Album Review: John Mayer - Continuum!

Hi,
    My name is Surjo and I'm a pro-musician, and the songs you're hearing (hopefully), are from my debut album which you can buy here

   I'll be reviewing John Mayer's 'Continuum' in this article. It's his 3rd studio album and what he considers as his most successful album. The song was released on Sept 12, 2006 on Columbia Records. The album is considerably mellower and does not contain the hooked-to-a-chocolate-drip-enthusiasm-for-you that characterised 'Room For Squares' and 'Heavier Things'. The pace is less frantic and the delivery is less rushed. It's almost like he takes his time to talk now, and he's more sure of his thoughts this time around, more sure that we'll like him for the things he's saying. He might have made room for squares but he's well-rounded now. Possibly his most musically layered album with a vast array of studio musicians piling on layers of magic onto the canvas.

The album starts with a Steve Jordan signature groove, and well who can complain with that, and before you know it, John counts us in to a really cute little melody to start off 'Waiting On The World To Change'. The words are quite strong actually, and mirror the sentiment that almost everyone goes through of feeling powerless against all that happens in the world today. There's a unique almost rap like breakdown which transitions into a nice guitar solo. He really likes using his pedals on his guitar sounds. How many pop songs do you  hear with a real ride cymbal chiming on in the background? This was the first single from the album and had more than a million downloads, that's pretty cool. 

'I Don't Trust Myself' starts off with a really bizarre guitar riff, with John searching through his pedal stash to come up with a keyboard sound out of a guitar. The lyrics are really interesting, in that they talk about John's doubts about himself in love and also his doubts about those who profess to love him. Is it a circular thing, as in does on lead to the other? Very interesting perspective obviously, from a good-looking talented well-known millionaire who isn't sure whether a girl could love him or the thought of him. PS. Is there a better drummer than Steve Jordan in the world?

'Belief' comes in next with one of the coolest guitar and drum lines that you're going to hear in a long, long time. I'm not entirely sure what the words are about, because they seem to be moving in quite a few directions. The overall theme seems to be about the belief system that everyone has, and there are some really cool lyrical chops like in the second verse where John lays out a beautiful metaphor. 'Belief is a beautiful armour, but makes for the heaviest sword'. The bridge is astounding and brings Pino Palladino to the forefront with a bass line for the ages. Another cool guitar solo, another cool guitar effect, John keeps that quest ongoing. Very melodic song. He couldn't have written this in the first 2 albums. 

'Gravity', according to John, is the single most important song he's written. It's been nearly 9 years since Continuum released, so we don't know if that's changed but it's really important to feel so strongly about something. The song starts off with no frills, no guitar effects, just a pure melodic line, and sets the tone from thereon. The words sound extremely personal, and I think it'd be hard to step into John's shoes to fathom just how much the words mean to him. But I think all of us can feel burdened by the circumstances and directions of our life. The song finishes just with the choir and the drums and some guitar chords, pretty cool. 

'The Heart Of Life' starts with a guitar melody that might have found it's way to his first two albums, but it's not polished and shimmering like it would have been there. Starts off  with a request from John to listen to him while you're going through a rough time, and the rest of the song is basically a message of 'keep your chin up, everything happens for the best' sort of message. The song is minimalistic in it's arrangement with some keys and the bass coming in only at the end and drums sitting out entirely. Almost a palate cleanser in a way, but a good song. 

'Vultures' features another great riff and that's ear-candy from the get-go. The lyrics might be a dig at the press which had found it's groove in constantly intruding on his life by that time. John talks about his determination to not be a footnote in a matter of time and that he's going to take on whatever comes in his way, including the 'vultures' to keep his position intact. More than anything else though, it is a lovely bit of music which is supremely easy on the ear. As in even more than his usual fare which is very easy on the ear as it is. Steve and Pino shine once again, and of course this is one of the songs that is brought forward from the 'Try' live album. A very dynamic vocal too, he really expands his style in this one. 

'Stop This Train' has a beautiful acoustic guitar riff and some really restrained music to set up the words. The lyrics are dealing with mortality and the temporary nature of life, and how it's really scary to think about it when you realize that soon there'll be no one left who was a part of the happiest days of your life and you'll have to be the one guiding others to happiness. Good stuff, better to hear than to analyze. 

'Slow Dancing In A Burning Room' has another startlingly beautiful guitar melody to start things off. What about that spring reverb on the first two measures? A guitarist's ears would just prick up at the sound. The lyrics speak of the realization of the end of one's love in the midst of a dance. When the chorus kicks in, it's almost a different atmosphere with the guitars and choir like vocals. The words get a little edgier in the later verses and in the bridge with John retorting to her behaviour with impatience. The vocals are very dynamic and the production is spot on. 

