that they had a different drummer. Ryan, please get well and get back on stage with the guys...
