Animals (Maroon 5 song)

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This article is about Maroon 5 song. For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation).
"Animals"
Maroon 5 - Animals Single Cover.png
Single by Maroon 5
from the album V
ReleasedAugust 25, 2014 (2014-08-25)
Studio
  • MXM, Stockholm
  • Conway, Los Angeles
Length3:51
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Shellback
Maroon 5 singles chronology
"Maps"
(2014) 		"Animals"
(2014) 		"Sugar"
(2015)
Music video
"Animals" on YouTube

"Animals" is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5. It was released on August 25, 2014, as the second single from the band's fifth studio album V (2014). The song written by Adam Levine, Benny Blanco and Shellback; the latter is also the producer.

The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 giving Maroon 5 their tenth top 10 single in the U.S.

Promotion[]

To promote the song, Kia Motors debuted an advertisement of 2015 Kia Soul EV model on August 21, 2014.[1] For a limited time after the commercial premiered, "Animals" was available for free download on the Kia website only.[2] Later, Maroon 5 released the song's lyric video on August 22, 2014, from their YouTube channel.[3] The commercial also appeared at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards on August 24,[4] and the song was released the next day.

Remixes[]

The remix versions of "Animals" featuring with American rappers, J. Cole released on September 30, 2014,[5] and Big Boi premiered execlusively on Pigeons & Planes website on December 18,[6] both written and produced by Freaky Ta, DCBC and Aftermath artist Me3mo (Sameem Nadeem).

Critical reception[]

Rolling Stone ranked "Animals" at number 32 on its year-end list of the 50 best songs of 2014.[7]

Music video[]

The music video was released on September 29, 2014 on Vevo. Directed by Samuel Bayer, the video features Adam Levine and his wife, Behati Prinsloo who portrays the woman. The other musicians of Maroon 5 (including their touring member Sam Farrar, who appeared in a music video of the band for the very first time) also make an appearance - they are seen playing at a nightclub in some scenes of the video. The story of the video is inspired by the film American Psycho (2000).[8]

Synopsis[]

A scene from video what it presents a fantasy that features feature Levine and Prinsloo as obsessed lovers having sex whilst disrobed and covered in real blood.

The video starts with a woman entering a slaughterhouse, where Levine's character works. After she leaves, an infatuated Levine begins to stalk the woman by following her in the streets and standing outside her apartment in the pouring rain to watch her. He also watches the woman in her sleep and takes numerous photos of Prinsloo, which he later trims and places on wires around a dark room. Intercut with this are scenes of a shirtless Levine dripping in fake blood, singing the song inside a meat locker and using animal carcasses for punching bags (referencing to the film Rocky (1976)). One evening, Levine follows the woman into a nightclub, where he tries to talk to her. Though Prinsloo is amused by Levine and his interest in her, she spends the evening talking to her girlfriends instead. Eventually, Levine is left with no luck, so he goes back to fantasizing about the girl. After an erotic dream, Levine wakes up in a shock and returns to stalking Prinsloo by standing outside her apartment in the rain watching in a dazed state, leading to the similar opening. The final scenes feature Levine and Prinsloo as obsessed lovers having sex—whilst disrobed and covered in real blood (referenced to Carrie (1976)).[9]

Reception and controversy[]

The music video was heavily panned by critics and has been condemned for dehumanizing women and glamorizing violence.[10][11] Jessica Valenti of The Guardian criticized the video for attempting to make violence against women seem "edgy" stating that "there is nothing 'alternative' about showing women being stalked, hunted, raped or killed because it’s something that happens every damn day."[10] RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) released a statement condemning the video, which wrote that "No one should ever confuse the criminal act of stalking with romance. The trivialisation of these serious crimes, like stalking, should have no place in the entertainment industry."[11] Levine reacted to the controversy in a 2018 interview with The Independent, saying "That was fucking ridiculous. It was the last video I would have expected to receive any criticism on that front. It was supposed to be creepy! I play the role of the creep, it's literally a character out of a movie. And the song is about animalistic tendencies, I'm talking about eating someone alive. Use your fucking imagination. It's like watching a horror film and notifying the people who made it to tell them you think they're disgusting. People are sometimes too rooted in reality and they can't differentiate. They take everything too personally."[12]

