Maroon 5: Moves Like Jagger (feat. Christina Aguilera)
‘The Voice’ judges, Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera, team up for substandard pop-friendly “moment”
Lately Maroon 5‘s music has gotten a bit poppier, a bit electro-disco and less connected with their Songs of Jane rock beginnings. They shouldn’t be shot in the leg for the transformation, since they have proven to be very good at it (see album review of Hands All Over). But “Moves Like Jagger,” a last-minute ploy to draw more attention to Adam Levine‘s residential stint on TV, isn’t the best representation of the band’s uptempo jams. If we were to break things down in layman’s terms, it would be a silly excuse to make nice with The Voice’s Christina Aguilera (who has earned a love-hate reputation towards Levine and hopes to quell some of those rumors) and to capitalize on a golden opportunity. She guests with the band halfway towards the end, singing with her gospel-styled conviction and using her popular melisma powers. The song would’ve been more gratifying if the production inherited Maroon 5’s usual glossiness and the kind of duet magic Rihanna used on Maroon 5’s “If I Never See Your Face Again.” Sadly, this song never reeled in that kind of momentum. Besides failed attempts of replacing the Stanky Legg with Mick Jagger’s quirky dance steps, “Moves Like Jagger” is simply a desperate Top 40 creation that works best as a promotional tool and not as a general representation of either artists’ work.
Side Note: With support from an on-air live performance during the show’s semifinals and massive digital donwloads at iTunes, “Moves Like Jagger” made a strong debut, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following week “Jagger” dropped sorely to No. 23, becoming the chart’s lowest drop on the week of July 16, 2011. It is the band’s first top ten hit since “Makes Me Wonder” (#1, 2007) and Aguilera’s first top ten hit since “Keeps Gettin’ Better” (#7, 2008).
LISTEN TO:
MAROON 5 – MOVES LIKE JAGGER (FEAT. CHRISTINA AGUILERA)
[audio:http://hifimagazine.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/01-Moves-Like-Jagger-feat.-Christina-Aguilera.mp3|titles=01 – Moves Like Jagger (feat. Christina Aguilera)]
