Remix albums rightfully have a bad rep. Too often they’re merely contract satisfiers. Easy ways to give big artists something fresh on the shelves or to separate dedicated fans from more of their dough. But “Call and Response” is everything the format could and should be. The band enlisted names big and small to get deep into its two-album catalog, and judging from the thoughtfulness of the contributions, they’re all pre-existing Maroon fans. Swizz Beatz uses an uncharacteristically loose and light hand on “If I Never See Your Face Again”; Mark Ronson gets Mary J. Blige to contribute a great vocal to his funky take on “Wake Up Call”; and Pharrell Williams’ “She Will Be Loved” is lo-fi and completely devoid of schmaltz or radio trickery. No one was trying to make new hits here or take their stock remix loop and carelessly plop it over an unrelated melody, they seem to just really love the songs.
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