I really feel for John Mayer.
It has to be hard to appeal to the TRL crowd, while maintaining quality control. “Continuum,” Mayer’s first studio album since last year’s awesome John Mayer Trio Live, finds him treading the line between his Dave-Matthews-with-a-sense-of-humor image and soulful bluesman. Although he doesn’t quite find the balance on this album, I definitely like where he’s headed.
“Continuum” opens with his current single, “Waiting on the World to Change.” The track is underwhelming, to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad song, but let’s just say I won’t be hitting the repeat button here. It’s just a little too corny for me. Stay tuned because it gets better, trust me.
When the next track, “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You),” comes in it wakes the album up like a splash of cold water to the face. All of sudden, Mayer is getting his Al Green on and it works. This is what I have been waiting to hear him wax on, ever since I saw him live. Mayer has a tendency to get a little too sweet on love songs…”Your Body is a Wonderland” anyone? Here, he manages to pull the reigns in on himself and the result is nothing short of greatness.
Another track, “Belief,” is a better attempt at being socially conscious than his current single. Though it’s not completely saccharine-free, at least I didn’t feel like I was going to get a cavity after listening to it. Again not terrible, but it sounds like a typical John Mayer song. You can take that however you want to.
My favorite track on the album, “Vultures,” finds Mayer once again exploring his inner-bluesman. The groove on this track is so heavy that it’s almost impossible to not bob your head along. I would love to see him do an entire album with this type of material, because he sounds so fly with it.
Another one of the album’s highlights is Mayer’s cover of the Hendrix classic, “Bold as Love.” He doesn’t break any new ground, but it won’t leave Hendrix fans crying foul, and it fits well with the bluesy vibe of most of the album’s songs. Bottom line, it’s a respectable cover.
My only issue with this album, aside from Mayer’s occasionally sappy lyrics, is the lack of cohesion. The back and forth motion of the songs make it seem as if someone has randomly combined two separate albums. On one track, you’ll get this dope, atmospheric soundscape that’s really mature and one song later, we’re back in teenage, mellow pop-land. None of the songs are terrible, but they just do not fit together.
That said, I do think that “Continuum” is a step in the right direction for Mayer. As a fan of his live show, it is great to see some of the energy that he brings to the stage finally finding its way into his studio work. Though not a classic, “Continuum” is a very solid album and definitely worth the money.
