Fourth World

Kara's Flowers

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 1997)
• Original Release Date: August 19, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002NFA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #206,057 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
L.A.-based modern rock quartet Kara’s Flowers—frontman Adam Levine plus Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick—were the nucleus for what would become—with the addition of James Valentine—today’s hot act Maroon 5. Southland stars in the late ’90s, these friends since high school released only one full-length disc, an instant favorite among fans of world-class, literate, Beatle-esque pop-rock everywhere…in their online review, allmusic.com calls FOURTH WORLD , "an album that, at only 11 cuts, seems criminally short." Out-of-print for some time, Rhino’s timely reissue allows music lovers to return to the scene of the crime, and discover this young band’s smart, expressive, upbeat, and beautifully crafted debut work.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally Whack... Hip... Rock and Roll.. Sexy! The BEST, August 1, 2003

By	T. Farabee (USA) - See all my reviews

Unbelievable CD! Every song is good! The guys are young on this album (17 years old I think) and their talent is totally infectious!

It doesn't stop here. The band changed it's name to Maroon5 and they are blasting to the top with their album "Songs about Jane" CD. Extremeley talented group and look forward to hearing more from these guys... You want great music? Make sure you get Kara's Flowers "The Fourth World".. Absolutly addicting!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Birth of Maroon 5, June 12, 2004

By	M. METCALF (Cleveland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fourth World (Audio CD)

If you are purchasing this album in hopes of hearing "Songs About Jane part one ", you will be disappointed.

Although this is a very good album, it does not sound anything like Maroon 5's debut: SONGS ABOUT JANE.

Kudo's to RHINO for reissuing this Maroon 5 fan favorite.
Until now this album has been difficult to find & very expensive.

The mid 90's were filled with alternative rock bands that recorded maybe one or two good albums and then disappeared.
So it was probably a good decision for Kara's flowers to make the name change to Maroon 5 and go with a differant musical direction so as to not get lost in the shuffle amongst the many alternative pop bands in the mid 90's.

Most of the songs on this album are basically short, catchy, upbeat,straightforward,pop songs.

SOAP DISCO, which I think was the only single released from this album, is the lead song on the album and is an uptempo catchy pop rock song that will have you memorizing the words and singing along with the band.

OLIVER sounds Beatlesque and is a very good guitar driven song.

In my opinion the best song on the album is MY OCEAN BLUE which gives Maroon 5 fans their first introduction of "Jane" with the chorus line "Me and my Darling Jane". (SONGS ABOUT JANE is the name of MAROON 5'S first album)

It is MY OCEAN BLUE that gives listeners a tease of the future sound of MAROON 5. This is a well crafted pop song.
Although not as upbeat & uptempo as Maroon 5's THIS LOVE, the song is just as catchy. It is one of those songs you can play over and over again & not get tired of listening to it.

It would be nice if Maroon 5 would include some of the songs from this album in their setlist, when they play live.

Buy KARA'S FLOWERS today it is a good album to have while you await something new from MAROON 5.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Newly Reissued Power Pop Gem / pre-Maroon 5, May 27, 2004

By	Eric R. Last "misterrockobscurities" (San Bruno, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fourth World (Audio CD)

This is a new Rhino Records reissue of the previously out-of-print, highly sought-after 1997 debut CD by Kara's Flowers. Presumably, anyone reading this already knows that the band subsequently added one new member, changed their name to Maroon 5, and hit the big time. Kara's Flowers had a pure power pop sound, without the Stevie Wonder soul influence that flowered in their later incarnation. Now that Maroon 5 are stars, many fans have hungered to hear their early recordings, and many have paid some very big bucks on online auctions to locate the original, out-of-print Reprise Records version of "The Fourth World". Rhino has done Maroon 5 fans a big service by reissuing this CD, as you can now own it for a fraction of the typical auction price. I noticed earlier today that news of the reissue still hasn't gotten out to everyone, since the online auctions continue to draw some very big bids, even though often the item being sold is the new (not at all rare) reissue rather than the (very rare) original. By the way, Kara's Flowers recorded a second album called "Stagg Street Recordings" on their own in 1999 when they were without a label deal, but it was never released. Demo copies of "The Stagg Street Recordings" have also become a popular (and pricey) auction item. I don't know if there are any plans to issue that album as an "official" release, but it, like "The Fourth World", is an outstanding power pop album that would most likely be very well liked by most Maroon 5 fans.