cletta1201's Full Review: Continuum by John Mayer (Rock)
It would be easy to write John Mayer off as one of those thinking/feeling nerds or as a Dave Matthews doppelganger – but with Continuum his third studio release, Mayer is proving that his musicianship can hold its ground against just about anything available. Continuum is an homage to influences – pop, soul, rock, blues; it’s all there and all done with Mayer’s very clean musical sensibilities.
The best way to describe Continuum is to say that it is easy. Easy to listen to, easy to digest, and most importantly easy to enjoy. Although Mayer is tackling heavier things like the state of the world (”Belief”) and his parents mortality (”Stop This Train”), there is enough light material that you don’t get bogged down in the seriousness of what Mayer is singing.
”Waiting On The World To Change” the album’s first single is the most likely to be licensed and show up in some spirited commercial for Volkswagen, and despite it’s funky groove it has a good message wrapped in a Generation X/Y feel good ditty: ”me and all my friends / we're all misunderstood / they say we stand for nothing and / there's no way we ever could / now we see everything that's going wrong / with the world and those who lead it / we just feel like we don't have the means /to rise above and beat it”. And even though the sentiment might feel slightly mawkish, it feels so relevant and perfect for the current state of the world.
”Belief” is another of Continuum’s more message-driven tracks, and yet Mayer manages to gracefully maneuver around the discussion of current events (mainly The War so many people forget is still going on (end soapbox)) without being preachy (”belief is a beautiful armor / and makes for the heaviest sword / like punching underwater / you never can hit who you're trying for”).
Two of Continuum’s most glorious moments are ”Gravity” and ”Vultures”, holdovers from Mayer’s blues side-project the John Mayer Trio. Both gorgeously arranged, produced and delivered – they showcase Mayer’s ability to emote and connect in a short span of time. One could easily picture these songs being played at a crappy roadhouse bar where both the beer and the women are cheap and they allow anyone with an instrument and some gall to take the stage. ”Gravity” has its feet firmly planted in southern soul and is downright sexy and the Pino Palladino co-written ”Vultures” (not about the music business) is slinky and groovy all at once.
Fans of Mayer’s initial musical offerings need not worry about him jumping ship. Think of Continuum as Heavier Things with more polish and more guitar solos and attention to supporting instruments. If you liked “Daughters”, you’ll find that ”Stop This Train” is “Daughters” done for parents and it comes off as sincere and its almost stripped down loveliness calls to mind the styles of ”Paul Simon” or ”Eric Clapton”.
There is also the matter of ”Slow Dancing In A Burning Room” and ”Dreaming With A Broken Heart”, which chronicle a relationship’s gradual demise and the reflection thereafter. Both tracks recall classic Mayer with more grit.
”Slow Dancing In A Burning Room” feels just like it’s name, it’s the Titanic break-up song for the emotional set as Mayer sings ” We're goin down / And you can see it too / We're goin down / And you know that we're doomed / My dear /We're slow dancing in a burning room”, and vocally it’s so sophisticated that amidst some very intentional guitar riffs there are a few moments that you just want to give John Mayer a hug and tell him it’s going to be okay and that this bitch who broke his heart is just that, a bitch.
And as an album it’s not hard to see where Mayer finds influence (Stevie Ray Vaughn, Ray Charles), but the most obvious would be Jimi Hendrix whose song ”Bold As Love” tackles effortlessly so that the song doesn’t feel like late 60’s Jimi Hendrix, but a newly painted take on the already fabulous original (that calls to mind other contemporaries like Prince), complete with a seriously spectacular guitar break that you are guaranteed to never hear on TRL, or radio for that matter.
Continuum has such a good mood and tone. It is a time’s slightly serious and in another moment more sentimental and in yet another – stirring. ”I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)” feels comfortable and easy with it’s undercurrent of horns and Mayer’s hushed vocals and quasi-falsetto. Its musical moments like everything about I Don’t Trust Myself (and especially the last 10 seconds or so) that make Continuum feel so thoughtful and well-intentioned that you know a lot of soul went into this project.
Part of why Continuum works is because it feels so fluid. It rolls from one track to the next seamlessly and at just under 50 minutes, doesn’t feel like a state of the union address that’s dragged on too long. In an age of music that is all smoke and mirrors, Mayer is an artist’s artist. He is all substance without the pomp and circumstance. And not that every artist needs to try to be the voice of a generation, but it’s nice when someone can do it as beautifully as it’s been done here. As an album, Continuum is a bold attempt for Mayer. Music fans are a fickle set and so they will either clamor to understand Mayer’s influences or reject the whole thing; but even if they don’t this is definitely a project Mayer will be able to stand firmly and proudly behind.
With any trilogy, says John Mayer, the third in the series blows it open. On Continuum the singer/songwriter/guitar slinger meets that challenge head-...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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