'Bold As Love' is of course a Jimi Hendrix song and is part of his 1967 'Axis Bold As Love' abum. He maintains quite a bit of faithfulness to the original track, with the only differences being that his rhythm is way more controlled and studied than Hendrix's wild playing. His voice is also a lot clearer than Hendrix. The lyrics are just wild, the person who wrote it must have been tripping. I mean he's talking about seeing colours, cmon, if that isn't LSD then what is? Trust Jimi to recollect LSD onto music. A good cover, though lacking the LSD of the original. 

 

'Dreaming With A Broken Heart' is a wonderful bit of writing. The only piano heavy song in the album, and evokes some Elton John the way the arpeggios are structured, what with the bit of distortion in the piano and what not sounds like 'I Want Love' in a way. It is also brilliant, since there are precious few words in the album, but that never tends to seem boring at all, in fact it makes it that much easier to understand and sing along, a true bit of songwriting wizardry. The lyrics have John suffering from the heartbreak of separation from his love. 

'In Repair' has John going back to his pedal rack for the POG to make his guitar sound like a keyboard. Charlie Hunter comes in on this track to play some 8 string guitar, and if you take a look at that thing, it's just cool. The lyrical theme of the song is about pulling oneself back together after being broken, while as life is, tends to happen often with certain people. There is a certain poignancy in the way he presents his thoughts and words, and I've always felt that he has the ability to say what you wanted to say, only he can say it better. The final sections of the song have so much resolve it's difficult to not feel that uplifting feeling as the guitar solo kicks in. 

'I'm Gonna Find Another You' closes out the album. The lyrics are fantastic, and the music sounds like an old 60s gospel band, what with the horns and relaxed drum and guitar approach. The words have John writing with both love and malice all in one. Not only does he not like his girl leaving, but he's already making plans for how to get past the situation and is resolving the problem in his mind. I think a lot of guys tend to do this as a defensive mechanism, so John, stop giving our secrets out man. 

The album is very easy to listen to and the dozen songs pass by in no time and it's definitely an album meant to loop so that we can live our lives in the background. Very good, to be used as background score for all important heartbreak occasions. That's said only half in jest. Enjoy.

Album Review: John Mayer- Battle Studies

Hi, 

    My name is Surjo and I am a pro-musician, the songs you're hearing (hopefully) are from my debut album 'The Key Has Turned' which you can buy here: here

Today, I shall be reviewing 'Battle Studies' by John Mayer. It's John's 4th studio album and does seem to mark a departure from his sounds from his first 3 studio offerings. The overall sound mellows out a bit, and it also doesn't hit you in the face with crazy guitar melodies. I'm not saying that's missing, it's just not in the forefront, thanks to a more textured sound in the album. Also, for anyone who has heard Steve Jordan play, his stamp and signature style is all over this album, in the drums as well as in the production. The guitars sounds a little grittier, it all sounds a bit warmer, and it all sounds great. 

                                                                                                                                                                    

The first song in the album is 'Heartbreak Warfare', and the first thing that pops up is the guitar riff, a cool whammy bar flutter. Off the top of my head, I personally can't remember this being used as the riff for the entirety of a song so John racks up cool musician points walking in. The lyrics are centred around the betrayal by a woman, and the different ways in which John wants to resolve the issue. He wishes her to understand just how much he loves her and he wishes she stop tormenting him. Now who amongst us men hasn't had a woman do that to us. Ladies, treat us gentle. A line which resonated with me in particular was, "How come the only way to know how high you get me, is to see how far I fall?" John has always had a knack for writing people's love stories and he doesn't disappoint here.

'All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye' is next and that might be a really unlikely song title, there's just something about that phrase that makes it a little morose as a song title, and on listening to the song it is completely justified, the song is just sad. It speaks of a couple in a dysfunctional relationship and the desire of the female to want to try again, and the reluctance of the male since he's walked down that road before, taken steps to reconcile before, given his heart to her before but it has never worked out, and the most common thing that they ever do is two people is break up. A lot of violins in the background on a straightforward melody, which uptil this point in Mayer's career is a rarity. The words are well-written and well expressed, this guy knows what he is doing. 

Next up is 'Half Of My Heart' featuring Taylor Swift. Now, I think most of us know that John and Taylor were seeing each other at a point in time and that it ended poorly after that point in time, but I wouldn't be able to say whether they were dating before or after this song. I know it has nothing to do with the song, just trivia I guess. The song is as straightforward and feel-good as can be as far as the music goes, and the lyric isn't quite as feel-good but seems honest enough.This could have been a Fleetwood Mac song, now that I think about it, it does sound like one. More cool points for John. The song talks about John having certain notions about himself as a man who's meant to be alone as a result of his journey so far, and then someone walks in who makes him question that. It's a really smart lyric with some cool plays with words, and it's super feel good. 

