album review: john mayer's continuum
John Mayer will always be John Mayer. Still, I bought this album with some degree of hesitation. I was truly worried about what this new album would do to my perception of John Mayer. This stems from my theory that the only people who can truly disappoint me are those who consistently amaze me. Now, I have never met Mr. Mayer. But let me assure you that I used to hate him. Rather, I hated his pop stardom. I saw him perform “Your Body Is a Wonderland” on some awards show back in the days of Room For Squares, and I instantaneously wrote him off as a Dave Matthews wannabe.
This all changed when he put out Heavier Things. I saw the video for “Clarity” late one sleepless night, and I purchased the album the next morning. I listened to the entire thing on the drive from Tooele to Provo, and song after song blew my mind, from start to finish. Within the space of a week, I owned everything available by John Mayer. That album changed my life, as much as a pop album can. More accurately, it changed the way I perceived a major-label artist who sells out places like the Delta Center. This guy wrote songs [that at least seemed like they were] about me. It was like meeting an older brother I didn’t know I had, and discussing similar experiences we’ve had in life.
Moreover, I found out that this guy can play the blues.
All of this being said, let’s talk about Continuum. I want to start by immediately warning you, if you couldn’t stomache Try!, or you couldn’t handle the “Trio” coming after John’s name, you won’t like this album. I truly believe it’s that simple. The same musicians are involved, and a couple of the songs from Try! show up on this album. It’s more polished than Try!, since this isn’t a live album, but it's still on that side of the room.
Something else to take into consideration is that you will not find “…Wonderland” or anything like it within 20 miles of this album. If you think “Daughters” is his best song ever [omglolbbq!!!], and when you saw him live you thought “Covered in Rain” was an intermission/bathroom break, keep the $15 for this album in your pocket, and just keep playing that mix you made.
Okay, so I’ve put down my warnings. Now I’ll start gushing: This album is amazing. I had heard “Waiting on the World to Change” on the radio, and it seemed weak and cheesy. [I basically feel that way about most of the “current events/war” songs that come out. There are a couple of them on here, but I actually enjoy them.] This feeling went away when I put the CD in. It’s not the best song I’ve ever heard [or that John’s ever done], but it’s still a pretty cool song. I was sold on the validity of this album by twenty seconds into the second track, “I Don’t Trust Myself”.
I had wanted to put down highlights of the album, but I honestly can’t say there are any. The whole this is a highlight, really. This album comes across as one solid project, and the songwriting is great. Start to finish, this album is a single mood. I could call this a bluesy pop album, or even a poppy blues album, but it really doesn’t seem like either one. Much like Heavier Things, this album feels shiny and new while feeling completely retro, a difficult feat to achieve. [Josh Rouse is pretty good at creating this vibe.] It does feel bluesy, but it’s not a blues album. It has pop sensibility, but this is not a pop album.
John Mayer has done one of the best things a musician can do: he has baffled me. I can’t tell you what this album really is. I can tell you what it isn’t, which I already have. But it is John Mayer. He’s still writing songs that make me wonder if he’s watching my life on TV. John Mayer will always be John Mayer.
This album is comfy, like an old favorite jacket. It’s sentimental, like a picture you’d find in the pocket of that jacket. It’s exciting and new, as well, like a room in your house you didn’t know was there before. If you’ve made it this far into the review and this album still sounds appealing, go get it right now. Your ears and your heart will thank you.
[you'll notice this entry has capitalization. i was without the internet, so i wrote this in microsoft word, which doesn't let my lowercase shenanigans fly.]
This all changed when he put out Heavier Things. I saw the video for “Clarity” late one sleepless night, and I purchased the album the next morning. I listened to the entire thing on the drive from Tooele to Provo, and song after song blew my mind, from start to finish. Within the space of a week, I owned everything available by John Mayer. That album changed my life, as much as a pop album can. More accurately, it changed the way I perceived a major-label artist who sells out places like the Delta Center. This guy wrote songs [that at least seemed like they were] about me. It was like meeting an older brother I didn’t know I had, and discussing similar experiences we’ve had in life.
Moreover, I found out that this guy can play the blues.
All of this being said, let’s talk about Continuum. I want to start by immediately warning you, if you couldn’t stomache Try!, or you couldn’t handle the “Trio” coming after John’s name, you won’t like this album. I truly believe it’s that simple. The same musicians are involved, and a couple of the songs from Try! show up on this album. It’s more polished than Try!, since this isn’t a live album, but it's still on that side of the room.
Something else to take into consideration is that you will not find “…Wonderland” or anything like it within 20 miles of this album. If you think “Daughters” is his best song ever [omglolbbq!!!], and when you saw him live you thought “Covered in Rain” was an intermission/bathroom break, keep the $15 for this album in your pocket, and just keep playing that mix you made.
Okay, so I’ve put down my warnings. Now I’ll start gushing: This album is amazing. I had heard “Waiting on the World to Change” on the radio, and it seemed weak and cheesy. [I basically feel that way about most of the “current events/war” songs that come out. There are a couple of them on here, but I actually enjoy them.] This feeling went away when I put the CD in. It’s not the best song I’ve ever heard [or that John’s ever done], but it’s still a pretty cool song. I was sold on the validity of this album by twenty seconds into the second track, “I Don’t Trust Myself”.
I had wanted to put down highlights of the album, but I honestly can’t say there are any. The whole this is a highlight, really. This album comes across as one solid project, and the songwriting is great. Start to finish, this album is a single mood. I could call this a bluesy pop album, or even a poppy blues album, but it really doesn’t seem like either one. Much like Heavier Things, this album feels shiny and new while feeling completely retro, a difficult feat to achieve. [Josh Rouse is pretty good at creating this vibe.] It does feel bluesy, but it’s not a blues album. It has pop sensibility, but this is not a pop album.
John Mayer has done one of the best things a musician can do: he has baffled me. I can’t tell you what this album really is. I can tell you what it isn’t, which I already have. But it is John Mayer. He’s still writing songs that make me wonder if he’s watching my life on TV. John Mayer will always be John Mayer.
This album is comfy, like an old favorite jacket. It’s sentimental, like a picture you’d find in the pocket of that jacket. It’s exciting and new, as well, like a room in your house you didn’t know was there before. If you’ve made it this far into the review and this album still sounds appealing, go get it right now. Your ears and your heart will thank you.
[you'll notice this entry has capitalization. i was without the internet, so i wrote this in microsoft word, which doesn't let my lowercase shenanigans fly.]