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John Mayer
Continuum
(Columbia/Aware)
First Appeared in The Music Box, October 2006, Volume 13, #10
Written by John Metzger
Updated: Mon April 7, 2008, 02:15 PM CDT
On his first three albums (Inside Out, Room for Squares, and
Heavier Things), John Mayer relished his role as a teen heartthrob, but
between indulging himself in a guitar god’s dream of playing in a power trio on
last year’s concert set Try! and his guest spots with Buddy Guy, Eric
Clapton, and B.B. King, he seemed to be indicating that change was in the air.
Although his latest effort Continuum isn’t quite as dramatic a shift as
one might expect (or hope) it to be, he does attempt to find some semblance of
middle ground among his increasingly diverse, public personas. It’s never easy,
of course, for an artist to make a massive alteration in his approach,
especially after achieving the level of success that Mayer has. In fact, most
complacently would repeat the same formula until it became tediously dull and
out of fashion. To his credit, Mayer hasn’t waited for that to happen, and
instead, he slowly but surely has found maturity by refining his music in ways
that balance his own quest for growth, his label’s commercial aspirations, and
his fans’ expectations.
Throughout Continuum, Mayer vacillates between personal and political
issues, and the collection largely exudes a deep, gray-hued tonality. While
there’s little doubt that his lyrics remain planted firmly within the safety
zone of platinum-selling, adult-oriented rock, he thankfully has rejected the
overly saccharine ruminations that made songs such as Your Body Is a
Wonderland and No Such Thing positively insufferable. During Waiting
on the World to Change, he attempts to address, or at least to explain, the
reasons why younger voters are so damn apathetic, while Slow Dancing in a
Burning Room ponders, from the inside, the demise of a relationship.
Elsewhere, he introspectively examines his aching heart (In Repair) and
frets over his inevitable aging (Stop This Train). Yet, every time he
pens a line that strikes a poetic chord, he returns to his usual array of
inoffensive generalities. Habits, it seems, are hard to break, though Mayer’s
sincerity sells even his worst turns-of-phrase. Upon closer examination, his
lyrics continue to have a tendency toward ringing hollow, but he fortunately has
backed them up with arrangements that are more confident and mature.
It’s a telling sign that, tucked within Continuum’s liner notes, Mayer
thanks Eric Clapton by stating that he "knows I steal from him and is still cool
with it." After all, the entirety of the set is steeped in a similarly stylistic
blend of pop, rock, and R&B. Subtly laced with some stellar guitar
accompaniments, there also is more to the collection than initially meets the
eye. On Vultures, for example, Mayer effectively fuses Steely Dan’s
Hey Nineteen with Sting’s We’ll Be Together, while The Heart of
Life and, to a lesser extent, Stop This Train draw from the pastoral
beauty of Paul McCartney’s acoustic-laced work. Elsewhere, Waiting for the
World to Change and Slow Dancing in a Burning Room are closely
connected to Curtis Mayfield’s People Get Ready — the former song also
boasts a nifty nod to Marvin Gaye — and throughout the affair, he tucks enough
odes to Jimi Hendrix to make his cover of Bold As Love wholly believable.
The biggest issue with Continuum, however, is its mid-tempo pacing,
and over the course of the album’s 50-minute duration, its tracks begin to form
a hazily indistinct blur. There’s a nagging suspicion that Mayer is holding
something back, and his flashes of brilliance too frequently are undercut by his
resistance to alienate the fans who were turned off by Try!. Yet,
although Mayer doesn’t always hit his mark, his aim, at least, is higher than it
ever has been, thereby providing proof that all of the Grammy accolades and
four-star reviews from Rolling Stone that he has received haven’t gone to
his head.
On April 8, 2008, Sony introduced a third edition of John Mayer’s
Continuum to the market. The original 12-track album, which has been
certified double-platinum, was issued in September 2006. The following year it
won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, while its first single Waiting on the
World to Change was recognized in the category of Best Male Pop Vocal
Performance. In November 2007, a two-disc deluxe version of Continuum was
released, which featured six tracks that were culled from Mayer’s recently
completed summer tour. The latest installment of Continuum augments the
original 12-track line-up with the new single Say. The Van
Morrison-influenced song may be a tad lightweight, but like most of Mayer’s
material, it also is incredibly infectious.  ½
Continuum [Original Album] is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
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Continuum [Limited Edition] is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
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Continuum [2008 Version] is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
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For UK orders, please
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49th Annual Grammy Award Winner:
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Waiting on the World to Change
49th Annual Grammy Award Winner:
Best Pop Vocal Album
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006, 2008 The Music Box
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