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CD review: John Mayer - ‘Battle Studies’
John Mayer
‘Battle Studies’
(Columbia)
Grade: C
Listeners who put on a pop record and are greeted with the sound of an orchestra tuning up may fear they’re in for an hour of self-importance. But the latest from soft-pop superstar John Mayer doesn’t want to shake the earth, it just wants someone to love.
Fair enough. But instead of wooing the listener, the singer is intent on first convincing her of the wreck old loves have made of him. “I’m in the war of my life,” he croons on one track; “if fear hasn’t killed me yet,” he claims, “then nothing will.” But there’s not a drop of passion in his voice, and Mayer doesn’t appear to know there should be.
He nearly pulls off the sad-sack act on “Perfectly Lonely,” but even there isn’t fit to hold the Kleenex of another smooth-sounding pretty boy, Chris Isaak, who understands how to make languor sound truly heartbroken.
Mayer delivers plenty of radio-friendly pop here, like the gently catchy “Who Says,” but his take on “Crossroads,” in which his buzzing rhythm guitar sounds like a sound effect from a ’50s sci-fi movie, hardly bolsters his blues credentials.
He’s at his best on “Half of My Heart” (joined by pop-country phenom Taylor Swift) and “Friends, Lovers or Nothing,” two takes on romantic ambivalence in which the songwriter actually seems to know whereof he sings.
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By Lisa Borne
November 17, 2009 7:44 PM | Link to this
I agree, but Ron Harris’s Associated Press review was much more on point. “Mushy softrock abyss,” he says, and I would throw in “over-produced” and “relentlessly and grossly preppy” in its melody. I know Mayer himself said that the melody of this album is meant to offset the dark lyrics, but to use the same schtick for an entire album is entirely too much. I love John Mayer, but am disappointed by this album. It’s like I’m hearing his celebrity in the predictable melodies and consistently smooth and passionless voice. Where is John?
By Dark
December 1, 2009 9:17 AM | Link to this
Releasing his fourth album after his first three just kept getting better and better, has some disadvantages. Mainly that one of the four has to be the least of his work. I agree that I was slightly disappointed in this album, but rarely does a breakout musician follow-up with something as excellent as “Heavier Things” and blow our minds again like “Continuum”. I think a lot of the fame has finally gone to his head, and his humbled demeanor is a great loss to his appeal. I agree with much of the review, but come-on Mr. DeFore “soft-pop superstar”? What do you know about John Mayer. Yep he’s got a lot of radio friendly stuff—but he has so much more. Check out John Mayer Trio, or the “Where The Light Is” DVD and learn a little more about his talent. You’ll enjoy it.