Maps of Music

Overexposed (2012)

Where the lyrics of Overexposed take you, and where it was really made.

The album's title is a smirking allusion to frontman Adam Levine's ubiquity, and its cover shows no image of the band.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (2012)

Recording site Conway Recording Studios — After the Hands All Over tour, the band recorded the album's material at this studio in Los Angeles, California. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Overexposed: fourth studio album by the American rock band Maroon 5
• Released June 20, 2012 by A&M Octone Records
• Recorded 2011 to 2012; the band's only album without keyboardist Jesse Carmichael
• Max Martin served as executive producer; Ryan Tedder, Shellback and Benny Blanco also produced
• Title is a smirking allusion to Adam Levine's ubiquity
• Ranked 11th among the world's best-selling albums of 2012 by IFPI, with 2.2 million copies sold

Background

• Preceded by Hands All Over (2010), which had only moderate sales
• Re-release of Hands All Over in July 2011 added "Moves Like Jagger" with Christina Aguilera, a massive hit that drove the new album
• Levine said "Moves Like Jagger" saved the group and revived it
• Carmichael announced a hiatus from the group on March 9, 2012, to focus on his studies
• PJ Morton took over the keyboard role during the album's cycle

Recording

• The band recorded the album at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, after the tour for Hands All Over
• Levine wrote all the songs with added help from James Valentine and produced a large portion of the album
• Valentine said "Moves Like Jagger" was the first time the band worked with an outside writer, so the group used more outside writing on this album
• Levine called it the band's most diverse and poppiest album so far

Cover

• Artwork created by the Los Angeles art project Young & Sick
• Shows a colorful collage of illustrations, not images of the band
• The band debuted the artwork on its official website on April 10, 2012

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed as Kara's Flowers in Los Angeles, California, in 1994 while members attended Brentwood School.
• Released the independent album ...We Like Digging? in late 1994 and signed to Reprise Records, releasing The Fourth World (1997), which sold around 5,000 copies before the band was dropped.
• Re-emerged in 2001 as Maroon 5 after signing to Octone Records and adding guitarist James Valentine.
• Debut album Songs About Jane (2002) peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2005.

Members

• Current lineup: Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, James Valentine, Matt Flynn, PJ Morton, Sam Farrar.
• Ryan Dusick left in 2006 and was replaced by Flynn.
• Mickey Madden left in 2020 after a domestic violence arrest; the case was dropped without charges and Farrar replaced him.

Career

• It Won't Be Soon Before Long (2007) debuted atop the US Billboard 200; "Makes Me Wonder" topped the Billboard Hot 100.
• "Moves Like Jagger" (2011) reached US number one; "One More Night" topped the Hot 100 for nine consecutive weeks in 2012.
• Maroon 5 has sold more than 135 million records and won three Grammy Awards and three American Music Awards.
• Headlined the Super Bowl LIII halftime show in 2019 and ran a Las Vegas residency from 2023 to 2025.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Maroon 5's Overexposed received mixed reviews from music critics
• Rob Sheffield called Overexposed the band's best album yet in a positive review for Rolling Stone
• Andy Gill of The Independent found the album dull, unimaginative, and marred by inarticulate "whoah-oh-oh" hooks
• Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian said the album lacks memorable hooks and charm
• Nick Levine of NME panned Adam Levine's singing
• Evan Sawdey of PopMatters found it both interesting and flawed

Reappraisal

• Metacritic gave an average score of 54 out of 100, based on 14 reviews
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said the album may not match Hands All Over but would keep the band's commercial momentum

Records

• Debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 with 222,000 copies in its first week, behind Linkin Park's Living Things
• Debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart with 38,000 copies
• Sold 988,000 copies in the US in 2012, the 11th best-selling album of the year
• Sold 1,431,000 copies in the US as of August 2013
• Debuted at number 3 on the Canadian Albums Chart with 17,800 copies
• Certified Gold in Brazil after selling 30,000 copies
• Certified Gold in Japan after selling 100,000 or more copies
• Sold over 2 million copies worldwide by the end of 2012

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The band's Hands All Over sales were moderate, which pushed Maroon 5 toward a faster follow-up.
• Overexposed was the band's only album without Jesse Carmichael, who was replaced by PJ Morton.
• The album's "Payphone" reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the UK Singles Chart.
• Artwork critic Allison Bowsher compared the cover to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles and the animated show The Simpsons.
• "Lucky Strike" was the album's only promotional single and peaked at number 2 on the South Korean singles chart.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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