Maroon 5 released five studio albums in 13 years. From their 2002 debut Songs About Jane until last year’s V, Maroon 5 have enjoyed over a decade of success. But that’s not the entire story. Maroon 5 started out with a vastly different sound and look in their younger days. Before becoming Maroon 5, they released an album under Reprise Records as Kara’s Flowers. Kara refers to a girl the group had a crush on.
The Kara’s Flowers lineup consisted of four original members; three remain in Maroon 5. As Rolling Stone reported, Maroon 5 met while attending high school in Los Angeles. The first members included Adam Levine on guitar and vocals, Jesse Carmichael on guitar and then keyboard, Mickey Madden on bass, and Ryan Dusick on drums. The sound and look of the band is unrecognizable to today’s Maroon 5 — it’s a world apart. But it’s not a total surprise considering how much Maroon 5 evolve with each new album.