Given our current collective obsession with overnight success, it is reassuring when a band finds fame after an old-fashioned slog. Maroon 5), formed in 1999 when a new guitarist joined the ailing LA pop-rockers Kara’s Children, recorded this debut for an independent label, reaching the Top 5 of the US airplay chart only after two years of relentless touring.

It’s easy to see why Maroon 5’s perseverance has been rewarded, and why they proved, initially, to be a hard sell. Becoming more gutsy in the wake of the singer and principal songwriter Adam Levine’s sabbatical in New York, where he dosed up on rap and funk riffs, the band navigate a meandering path through 1970s and 1980s guitar music, and at times their magpie touch makes this album sound wilfully inconsistent.

Songs About Jane, a carefully sequenced song cycle charting a relationship from infatuation to separation, takes in Led Zeppelin via Reef (Harder to Breathe) and Joshua Tree-era U2 (She Will Be Loved, Must Get Out), though Levine’s vocal occasionally strays into a slightly discomfiting Phil Collins impression. More surprising and effective are the tinges of Stevie Wonder that crop up. Sun rides a guitar riff that is clearly modelled on Superstition, while Sunday Morning benefits from a middle eight straight out of Sir Duke.

At times their inspired lifts threaten to become a distraction, but there’s enough quality songwriting, played with sufficient verve, to mark out Maroon 5 as contenders. Just don’t expect overnight stardom.

ANGUS BATEY

Explore Music

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010