 

'Who Say' is the first single from 'Battle Studies', and I can't figure out why. It's not a bad song, but definitely not the killer in the album, maybe trying to reprise 'Daughters' in some way. Although the lyrics score really high on the cool meter. John has always had a sense of expressing that there are more layers to him than his label would allow the public to see. The song challenges his public image with the words expressing a hidden anger that the guitar riff doesn't reflect. The jazz brush routine and the chromatic lines in the riffs almost are happy-go-lucky, but the words are anything but. 'I don't remember you looking any better, but then again, I don't remember you', and 'fake love for an hour or so' are some of the choicest gems from this song. He also referenced his Japan trip in the middle of recording in the song. This man gets a lot of cool points. 

'Perfectly Lonely' features a slide double stop riff that one wouldn't associate with Mayer, but then we should know by now that he has far too many layers to typecast. This song goes back to this sentiment of never being tied down, and how he's better off being perfectly lonely. In his singing, I got to say that the way he hits his falsettos are so natural, that really stands out to me, because I wouldn't say his singing is his strongest suit. The music is such that it's almost he's celebrating his solitude, 'Cuz I don't belong to anyone, and nobody belongs to me'. Also, a guitar solo rears his head in this song, and of course it's choc-a-bloc with effects. I don't think he likes to keep the solos clean in his pop offerings somehow. 

'Assassin' has a cool music video if only I could get a decent quality version on youtube. The song is actually very complex with a lot of shades in the musicianship. The start of the song with the xylophonish sounds and the relaxed approach with his voice really comes alive in the chorus with the gritty guitars and Steve Jordan's snare drum finding it's voice. Lyrically, the song is a metaphor, with John comparing his one-night standing nature to a hired killer. He does a pretty solid job of setting the metaphor, especially the line before the chorus stands out for it's IQ. 'Should have turned around and left before the sun came up, but the sun came up again'. In the song, he, who is a serial womanizer, has met his match, and he didn't know the girl he was bedding was a serial 'manizer' (??? That's not a word, but you get it, hey how come there is no word for that?). He pays the price. 

'Crossroads' is of course a blues classic, born out of legend, and Robert Johnson's Faustian Pact. Trust Mayer to put his own spin on the riff with an absolutely bizarre effect on the guitar. I don't know how to feel about that, which immediately puts it in the not-cool category. Very weird arrangement of the vocal harmonies, and again I'm at a loss to understand what happens. What I do know is that Steve Jordan and John locked in superb on the bass and drum groove. That's right, John plays the bass line on this. How does that make us feel? Very depressed of course, John, dude, let some other people do some stuff too man. 

'War Of My Life' starts off at an urgent pace, almost like someone walking quickly. Some ambiguity in the early verses as to why he is in the war of his life, but he starts off by challenging the circumstances to bring all they can for he's ready. The ambiguity isn't really settled by the end of the song, and we don't know what has brought about the war. Nevertheless, the riff is a relatively simple one with quite a few layers running through the stereo field. The guitar solo is again filled with effects, must help that he has cupboards full of pedals. All the tricks needed to fill space are used like the soft chorus, the buildup, the 2 line bridge to a guitar solo. Wish he were more specific with the song. 

'Edge of Desire's' guitar riff is strangely reminiscent of 'The Police', which again rakes in the cool points. The lyrics are rough though, it's a reflective song, where John laments his failures in love. He showcases his trademark insecurity and vulnerability which had been missing in the words so far but which was choc-a-bloc in his previous albums. Steve Jordan's playing style is like a fingerprint, completely unique in sound and execution. There is quite a bit of cool music in here, including a Coldplay style buildup before the final chorus which is sung with a lot more anger and tension. 

'Do You Know Me' starts up with a melodic guitar riff, but not as involved as some of his riffs from his first 3 albums, he's learnt to calm down it'd seem. The song is about a sense of deja vu, or atleast that's what I could make from it. He seems to be speaking to a vision in his dream, and asking whether the vision knows him because he can't seem to place her. Btw, classical guitar at the forefront in this song, which is a departure from his usual fare.

 

'Friends, Lovers Or Nothing' finishes out the song, and it is very much in the Elton John territory. I started having visions of Robert Downey Jr walking around in the video of 'I Want Love' because of those bursts in the piano, and that drum beat. Ok, this sounds like a tale of old lovers who are trying to find some love in each other when it fails elsewhere, or is it some kind of friends with benefits gimmick? A lot of music in the song, lot of interludes and the piano adds a lot of depth to the entire range. The lyrics are tight in execution but doesn't it leave you wanting some resolution? I don't know, I felt that way. 

All in all, a very enjoyable album, and for those who were teenyboppers when Wonderland came out, they might just be old enough to get into the maturity here, and for those who are teenyboppers who are listening to this as the first offering from Mayer, I might actually say go through the entire journey from 'Room For Squares' because this is a sincerely good album which'll demand your attention. I hope you have as much pleasure listening to the album as I did. Enjoy.