Chart performance[]

Commercially in the United States, "Animals" debuted at number 86 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. On October 8, 2014, the song rose from the number 33 to 8,[13] giving the band their tenth top-ten hit overall and their seventh consecutive Hot 100 top-ten hit since the 2011 chart-topping single "Moves like Jagger". The song reached its million sales mark in the US in November 2014.[14] The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 issue dating November 22, 2014 and spent fourteen weeks in the top 10.

In other countries, "Animals" has made the top-ten progress as well, reaching number 2 in Canada. It is also a moderate success in the United Kingdom, where it charted at number 27.

Live performances[]

On September 11, 2014, Maroon 5 performed the acoustic version of "Animals" for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in the United Kingdom.[15] In October 2014, the band performed the song on Saturday Night Live (along with "Maps"),[16] as well as The X Factor,[17] and the television talk shows C à vous (C to You) in France and The Graham Norton Show in the UK, respectively.[18][19] On November 10, 2014, Maroon 5 performed the song on the seventh season of The Voice.[20] In December 2014, the band performed "Animals" in a mash-up with "This Love" for A Very Grammy Christmas concert (December 5) at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California[21] and performed the song at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour 2014 (December 12) in Madison Square Garden, New York City.[22]

On December 18, 2014, Maroon 5 also performed the song during the People Magazine Awards ceremony at Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.[23] The band played the track in Puerto Rico for the first edition of Victoria's Secret Swim Special, which aired on February 26, 2015.[24] On October 24, Maroon 5 performed the song at the 2015 We Can Survive Concert, at the Hollywood Bowl in LA.[25] On April 3, 2016, Maroon 5 played the song at the 2016 NCAA March Madness Music Festival in Houston.[26] It is part of a setlist for the worldwide concert tour, the Maroon V Tour (2015–2018).

Track listing[]

Credits and personnel[]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of V.[27]

Locations[]

Personnel[]

  • Songwriting – Adam Levine, Shellback, Benjamin Levin
  • Production – Shellback
  • Lead vocals – Adam Levine
  • Instrumentation, background vocals, programming – Shellback
  • Mixing – Serban Ghenea
  • Vocals recording – Shellback, Max Martin
  • Engineering – Noah Passovoy
  • Assistant engineers – Eric Eylands, Tim Roberts
  • Mix engineer – John Hanes
  • Lead and rhythm guitar – James Valentine, Jesse Carmichael
  • Bass – Mickey Madden
  • Drums and percussion – Matt Flynn
  • Keyboards and synthesizers – Jesse Carmichael, PJ Morton

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[93] 2× Platinum 160,000*
Germany (BVMI)[94] Gold 200,000double-dagger
Italy (FIMI)[95] Platinum 30,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[96] Platinum 40,000double-dagger
Sweden (GLF)[97] Platinum 40,000double-dagger
United Kingdom (BPI)[98] Platinum 600,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA)[99] Platinum 1,000,000[14]
Streaming
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[100] Platinum 2,600,000dagger
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[101] Gold 4,000,000dagger

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
dagger Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

Release history[]

Region Date Format Version Label(s) Ref.
Various August 25, 2014 Digital download Original
[102]
United States September 23, 2014 Contemporary hit radio [103]
Various September 30, 2014 Digital download Remix featuring J. Cole [104]
United States October 21, 2014 Rhythmic contemporary radio [105]
Italy November 7, 2014 Contemporary hit radio Original Universal [106]
Germany November 14, 2014 CD
  • Original
  • Remix featuring J. Cole
 [107]
United States December 18, 2014 Digital download Remix featuring Big Boi
  • 222
  • Interscope
 [6]

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