The first thing the world heard from The Maine’s new album was “Inside Of You”, a song that shocked and greatly excited many with a new type of sound from the band—a rock, not pop, kind of sound. This new sound that everybody picked up on was also greatly promoted by their label, Sire/Warner Bros. Unfortunately, while The Maine’s sound has changed slightly it has not changed completely.  

Black & White starts off extremely strong with “Don’t Stop Now”, “Right Girl”, and “Growing Up”. The band’s new “rock” sound is present in all three opening tracks and can only excite the listener as John O’Callaghan’s voice shines early on. “Right Girl” is one of the album’s best, a story of an O’Callaghan mishap with a close girl friend as he sings “Oh god // I did the wrong thing to the right girl // My mind was only in it for a minute”. “Growing Up” starts off as a calm acoustic track as O’Callaghan proposes, “Growing up won’t bring us down” as the song picks up with Patrick Kirch’s steady drum beat and ends with what seems like a “classic” Black & White guitar solo. 

The Maine run into their first roadblock with “Fuel To The Fire”, an underwhelming track that just blends in too much with the rest of the album. The band’s method of constructing songs may be good, but unlike on Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop they run into too frequent similarity with constant mediocre solos and lyrics. 

With foot tapping drums and flowing guitars, “Inside Of You” is undoubtedly the bright spot of Black & White as O’Callaghan’s vocals enter a whole new level of talent during an almost screaming bridge. The energy The Maine hold on this track will surely be enough to save the rest of the album, but it is unfortunate that “Inside Of You” only sets the listener up for disappointment as the second half of the album just cannot compare to the first. 

If Black & White was released strictly as a vinyl, Side B would be something recommended to skip. Following “Inside Of You”, “Every Road” tries to keep up the pace, but fails to match up with a continuous but not enthralling second guitar part as O’Callaghan’s vocals keep the song on track. “Saving Grace” starts off with an exciting guitar and drum part but quickly quiets down into a mellow verse only to pick back up, reminiscent of “Inside Of You” and is the second half of the album’s best song as O’Callaghan begs “Keep on searching // Keep on searching.” 

Black & White ends with “Give It To Me” and “Color”. “Give It To Me” feature the worst lyrics The Maine have ever written: “Soon enough girl you’re gonna realize // When the pretty boys try to get next to you// They really just wanna have sex with you.” “Color” provides a decent heroic effort to save the album with an upbeat closing message and another strong vocal performance. The Maine have certainly improved since Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop regardless of the album’s catchiness. If the band can improve their writing, both lyrically and musically, in time for their next record, it could surely be one to remember. 

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