The Fourth World (album)


The Fourth World is the debut studio album and major label debut by the band Kara's Flowers, who later became Maroon 5. The album contains 11 tracks, plus one bonus track on the Japanese edition.
Following their 1994 self-released demo album ...We Like Digging?, Kara's Flowers signed with Reprise Records, teamed up with the people who worked with Green Day and released The Fourth World on August 19, 1997. The band had little success with the album and parted with the record label two years later. They continued to explore different musical styles until finally coming together again with James Valentine under the name Maroon 5.
The album was re-released on CD in 2004 with an added message from the band. "Here is a good example of how much we changed over the course of five years. This is the album we made in high school, before James joined the band, before we became Maroon 5. To paraphrase Monty Python, 'Get Ready for something completely different'."

Soap Disco

The lead single, "Soap Disco", was released on July 22, 1997. A music video was produced for the single, depicting the group walking through a park and performing in an orange and green room. A storm appears at the end of the video. The video was directed by Mark Kohr. The video made airplay on 120 Minutes. The song was included in Volume 50 of CMJ New Music Monthly.
The band made an appearance from the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, where they performed the song in the episode "Forgive and Forget".

Critical reception

Giving the album a B+, Tom Lanham with Entertainment Weekly said the "optimistic, lyrically awkward kids spend 10 more happy tracks turning the tables on lethargic slacker cynicism, with Green Day producer Rob Cavallo bridling all that youthful zeal."

Personnel

All credits for The Fourth World are adapted from the album's liner notes.
Kara's Flowers
Additional musicians
Production
Design
  • Katherine Delaney – layout
  • Kara's Flowers – layout
  • Noah Gershman – photography