Maroon 5 ft. Rihanna - If I Never See Your Face Again

2008-05-28T22:30:00.003-04:00

The divinely crafted silken voices of Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and Rihanna are spun into a ballad of tainted love. The duet finds themselves caught up in repeated one night stands after a failed attempt at love in this cover of the Maroon 5 original. This indecision moves from flirty to elusive and back again, but always maintains a provocative undertone.

[Adam] You keep me coming back for more
[Rihanna echo]

And I feel a little better than I did before

[Together] If I never see your face again, I don't mind

Because we got much further than I thought we'd get tonight

It reminds me of Rihanna's former hits, "Unfaithful" and "Hate That I Love You" in which a tale of forbidden love is spun to an addictive rhythm. I picture myself and most of America turning up the radio "just a notch or two" each time the intro of this one drops.

Musically, the song is very solid - a synth horn crescendo set to the tempo of a heartbeat-like percussion rhythm in the intro brings one to a climax of acoustical nirvana. Two bars of the intro rhythm are borrowed from Nas's "You Know My Style", but I don't mind and unless you were paying really close attention to the hip-hop game in '04, you probably never would've noticed. The instrumentals through the rest of the song take a back seat to the charged lyrics, re-emerging in major fashion at each chorus.

For those of you who are fans of the original, you'll be pleased to hear not a whole lot has changed. The cover brings in Rihanna, of course, but also some minor retooling on the instrumentals. The synth horn is vamped way up and gives the song an "emergency" sound. Some new verses featuring Rihanna can also be found.

Debuting on the charts this week at #36, expect this one to continue its journey toward the top. I believe this song has what it takes to climb to the top and stay there.

In a nutshell:

Pros - Catchy beat, captivating lyrics, perfectly complementary voices

Cons - Little innovation from original, unavailable until June 17

Video on YouTube

Pre-order Rihanna's re-release of "Good Girl Gone Bad" featuring "Never See Your Face Again" at Amazon.com

Will also be featured on Maroon 5's re-release of "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" (sorry, not available for pre-order just yet)

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Maroon 5 ft. Rihanna - If I Never See Your Face Again